Man Sets New Stationary Bike Record
UPDATED 11/1/10 1:20 p.m.
BURR RIDGE, Ill. (CBS) - Riding an exercise bike is sure to burn calories and get the heart pumping, but eventually, most people get off and move on to the next stage of their workout.
Not so for George Hood. He has set a new Guinness World Record on the stationary bike, in an effort to raise money for the causes he holds most dear.
WBBM Newsradio 780 talked to Hood as he rode a stationary bike at a fitness store in Burr Ridge Monday, well past setting a world record. He unofficially broke the old record of 200 hours last night and he's still going.
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"When you go this far in an ultra endurance like this, it's not about the physical ability," Hood said. "It's about the mental capacity to hold yourself together."
Hood , 52, of Aurora, previously served as a law enforcement professional in service of the U. S. Marines in Afghanistan. He says he watched too many young soldiers and Marines die in combat as a result of improvised explosive devices.
So upon returning home in March 2009, Hood decided to take on a mission to set a record on a stationary bike, all in order to raise money for to help Marines injured by IEDs.
Hood has already set two world records for stationary biking, but other athletes around the world have been beating the records.
"It's been my impression that when an American has this record, someone wants to take it from them," Hood said.
This time around, Hood is raising funds for the family of Gunnar Hotchkin, a Hinsdale native who was killed by an IED in Afghanistan this past June. Referencing Hotchkin's nickname, Hood's stationary bike ride has been dubbed "Operation Hot Chicken."
"So I was a friend helping out a friend who lost his best friend," he said.
Hotchkin left behind a wife and three children.
The overall fundraising goal is $25,000. To win the Guinness World Record, Hood beat the record of 200 hours set in March by Frank Tritscha of Germany.
Hood's goal is 222 hours, 22 minutes and 22 seconds, since the record he set in 2007 was 111 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds. That would occur at 8:22 tonight.
You can watch a live stream of Hood's ride here.
WBBM Newsradio 780's Mike Krauser contributed to this report.
