An American woman became the fastest human on a bike when she clocked 183.9 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on Sunday, shattering the previous record set in 1995 by Dutch cyclist Fred Rompelberg.
"Now I know how Evel Knievel felt," said Denise Mueller-Korenek moments after shattering the record, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Reaching the breakneck speed was not an easy, or cheap, task, and required a team of support as well as a custom-designed carbon fiber bike equipped with motorcycle wheels and a pair of 60-tooth chainrings that worked with a 12-tooth cog.
The overall effect was to allow Mueller-Koronek to reach up to 130 feet of travel on a single pedal stroke.
To achieve the record, she was towed by a dragster until they hit 150 mph at the 2-mile mark of the 5-mile course, at which point she released the cable tether and pedaled the remaining miles on her own.
Riding in the dragster's slipstream, she was able to accelerate to just under 184 mph.
In a video posted to Facebook, an excited Mueller-Koronek is seen hugging her friends and family members, telling them they broke the limit of what they initially set out to achieve.
"It definitely gets rough at that speed," she said, according to BNQT.
"I'm speechless. It hasn't hit me yet," she added, according to the Wall Street Journal, adding that the achievement was "the culmination of all the work and energy."
Her coach, John Howard, said Mueller-Koronek's power and spirit was key to her success.
"The unique combination is why she was able to smash the World Paced Bicycle Speed Record," he said, according to Bike Radar.
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