“Now I know how Evel Knievel felt,” said Denise Mueller-Korenek after finishing the ride that landed her a second Guinness World Record.
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Denise is 45 years old and a mother of three. Up until September 14th, she had proudly held the title of fastest bicycle speed in slipstream (female) for a ride that she accomplished in 2016. The woman’s record is 147 MPH, but Denise wasn’t satisfied just yet; she soon set her sights on breaking the men’s record, too.
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Slipstream cycling is a sport in which a bicyclist is towed behind a race car until they reach a certain speed. Then the tether is detached, and the cyclist is tasked with maintaining (or gaining) speed for a certain number of miles. The men’s record of 167 MPH was set by Dutch cyclist Fred Rompelberg back in 1995.
On September 16th 2018, Denise managed to shatter several records at once. The former US national track, road and mountain bike champion teamed up with professional race car driver Shea Holbrook to race her custom-made bike across the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
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Shea (pictured below) pulled Denise behind her car until they reached the speed of 100 MPH. Denise then pedaled furiously in the slipstream of the car for 3.5 miles, achieving the record-shattering average speed of 183.9 MPH.
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“Beat that, Fred!” Denise yelled victoriously as she dismounted after the ride.
Not only did Denise demolish the women’s record she previously held, she also crushed the men’s record, making her officially the fastest human being to ever ride a slipstream cycle.
“It was a crazy wild ride to 183.9 mph, but so worth the sacrifice and years of focus on becoming the fastest human on a bicycle in the world,” an elated Denise stated after the race. “We weren’t supposed to go more than 175.”
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“It was the ride of her life and the drive of mine,” said Shea, who was behind the wheel of the race car.
Guinness World Records officials are in the process of verifying Denise’s accomplishment. This particular world record has been on the books since 1899, when cyclist Charlie Murphy used a steam train to get up to 60 MPH. The record has been broken ten times since then, all by men.
Until now, that is.
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What an inspiration to us all! Man or woman, just look at what a strong person can accomplish when they set their mind to it. Congratulations to Denise, Shea, and their entire team!
Watch the breathtaking video of Denise smashing the world record in the video below, and don’t forget to share.
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