A Central Alberta athlete currently has his sights on breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest time continuously cycling on a spinning machine.

Adventure cyclist Ryan Correy, 27, of Bentley, began his attempt on Wednesday at Best Body Fitness in Sylvan Lake.

“A world record is something I’ve known I’ve wanted to achieve in my lifetime,” said Correy. “A light bulb went off in my head and I thought this might be my world record chance.”

The current record is eight days and eight hours. This was just verified by Guinness Book of World Record officials a few weeks ago after someone beat the record in March, said Correy.

To beat the record, Correy must travel 20 kilometres an hour the entire time he’s cycling. He is allowed five minutes off the bike for every completed hour he rides. These break times can be carried forward.

Correy has been pursuing this world record attempt heavily for the last year.

“I knew at the beginning of the season that I would be doing this and I gave myself all of September off to recover from any injuries and to prepare for this,” he said.

Going in, Correy’s strategy is to cycle at least the first day for as long as he can without stopping.

“The first and possibly the second day I will go for as long as I can,” he said. “After that I will get into more of a controlled rhythm. So, for every four hours on the bike I’ll get off for 20 minutes. I hope to sleep during that time.”

If Correy is successful in his current world record attempt, it will be the second world record unofficially that he’s earned.

“In 2005 I cycled from Alaska to Argentina in the shortest amount of time,” he said. “I had unofficially beaten the record but decided not to go through the process of submitting my information.”

At the time Correy beat the first record, he was supporting the Make A Wish Foundation, more specifically he was supporting a family. The family’s son passed away just before Correy embarked on his cycling journey.

“I got to the end and had been through quite a bit and the record meant very little at that point and I wanted to showcase the memory of my friend,” he said.

In 2008, Correy competed in The Race Across America, which took him on a 12-day, 5,000 km cycling journey across the U.S.

“That was something that has always been on my radar since I was a pretty young kid,” said Correy. “Getting back from that I have always been looking for a new challenge.”

After his experience on The Race Across America, Correy began to set his sights on the spin bike world record.

“In the last two years I learnt about this guy in the States that had done this spinning world record,” he said. “At the same time I began teaching spin classes and was getting familiar with those bikes.

“This is something that I have a frame of reference to. It’s not a lot of sleep and it’s very similar to The Race Across America in a lot of extent except you’re not going anywhere.”

Correy should know if he officially beat the world record or not a couple of days after he finishes his attempt.

A camera that will stream live on the Internet has been set up where people can watch Correy’s world record attempt. Visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ryan-correy-record-attempt-spin to watch.

For more information about Correy visit www.ryansdream.wordpress.com.

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com