Denise Mueller-Korenek's bicycle land speed record of 183.932 mph

WGH · « **on:** 30 Sep 2018, 06:52 pm »

A lot of bicyclists peddle 27 miles to the 9000 ft. summit of Mt Lemmon outside of Tucson just so they can coast down, reaching speeds up to 45 mph. I know because I'm driving behind them.
...But this speed record is insane:

On Sunday September 16, 2018, Denise Mueller-Korenek broke the bicycle land speed record of 167 mph, hitting 183.932 mph at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.
A great article on Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/denise-mueller-korenek-bike-speed-record-168-mph/?mbid=BottomRelatedStories_Sections_2

And the video: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/09/21/bicycle-speed-record-bonneville-dragster-video/

JerryM · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Sep 2018, 07:04 pm »

That's awesome!

usp1 · « **Reply #2 on:** 1 Oct 2018, 12:52 am »

Apart from the sheer craziness of riding a bike at that speed, it is interesting to read how she had to be towed to get her to a reasonable speed because of the gearing ratio and then protected with faring to keep her safe. These are superhuman endeavors!!

jules · « **Reply #3 on:** 1 Oct 2018, 03:46 am »

Wonder if she recorded it on Strava

Rocket_Ronny · « **Reply #4 on:** 1 Oct 2018, 04:16 pm »

Quote

That's awesome!

And incredibly stupid. Well, that's a bit harsh, how about incredibly risky. Did you notice when the man squeezed her arms in the beginning and how his hands pressed into her skin. Where is her body armor ???

And then she is on such a short rope. I understand, in order to get the drag and be protected by the wind. But, what if the drag car had a sudden slow down, she would pile into it and be tossed to salt.

Still awesome and glad she did it, but she might want to go over some safety.

As it always goes in life, it's always easier to criticize something, or someone, than to actually do what you are criticizing. This post is a case in point.

Rocket -not one to criticize too much, really!- Ronny

Photon46 · « **Reply #5 on:** 1 Oct 2018, 06:03 pm »

The paced bicycle land speed record is is an extremely technical and difficult challenge that a subset of cyclists have been tackling since Charlie "Mile a Minute" Murphy did 60 mph behind a train in 1899. (They laid a MILE of plywood sheeting on the tracks for him to ride on!) It is in indeed an extremely dangerous activity. The pace dragster Denise used for her record belonged to a previous record holder that fell at Bonneville doing over a hundred miles an hour. He broke over twenty bones in the fall. I believe that I read Denise had to sustain around 750 watts of power for the mile she covered. Not to diminish what Denise accomplished (as there is so much more involved in owning this record than power) but one wonders what someone like Peter Sagan or Andre Greipel could do if they seriously tackled the record. Those two cyclists have been measured at over 1200 and 1600 watts for the 15-20 second durations of Grand Tour sprint finishes. We'll never know because they'd never risk their lucrative professional careers but one speculates what is ultimately possible.