Cyclist tackles 330km in Swiss Alps with no brakes or gears

Reuters Videos
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RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

VIDEO SHOWS: CYCLIST PATRICK SEABASE CYCLING IN SWISS ALPS ON A BIKE WITH NO BRAKES AND ONLY ONE GEAR / SOUNDBITES FROM SEABASE TALKING ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

SHOWS:

INNERTKIRCHEN, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 1, 2020) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE)

1. PATRICK SEABASE TAKING SELFIE VIDEO EXPLAINING HE WILL BE CYCLING IN SWITZERLAND

2. SEBASE UNLOADING BIKE FROM CAR IN THE DARK

3. SEABASE CYCLING IN THE DARK

4. SEABASE CYCLING IN A TUNNEL

UNKNOWN LOCATIONS, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 1, 2020) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE)

5. VARIOUS OF SEABASE CYCLING IN THE SWISS ALPS

6. SEABASE CYCLING INTO A TUNNEL

7. SEABASE IN THE RAIN BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

8. SEABASE CYCLING / SOUND OF COW BELLS

9. SEABASE CYCLING BY COWS

10. CLOSE OF BIKE CHAIN WHILE SEABASE PEDALS

11. SEABASE GOING DOWNHILL

INNERTKIRCHEN, SWITZERLAND (RECENT) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE)

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK SEABASE, SAYING:

"This route represents to me, my little Switzerland. My favourite climbs, my favourite locations to be at, and it has a very personal aspect to it. It represents sort of my youth as well, where I went all the time with my parents."

13. WHITE FLASH

14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK SEABASE, SAYING:

"So I tried to create a route, sort of the mini Switzerland, how I like Switzerland, what I like about Switzerland. It's very representative in terms of the beauty and also the diversity of Switzerland you know."

UNKNOWN LOCATIONS, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 1, 2020) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE) (MUTE)

15. VARIOUS DRONE FOOTAGE OF SEABASE ON ROUTE

INNERTKIRCHEN, SWITZERLAND (RECENT) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE)

16. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK SEABASE, SAYING:

"The main difference between a road bike and a track bike is, there's only one gear, on the track bike there's no brakes, no physical handbrakes and as soon as the wheel turns, the pedal turns as well. So you're basically constantly pedalling."

VARIOUS LOCATIONS, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 1, 2020) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE)

17. VARIOUS OF SEABASE CYCLING

18. VIEW OF SEABASE CYCLING IN ROADSIDE MIRROR

INNERTKIRCHEN, SWITZERLAND (RECENT) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE)

19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK SEABASE, SAYING:

"But will power is the most important thing."

20. WHITE FLASH

21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK SEABASE, SAYING:

"Do I wanna do it? If I chose to do it, yes, I'm gonna do it. Try my best."

22. WHITE FLASH

23. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK SEABASE, SAYING:

"The biggest challenge to me is always before the actual challenge, it's the day approaching the Day X, the day before is crazy, because you sort of, you're in doubt, and you're always biased, ok yes I prepared I can do it, but on the other hand there's still doubt. But I think that is the healthiest thing to have doubt."

GRIMSEL PASS, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 1, 2020) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE) (MUTE)

24. DRONE SHOT OF SEABASE CYCLING DOWNHILL IN DARK ON HAIRPIN BENDS

25. DRONE SHOT OF SEABASE WRITTEN ON ROADSIDE

OBERAARSEE, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 1, 2020) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - SEE RESTRICTIONS BEFORE USE)

26. SEABASE CYCLING IN DARK

27. SEABASE ARRIVING AT FINISH

28. SEABASE EATING PRETZEL-TYPE SNACK

STORY: Cycling 330 kilometres (205 miles) in a day, including climbing 8,500 metres, is hard enough, let alone doing it in just one fixed gear.

But Swiss rider Patrick Seabase did just that in the Swiss Alps, setting off in the darkness at three o'clock in the morning in early September for the toughest challenge of his career.

Seabase is no stranger to doing things the hard way, from the steep unpaved roads of Eritrea to experiencing how Tour de France contenders in 1910 had to cope with very basic bikes.

For his latest stunt, unBRAKEable, he chose roads closer to home on a bike designed to race counter-clockwise around a velodrome and with only one gear. In all, he crossed five Swiss mountain passes with the temperature fluctuating between 28-degrees and near freezing, and faced both steep descents and harsh headwinds.

As for the route chosen for unBRAKEable, it was selected to go past landmarks - both natural and manmade - that meant a lot to him.

"This route is 100% based on memories, on the beauty of the landscape and architecture," he said. "I get a lot of energy out of the cultural milestones I pass by, like the Ganter Bridge for example."

He set off from Innertkirchen and then went across the Grimsel and Simplon Passes on his way to Locarno by Lago Maggiore. From there, he crossed the Gotthard Pass, Furka Pass and the back part of the Grimsel Pass before his finishing point in Oberaarsee.

(Production: Iain Axon)