Pedalling Picasso and the Guinness World Record that he recently broke
Recently, in the month of November, UK based cyclist, Anthony Hoyte, popularly known as ‘Pedalling Picasso’, made it to the Guiness Book for breaking a World Record by bicycling 107kms in 12 hours and creating a moustached man being called ‘Mr. Movember.’ This is how he broke the record for the largest continuous GPS drawing by a bicycle (solo) under only 12 hours.
Pedalling Picasso has been creating GPS pictures since 2016. He has previously been in the news for his huge and impactful drawings through cycling routes (creating complex images using street patterns); and has so far designed 18 figures including that of a cat, a reindeer and a snowman, all attracting connoisseurs from across the globe.
His pseudonym was conferred in 2018 by the International Bicycling Magazine.
How did he break Guinness World Record?
Pedalling Picasso began his artistry in the early morning of 13th November and finished it by the next eight and a half hours. He chose his home city London as his canvas.
While the neckline of Mr. Movember (his 19th creation) was created using the curves of the River Thames running along the city, the area of Park Lane was used to form his nose.
Hoyte took the help of Google Maps to assess and cross check the streets he had pre-selected for his journey. He had to time his journey as per the opening and closing timings of certain public places, like the Central Park, and even had to pedal back through some roads.
For this cyclist-artist, creating the eyes, nose and moustache were easy and they all went as per his plans. However, his intention of creating a perfect hair while pedalling through crowded places like Portobello Road Market was way more difficult than he had imagined.
But despite facing such obstacles, Pedalling Picasso was satisfied with the outcome of his art.
What was the inspiration behind this project?
Pedalling Picasso’s main objective behind undertaking project Mr. Movember was to raise awareness about men’s mental health issues. His intention was to encourage men to grow moustache in order to address and support other men suffering from mental health problems, such as depressions leading to fatal outcomes like suicides. He also aimed to raise funds for this cause. It seems like his aim was fulfilled as donations came pouring in from across the world.