Mueller-Korenek rides 183.9mph, Smashes World Record

Mueller-Korenek rides 183.9mph, Smashes World Record

The benefits of sitting in the middle of the peloton with all the wind blocked don’t need to be repeated here. But what if you took it to the extremes on the Bonneville Salt Flats, tucked in behind a 1,000-horsepower drag race car with a custom-built wind fairing? Well, that’s exactly how Denise Mueller-Korenek hit 183.932 miles per hour, smashing a 23-year-old world record.

She hit the record speed on her second attempt, breaking Fred Rompelberg’s 1995 Paced Bicycle Speed Record, 167mph.

Mueller-Korenek, 45, is familiar to top speeds on Utah’s salt flats. She previously set a women’s world record of 147.75mph in 2016. This Sunday, the mother of two took the world record outright, paced by an overhauled version of the dragster that paced Rompelberg to his record speed.

That gear ratio though! The drive ratio is 62:12, twice, or approximately 128 feet per pedal revolution.