By Venetia Sherson*
Hamilton nurse Jane Carswell on the road. Photo: Jane Carswell
In 2023, Hamilton nurse Jane Carswell was at a low point in her life. Long-distance cycling helped her regain mental strength. It also earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
In the just-published 2025 Guinness Book of Records, 30-year-old Carswell appears on page nine, the same page as Brisbane man Nicholas Manning, who achieved a record for pulling on the most pairs of underpants in a minute (44).
Carswell - an endoscopy nurse at Hamilton's Braemar Hospital - smiles at the contrasting feats. To achieve her recognition she cycled the length of New Zealand in 10 days, five hours, and 58 minutes, averaging 200km a day.
She battled headwinds across the Canterbury Plains, sheeting rain in the Waikato ("I had to wear five jackets to keep warm") peak hour city traffic and close encounters with a flying hubcap and a possum.
Hamilton nurse's tour of Aotearoa in just 10 days
Why did she do it?
"I'm driven," she says. But there is another reason. Cycling has helped her navigate some dark times in her life.
Carswell grew up around bikes. After school, at her home near Ngāhinapōuri in the Waikato, she and her youngest sister would seek out the steepest hills and muddiest tracks to test their courage, challenging each other to set new records for speed and daring routes.
The beginning of the ride at Bluff signpost, Carswell touched it three times for good luck. Photo: Jane Carswell
The day before her 12th birthday, on a bike ride with her family, she failed to see a parked car and crashed through the back window. Her mother had bought her a speedometer as a birthday gift.
"Mum thought I would be put off cycling for life and the gift would be redundant. I wasn't."
To further demonstrate she was serious about her sport, she increased the distance of her training loops from 7km to 20km. The old Raleigh with a rusty chain was replaced with a Giant OCR (nicknamed Baby Giant), a road bike that could go faster with less effort.
She also joined Te Awamutu Sports Club.
"The first day I turned up, I thought, 'Holy moley, these guys look like they are competing in the Tour de France. I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts."
With her build (she is 1.55m, or "a smidge over 5ft"), she knew she would never be able to sprint at a competitive level, but she had the perfect power-weight ratio for road cycling, especially hills.
Maungakawa Hill near Cambridge (300m) became her training ground. She found a coach and set her sights on the Olympics.
But it soon became apparent she would have to base herself in Europe to achieve her dream. "It was just a step too far. I didn't want to spend so much time away from home and family."
Carswell has the perfect power-weight ratio for road cycling, especially hills. Photo: Jane Carswell
Instead, after completing her nursing studies at Wintec, she started a position at Rotorua Hospital and focused on elite cycling events and ultra distances - rides over 100km. She upgraded her bike to lighter and faster models with more bells and whistles.
In 2023, there was a crunch point.
"I was at a very low ebb. I've battled depression most of my adult life. I know when I reach these points I have to set myself a goal that keeps me challenged."
She decided to bike the length of New Zealand. The aim was to complete the 2085.4km trip in 10 days. Why 10 days?
"It just seemed like a good round number."
That would mean cycling 200km a day, at a speed of about 25kph, rain, hail, or shine. She had ridden 300km once before, but never long distances over consecutive days.
There was also the lure of setting a world record. She contacted the Guinness Book of Records and filled in the necessary forms. "There was no record already set, I just had to ride it without pressure."
But she knew there would be internal pressure. "Once I set myself a goal, I really go for it."
On 8 March this year, she set off from Bluff, touching the Bluff signpost three times for good luck. She felt nervous but exhilarated. The following day, the enormity of her plan hit home, and she felt a twinge in her knee.
"I thought, well, at least if I'm injured, I'll have a reason to pull out."
She had chosen March for the attempt because the weather was mild. But within three days she was battling the infamous Canterbury nor-wester that races through the valleys east of the Main Divide and powers across the plains.
Jane Carswell with her parents and cycling support team. Photo: Jane Carswell
It was a test of her mental stamina and resolve. With a postgraduate diploma in nutrition, she knew she had to keep up her energy to maintain strength. She snacked on caramel slices and powered up on protein and carbs.
Her support crew - her parents Bruce and Katrina - travelled with her. Her father drove behind her ("at 25kph it was also a test of his endurance") and her mother drove a campervan ahead, stopping at intervals so Carswell could rest and eat.
In the North Island, her partner, Richard 'Snappy' Henderson joined the team.
On the bike, Carswell focused on the road ahead, dividing each day into manageable 50km chunks. She listened to podcasts and tried to take in the beauty of the countryside she travelled through.
Near Kaikōura, her father tooted three times to alert her to dolphins at play and a nursery of seal pups.
There were hazards, too. Once a hubcap spun off in her path; on another day, a possum ran in front of her bike. "He was as surprised as I was."
In Auckland, she focused hard on a downloaded map that identified cycle paths to avoid the busiest roads.
The worst patches on any day came around the 150-170km mark.
"It was like hitting a wall. But when I pushed through, I knew I only had 30km to go."
In Hamilton, her home town, crowds came out to cheer her on through sheeting rain.
Data from her cycle computer was transmitted to the Guiness World Record administrators, along with the records of her heart rate. Her mother asked random strangers to witness when her daughter passed by - another condition of the Guinness World Record verification.
On 18 March, Carswell reached Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of the North Island. She felt an enormous sense of achievement.
"I was lucky I didn't have any injuries. I had a sore neck from holding my head in the same position and my knee was still tender."
She had no mechanical issues, just one flat tyre north of Whangarei.
Two weeks later her record was verified by Guinness World Records. The listing says, Fastest Crossing of New Zealand by Bicycle (Female).
She says the ride was enormously satisfying, but it had other more important impacts. Cycling provides solace and focus. It unclutters her mind and means problems in her non-cycling life are more solvable after a ride. It provides balance to her work as a nurse.
"In my job, we give out a lot. Cycling is a time when I can be alone with my thoughts."
During her ride, she raised $10,000 for the Sir John Kirwan Foundation charity Mitey, focused on mental health education for children.
Carswell is now focused on her next challenge. There are two half ironman events on the horizon. In one, if she does well, she could qualify for the 70.3 World Ironman Championships in Spain in 2025.
Training is underway.
* Venetia Sherson is a Waikato journalist.