official record for it. It didn’t look to me

like the lads in the videos were covering a

huge distance on the water, and there had to

be a reason for that, otherwise people would

be riding bikes around on reservoirs and canals

all over Britain. If there was a record for time

or distance, I would have a target to aim for,

and all I would need then would be a suitable

bike, a big enough pond, and someone to

explain to me what the heck was going on!

Above: The Osprey team’s
rescue boats at Bala Lake
were there to recover both
me and the bike from the
water – in that order.

THE CHALLENGE   141