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from the holding-the-bumper-doesn't-count dept.
Velonews reports that experienced cycle racer Denise Mueller of San Diego, California was successful in setting the first woman's paced (drafting behind a car) cycling record. The record is the culmination of at least two years of training and planning.
Mueller set the new women's speed record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats where she rode a highly customized bike that includes two 60-tooth chainrings and double-speedup gearing (the article mistakenly calls this double reduction). The article claims the bike had a 488 inch gear (equivalent wheel diameter for a direct-drive wheel) which translates to a cadence of 102 RPM at 147 miles per hour.
While she hoped to go even faster, the article mentions that they were only able to use a four mile long course. They had hoped for 6 miles but it seems that conditions on the salt this year don't make that possible.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Bogsnoticus on Wednesday September 14 2016, @06:52AM
Big deal. I can run faster than that.
Admittedly, I'm running on a treadmill that's on the back of a truck going 180mph, but nevertheless, I'm running at over 180mph.
If she, or anyone else can achieve these speeds without being caught in the slipstream vortex of a drafting vehicle, THEN I'll be impressed.
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 2) by julian on Wednesday September 14 2016, @07:08AM
I won't be impressed until a person achieves such fitness that they can fly under their own power, unaided.
(Score: 2) by KilroySmith on Wednesday September 14 2016, @07:38AM
I've flown 150 miles without any kind of engine, and I didn't cheat like a sailplane pilot and get pulled up by one. Does that qualify?
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday September 14 2016, @09:39AM
I won't be impressed until a person achieves such fitness that they can fly under their own power, unaided.
Holly Jones would be happy to demonstrate [baen.com].
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bradley13 on Wednesday September 14 2016, @09:01AM
This. As with lots of records, it's hard to see the point. She's not bicycling 147mph, she's being sucked along by a specially prepared car. Granted, she has to stabilize the bicycle and maintain an optimal distance, both of which are likely not easy. Still, maybe it's more interesting that dispensing milkshakes through your nose [guinnessworldrecords.com].
Plus, of course, she's marking herself as a candidate for a Darwin award. Snorting milkshakes is less likely to result in death, unless you can die of grossness.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday September 14 2016, @04:58PM
The non-drafting version is pretty impressive: http://newatlas.com/cyclist-human-powered-speed-record/39472/ [newatlas.com]
What's the point of going on the salt flats to draft a car? Get on the side of the mountain instead.
(Score: 3, Funny) by NotSanguine on Wednesday September 14 2016, @09:50AM
Big deal. I can run faster than that.
Admittedly, I'm running on a treadmill that's on the back of a truck going 180mph, but nevertheless, I'm running at over 180mph.
That's nothing! I'm sitting on my fat ass at home and either moving at ~1040 miles per hour [wikipedia.org] or ~67,000 miles per hour [cornell.edu], depending on whether you want to look at the earth's rotational velocity or earth/sun orbital velocity, respectively.
So pick up the pace, slowpoke!
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @12:35PM
Stop typing and running and watch out for that underpass.