For the first time ever there are two women attempting the Around Australia record at the same time!
Stacey Duffy set off from Springfield near Brisbane a bit over 2 weeks ago targeting the first ever unsupported record (which at her current rate will beat the existing supported record of 92d6hr32m).
Then on Saturday July 18 personal trainer Shonel Daniel left Currimundi on the Sunshine Coast. She’s only been cycling for a year or so, but has racked up nearly 6,000km since the start of this year.
I met her at the start line to represent the Road Record Association of Australia and she’s certainly got no shortage of energy! There was a great turnout of supporters to see her off too.
She’s raising money for the International Association for Suicide Prevention, with more than $10,000 already.
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Day 1- 130km to Chatsworth north of Gympie
Day 2- 103km to Maryborough
The wind has been absolutely blasting here over the weekend, to the extent the local club cancelled their Sunday crits.
Breaking the existing record requires at least 154km per day over the minimum 14,200km distance. Shonel’s target is 80 days which would need a hefty 177.5km/day average.
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Day 3- 104km to South of Bundaberg
Rough day with more bad wind conditions, abusive drivers and a broken Garmin
Day 4- 0km.
From a clip she posted on facebook yesterday it seems the physical effort of the first 3 days is less of an issue than the emotional effort. The crosswind apparently caused a crash at one point which would rattle anyone.
The short 3 days plus a day off has increased the required average, but not by that much yet. From this point on she’d need to average 159km/day.
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Day 5- 149km finishing north of Bororen (about 50km south of Gladstone)
Day 6- 139km to Rockhampton.
Shonel has spoken about being completely freaked out at riding on the Highway (the only option for a lot of the ride) and posted a video riding in tears as vehicles pass. I really hope she’s able to push through it.
Average so far is 104km/day, at Day 6 she’s sitting at 300km behind record pace.
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Day 7- 0km 
Day 8- 102.7km to 15km south of Marlborough
Day 9- 100.8km to 20km south of Clairview
Day 10- 89.7km to Koumala
Day 11- 79.3km to The Leap (north of Mackay)
Day 12- 91.93km to 12km south of Proserpine
759km behind record pace or nearly 5 days, required average at this point would be 164km/day. She hasn’t officially declared as such but at this point it’s safe to say the focus is no longer on the record and instead solely on making the distance and raising funds. She’s certainly doing well on that front, at $11,251 so far.
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Day 13- 0km
Day 14- 185km to Ayr
Day 15- 85km to Townsville
Day 16- 0km
Day 17- 0km
Day 18- 124km to Charters Towers
Total 1,484km, average 82.4km/day. 1,288km behind record pace so as a record attempt it’s definitely finished. She’s been struggling with saddle sores hence the multiple days off the bike.
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