Female cyclist pedals past the men in 184mph world record
A WOMAN has become the fastest human on a bicycle, reaching a speed of 183.9mph.
Denise Mueller-korenek, 45, shattered a two-decade-old land speed cycling record, which was previously held by a man.
Her feat, which has yet to be verified by Guinness World Records, took place on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
She rode a custom-made bike that was attached to the back of a drag racing car until she hit 100mph.
The bike was then released and she pedalled in the slipstream of the vehicle, which was driven by Shea Holbrook,
a professional racing driver.
Mueller-korenek eclipsed her own speed record for a female cyclist, which had been 147mph, set in 2016. She also shattered the male record of 167mph, which has stood since 1995 and was set by Dutch cyclist Fred Rompelber.
After successfully slowing down and dismounting, she yelled out: “Beat that, Fred!” Mueller-korenek said: “I think we broke the limit of what we were supposed to do. That was rough.”
The cyclist said she had been bounced around.
She said: “Now I know how Evel
Knievel felt.”
Mueller-korenek, an American, is a former champion competitive cyclist who retired to start a family and run a business. Holbrook said: “It was the ride of her life and the drive of mine. Where’s our margarita? We have the salt.”
If verified, it would be the first time a woman has held the overall cycling land speed record. The record stretches back to 1899, when cyclist Charlie Murphy used a steam train to help get him to 60mph.
Each revolution of the pedals propelled Mueller-korenek 128ft. Bikes used in the Tour de France reach about 30ft.
A spokeswoman for Guinness World Records told The Daily Telegraph: “We certainly welcome her to apply and submit this new feat for further review by our records management team.”