Cameron Jones cycled 737km in 24 hours without leaving the lounge.
Cameron Jones cycled 737km in 24 hours without leaving the lounge.
A teenage Levin apprentice builder has used the Covid-19 lockdown to raise money for charity in honour of his late father.
Cameron Jones, 18, cycled further than Wellington to Auckland yesterday on a simulated cycle machine, the incredible feat of endurance that raised $4660 for Arohanui Hospice.
Jones' father Ben lost his battle with brain cancer in February this year, just a few months shy of his 45th birthday.
Cameron Jones' late father Ben, who died of brain cancer in February, aged 44.
Bored stiff during the lockdown, Jones knew he could put the time to good use and raise money for Hospice, in recognition of the support the organisation gave his father and their family during a difficult time.
"They helped me and my family out quite a bit," he said.
"It's a charity close to heart."
So after gorging himself on fatty foods the night before, he saddled up his indoor bike to see how far he could ride in 24 hours without leaving the lounge.
"You have to be in a state of ketosis most of the time. Your body can't absorb or digest enough calories, unless it burns fats," he said.
"The night before I poured a cup of cream over an apple crumble."
At 6pm he had a pasta and steak meal that he said tasted "quite amazing". For breakfast 12 hours later he poured a large amount of butter over three hot cross buns.
"I burnt 11,400 calories. That's a lot," he said.
He ate and drank on the bike at regular intervals in front of the television screen while continuing to cycle.
Cameron Jones barely stopped for a toilet break.
There was no cutting corners either. With three toilet breaks totalling 10 minutes, and a 20 minute dinner stop in that time, he felt obliged to add on another half hour at the end.
Jones clocked up 737km during the 24 hours. Put in perspective, the distance from Wellington to Auckland is 645km, and thrown in was a similar amount of simulated hill climbing.
The simulation machine accurately measured time, distance, speed and power, while a heart rate monitor was hooked up to an electric fan that kicked in when he needed cooling down.
During the day he also kept the sliding door wide open.
Jones had been cycling now for four years and was developing a penchant for extreme events, competing in his first half-Ironman at Taupo in December last year, and he planned to do more.
He said the effort this week had left him sore, but satisfied.
