Cycling at 183.93 miles per hour

September 17, 2018 1:42 PM

Denise Korenek just set a 'paced bicycle land speed record' - essentially cycling behind a vehicle and using the drafting (slip-streaming) to achieve very high speeds.
posted by Stark (62 comments total)

All of this is just all-out flabbergastingly awesome. From the tech to human ingenuity to pure physical & mental perfection.
posted by chavenet at 1:50 PM on September 17, 2018

The gear ratio OMGF. Awesome.
posted by parki at 1:58 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

488 gear inches, for comparison, if I setup a bike with a pizza-sized 75 tooth chainring driving a silver dollar sized 8 tooth cog you only get 246 gear inches out of a normal 700c tire. 

This has nearly twice that. Yeeeeeesh. For comparison the stock gearing on a Trek Madone is like 120 inches.

And the draft vehicle is that top fuel dragster lookin' thing? Double yeeeeeesh.
posted by Kyol at 1:59 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

I'm never exactly sure how I feel about records like this. On the one hand, it's ridiculously impressive. On the other hand, it's ridiculously dangerous.

They don't publicize or record patently dangerous records like "most games of Russian Roulette survived" for a reason. This is obviously safer, but still potentially lethal!
posted by explosion at 2:00 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Denise Korenek has an amazing story on her own leading up to this point and I remember her record/attempts a couple years ago.

BUT OH MY GOD. I'd be scared to drive a car that fast. :x
posted by Atreides at 2:10 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Like 15 years ago, in ye olden days before ubiquitous GPS-enabled devices, I bought a basic bike computer to see how fast I was riding. I was pretty impressed by my speeds until I realized that the computer was set to display in kilometers per hour.
posted by peeedro at 2:18 PM on September 17, 2018 [11 favorites]

The gear ratio on that bike is such that, without a tow to 50+ MPH, it's basically impossible to pedal.

And yeah, as Kyol points out, most racing bikes are set up with 52/39 in front and 11-23 or 11-25 in the rear, so your tallest gear is 52 x 11. That yields about 124 gear-inches, and is almost useless as a gear unless you're already moving 20+ MPH.
posted by uberchet at 2:20 PM on September 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

A-and may this serve for future arguments as proof that cyclists and cardrivers can get along, if they'd only try.
posted by chavenet at 2:21 PM on September 17, 2018 [13 favorites]

There must be video from this, but if not here's video from the prior run and prep for this one.
posted by chavenet at 2:24 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

I had seen pictures of a 100 mph or so bike from one of the previous records, which used single-stage gearing and the front gear was about the size of the wheels on this bike. I hadn't realized this was a record people were still chasing, although I shouldn't be surprised.
posted by ckape at 2:24 PM on September 17, 2018

In this article it mentions that her team consisted of Rompelberg, whose record she broke, and John Howard, who set the record in 1985. Neat that they would support her in this challenge.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 2:25 PM on September 17, 2018 [14 favorites]

There must be video from this, but if not here's video from the prior run and prep for this one.

At about 4 minutes into this video you can see somebody try to pedal her bike at ordinary speeds. It's entertaining.
posted by entropone at 2:39 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

The most surprising part of her bike, to me, is that she's using flat handlebars and not drop bars. Obviously aerodynamics aren't too important in this scenario, but I've always found that the forward position offered by drop bars feels more effective from a muscle-use point of view than a more upright position does. Not to mention more secure because the weight of your upper body is helping to press your arms and hands forward into the drops, giving you a stronger grip. But maybe that's not as important when you've got a suspension fork.

Anyway, in conclusion: What a badass.
posted by good in a vacuum at 2:40 PM on September 17, 2018

Note: no front brakes.

