Bonne breaks world record despite hallucinations

The ultra-sportsman Matthieu Bonne traveled no less than 3,619 kilometers in seven days in the United States and thus wrote another world record in his name. However, he encountered setbacks along the way. “Mentally, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

At 10:58 p.m. local time Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona, cheers erupted from support vehicles escorting 29-year-old Matthieu Bonne. He achieved his goal of cycling 3,590 kilometers in one week one hour ahead of schedule. It struck at midnight 3,619 kilometers away. A crazy performance. Every day he cycled about 500 kilometers and spent 20 hours on the bike.

After the finish, he was exhausted, but also euphoric. “Physically it was super tough and mentally it was definitely the toughest adventure I’ve ever done.” The West Fleming, known from the TV show Camp Waes, was not ready for his test piece. In 2020 he managed to be the very first to swim the entire Belgian coast and last year he completed eight more triathlons in eight days in the Canary Islands.

rain and wind

Bonne deliberately traveled to Arizona in the United States to attempt his new world record. Long straight roads, light traffic and mild weather conditions are ideal. Even if the team turned out to be a bit unlucky with the latter. “We had precipitation and a lot of wind that was constantly changing direction,” he said.

During one of the first days, he was forced to stand still for several hours to weather a storm. At one point, the road was even partially washed out. Lost hours that he couldn’t make up for. “I lost more than a hundred kilometers that day. It was really not optimal for my record.

However, sleep deprivation weighed the heaviest. “I had four hours a day to do everything that wasn’t cycling: sleep, shower, eat, stretch. Then you have to decide for yourself what is more important. Still, he managed to stay awake on the bike for seven days. “The first few days I was successful because I started the challenge well rested, but as the days went on the sleep deprivation started to pile up. I started hallucinating.

Plan your day well

Cycling that long is very monotonous so Bonne had some tricks to keep going. “I never thought about the end of the day and how much time I had left to ride the bike. I set myself a small goal or looked forward to a ten-minute break. In this way, you can handle it better.

He also had to eat every twenty minutes to get enough calories. “I could never take in as many calories as I burned. Every five hours I was eating a real meal, but eventually your stomach just can’t take a lot of those gels, bars and sports drinks. Now I I’ve had enough of sugary foods.

There were five people to accompany him. “It certainly wouldn’t have been possible without my team,” he said. “These people are worth gold.”

Bonne finally covered exactly 3619.72 kilometres. He burned an average of 10,000 calories a day and, in addition to classic sports nutrition, ate burgers, pasta, cookies and lots of M&M’s. He had only one flat tire, cycled in temperatures between 2 and 25 degrees Celsius and had 3 watches and 2 trackers tracking him and recording his data. His feat is officially a Guinness World Record.