Victory Cross Country Tour Rider Grizzly on Target
When the Swiss rider Urs “Grizzly” Pedraita began his 100-day challenge to circumnavigate the globe on slightly modified Victory Cross Country Tour, he set off from Daytona Bike Week.
That was March 11; fast forward to May 2, and Grizzly is on goal to reach his challenge and set a new record for circumnavigation in 100 days. Grizzly is expected to complete the journey in about 62,000 miles total distance; the current record for such a ride is 120 days.
Grizzly’s path so far was from Daytona Beach to Panama City, Panama (3,971 miles, six days 14 hours); Panama to Ushuaia, Argentina (6,269 miles, nine days 23 hours); Argentina to Santiago, Chile (2,088 miles); and Australia from Sydney to Perth (4,604 miles, six days five hours).
From Perth, Grizzly and the Cross Country Tour motorcycle were flown April 27 to South Africa, where he is set to ride 6,503 miles from Cape Town to Cairo, Egypt. From there, he’ll travel to Tunisia and head across the Mediterranean to travel Europe and Asia. From there, it’s on a plane to Anchorage, Alaska, where he’ll travel across North America to Daytona Beach.
“I had a very good start of my world record attempt from the Daytona Speedway on March 12 at 1:44 p.m. local time,” Grizzly communicates from his layover in Cape Town. “I’ve met many people on the road, and at the stops when I had some hours of sleep, and want to thank them for these encounters. They were very hospitable, helpful, open and without distrust – many thanks to them as this makes the world just wonderful!
“Now I am shortly before starting the next leg across Africa. In all books and on all plans, this is supposedly the most challenging continent to ride and I will surely have many more adventures in the next weeks as I continue my goal of being the fastest man on two wheels across all continents.”
The Victory Cross Country Tour Grizzly is using for this attempt was specially modified by Motostyling Zurich. While the engine, frame and running gear remain relatively untouched, other parts of the bike have been redesigned to fit Grizzly’s needs as he covers long distances in remote parts of the world, Victory Reports.
“We are excited about Grizzly’s progress thus far,” says Alex Hultgren, Victory’s Director of Marketing. “Ultimately, this is an endurance race that balances Victory’s well-known dependability with Grizzly’s mental and physical fitness. We look forward to tracking Grizzly through the next phase of his journey.”
Time and position measurement are being done via GPS and satellite tracking. Timing is not stopped on overland routes (i.e., when waiting to pass a country border or when the rider is sleeping). However, timing is stopped for air and sea transfers between continents and restarts once the bike arrives on the new continent, Victory Reports.
Visit GrizzlyRaceTeam.ch for an up-to-date schedule of his travels.