Simon and Monika Newbound
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Simon and Monika Newbound are long distance motorcyclists from the United Kingdom.
In May 2002, husband and wife Simon and Monika Newbound departed from Dublin, Ireland on one of the greatest endurance challenges ever attempted. Their goal was to ride two BMW motorcycles continuously until they had exceeded the existing Guinness World Record of 99,600 kilometres (61,900 mi).[1]
On 25 October 2003 the Newbounds completed a full circumnavigation of the earth. Their route went eastward from Sligo, Ireland to St. John's, Newfoundland, via Norway, Moscow, Siberia, Tokyo and Toronto, Canada. During the Newbound's world record challenge they crossed 54 countries. They rode their BMW F650GS and R1150GS bikes above the Arctic Circle three times. They visited every state and province in United States and Canada, which included crossing the North American continent five times.
In October 2005 Guinness World Records formally acknowledged that the Newbounds had not only broken the existing world record, but extended it by almost 84,000 km (52,200 mi) taking the new world record to 183,000 km (113,700 mi).
Neither had experience of motorcycle mechanics and they achieved the world record without a support team or support vehicles. Monika embarked on the world record ride with no long distance experience, after just four days of motorcycle training.[citation needed]
