CYCLING from Sydney to Melbourne

would be tough enough,

but doing it over six consecutive

days is almost unthinkable.

However, Glenn Druery is

primed to do the equivalent of

that.

As part of a four-man team, the

Hunters Hill resident will take

part in the annual Race Across

America in a fortnight’s time.

The four will attempt to cover

the 4900km that will take them

from the US West Coast to the east

in six days.

They will do so by unconventional

means; recumbent cycles

will be their mode of transport.

Along the way, they will ascend

3.4kms, with over half of that to be

conquered in the first two days.

The temperature will range from

subzero to about 50C.

Serious sleep deprivation will

also be a factor for the team, as

they ride all the way through

without stopping.

‘‘These races are won and lost in

people’s heads,’’ Druery said.

‘‘After doing hundreds of kilometres,

it becomes a purely mental

exercise.’’

Yet rather than be daunted by

what lies ahead, Druery has welcomed

the challenge.

He will be the fourth Australian

in 25 years of the event.

Now 43 and father to four children,

Druery decided to get back

into cycling – a sport he loved as a

youngster – a decade ago when he

‘‘started putting on weight’’.

Four years later, he began distance

racing and hasn’t looked

back, becoming a world record

holder for the fastest time over

400km.

Druery attracts plenty of curious

glances when he is training in

various parts of Sydney. He even

had a policeman say to him, ‘‘what

the hell is that?’’ when he was

pulled over recently for doing

72kmh in a 50km zone.

Druery says the fastest speed he

has ever reached is 114kmh.

That’s why he calls it ‘‘the

Formula One of bikes’’.

‘‘It’s probably the coolest looking

bike in the world,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s not the type of bike you ride

to head down the road and pick up

some milk.’’

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