10 CYCLING FACTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW

1. The fastest circumnavigation by bicycle by male in the world is held by Mark Beaumont from the UK. Starting and finishing by the Arc de Triumph in Paris, Beaumont’s Guinness World Record saw him cycle through 16 countries in 78 days, 14 hours, 40 minutes.

2. The longest bicycle in the world was created by the University of South Australia and Santos in 2015. It measured 41.42m long.

3. Australia holds the record for the most cyclists in a tour in an excess of 1000km with 2037 (from 2157 starters) participating in the Australian Bicentennial Caltex Bike Ride from Melbourne to Sydney in 1988.

4. The Guinness World Record for the most participants in a cycling event is 48,615 for Udine Pedala in Italy in 2000. The cyclists completed a circuit measuring 29.3 km around Udine.

5. The largest rideable bicycle ever recorded was built by German Didi Senft, measuring 7.8m long, 3.7m high and weighing 150kg.

6. The fastest ever speed attained cycling downhill on soil is 172 km/h, by Frenchman Eric Barone descending the Cerro Negro volcano in Nicaragua in 2002.

7. About 3.6 million (17 per cent) Australians use a bike for transportation or recreation each week.

8. Males are more likely to participate in cycling than females: 21 per cent of males and 12 per cent of females had ridden in the previous week in the Austroads 2013 Participation Survey.

9. Cycling 10km each way to work would save 1500kg of greenhouse gas emissions each year, says the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.

10. Cycling 10km each way to work each day will save about $1700 per year in transport costs (including all running costs and depreciation).