Factor’s FKT Lighthouse to Lighthouse Challenge

On Black Friday, Factor Bikes owner Rob Gitelis joined forces with sales manager, John Ebsen to ride the length of Taiwan on their Factor ONE’s in a bid to set a new Fastest Known Time.

What is the Fastest Known Time challenge? With a similar concept to Everesting, the Fastest Known Time challenge was created for the real competitors out there who simply love a good race and are constantly seeking ways to push the limits – ride faster, harder and longer.

A Fastest Known Time can be derived from any point to point or given route on a map that is then shared and compared with other likeminded competition addicts.

With a sorely missed absence of racing in 2020 for many, the ‘FKT’ challenge is rapidly growing hype, creating a name for itself as the ‘next best thing’ or an inviting alternative to an organised race.

Both Rob and John are natural competitors at heart and former professional cyclists, so when Rapha announced that they’d be running a Black Friday Ride to encourage people to collectively ride 1 million miles to help donate 1,000 bikes to World Bicycle Relief, their Fastest Known Time ambitions quickly sprung to fruition.

Both riders are Taiwan based and don’t mind a bit of distance, so to ride the length of the country, 514km (319miles) from ‘Taiwan Fuguijiao lighthouse to Eluanbi lighthouse’ seemed the perfect fit for Friday’s ride and an apt opportunity to contribute to Rapha’s fundraising efforts.

The Fastest Known Lighthouse – Lighthouse Time to beat? 14:58:23 (total elapsed time) set in October 2018 by two highly accomplished Ultra Marathon Cyclists, Bryce Bénat and JF Kuentz. Did the two Factor ‘bike racers’ have the combined strength and speed to best the endurance masters? On Friday morning, Rob and John set out at as early as 3am, on their selected choice of weapon’s – the Factor ONE, ensuring every aero advantage was in their favour before the games had even begun…