I'm kinda curious about what sorta wattage she's developing - i.e. is it a pure strength trial or is it more a presence of mind and willingness to do the unthinkable sort of deal. Like, if an ex-pro sprinter turned up and set their sights on it, would the record tumble? Or is it like the difference between Greg LeMond and Lon Haldeman?
posted by Kyol at 2:58 PM on September 17, 2018

I always thought flat bars gave better control and leverage, which is why they're common on mountain bikes. The downside is that they lead to hand/wrist fatigue but that's not a huge deal when she's only going 4 miles in a few minutes.
posted by muddgirl at 3:05 PM on September 17, 2018

The gear ratio on that bike is such that, without a tow to 50+ MPH, it's basically impossible to pedal.

Yeah, to me this is the funniest part - it's not just that she's drafting, the bike is literally unridable unless it's somehow accelerated to 50+ MPH by some external force first.

IT HAS TWO CHAINRINGS

Like, if an ex-pro sprinter turned up and set their sights on it, would the record tumble?

Interesting questions, but it's as much a mechanical record as it is a physical record. From the photos the bike looks like it has speedplays, it would have been interesting to see what kind of power she developed via a pedal-based power meter.

Wired says "As a junior cyclist she won 13 national championships in road, track, and mountain bike racing, before anxiety led her to quit the sport" so she's certainly got the chops and probably puts out more power than just a handful of top men. Maybe more - it would be interesting to measure.
posted by GuyZero at 3:15 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Obviously aerodynamics aren't too important in this scenario

Slipstreams are caused by turbulent flow. This scenario is all about aerodynamics.
posted by Rob Rockets at 3:17 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

I was pretty impressed by my speeds until I realized that the computer was set to display in kilometers per hour.

I don't understand - is there another alternative? I've never seen a bike computer that used cgs instead of kms.
posted by GuyZero at 3:17 PM on September 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

Uh, miles per hour?
posted by jonathanhughes at 3:22 PM on September 17, 2018 [9 favorites]

I mean, you could measure her raw power output on a staionary bike. It wouldn't be a practically perfect apples to apples but, well yea.

That said, I do love these sort of very much mechanical meets mortal feats/records. I wish there was a way to push our limits in a safer fashion but, well, again, them's the (literal) breaks... It's nice that she gives as much credit as she does to her driver because, without that, I'd have assumed it was simply a set speed that she had to match or constantly accelerate towards without ever getting left behind by the pace-windbreak vehicle.

I'm trying to come up with a scenario where a vaccum would be pulled by said pace vehicle hard enough to essentially pull a biker behind it up to the vehicle's max speed. I'm a mechanical engineer by education and it seems like that would be possible but I can't say with certainty on the non-theoretical side.
posted by RolandOfEld at 3:26 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

IT HAS TWO CHAINRINGS

2 CHAINZ!

I see a lost music tie-in and sponsorship opportunity here.
posted by Brockles at 3:30 PM on September 17, 2018 [7 favorites]

Slipstreams are caused by turbulent flow. This scenario is all about aerodynamics.

Yes, but when you are drafting behind a big box, sitting up to maximize the drafting force might be better than minimizing your frontal slipstream as you normally would.
posted by JackFlash at 3:36 PM on September 17, 2018

Terrifying to think about the margin for error on the aerodynamics here. What would it even feel like to fall out of draft in this situation? You'd be beyond terminal velocity (~122mph), and I imagine you'd start tumbling almost immediately.
posted by billjings at 3:45 PM on September 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

I wonder what impact sucking down exhaust for that long has on this activity. Would a low or no emissions vehicle fare better from a lung perspective? Maybe they already funnelled the exhaust out of the way so it's not pumped toward her. This was a very badass feat either way, I just can't stop thinking about how much it sucks to take a breath with exhaust blowing your way.
posted by GoblinHoney at 3:45 PM on September 17, 2018

I wonder how she trained to not scream at the top of her lungs the entire time she's drafting behind the vehicle, as that would be my first and only reaction.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 3:47 PM on September 17, 2018 [13 favorites]

sitting up to maximize the drafting force might be better than minimizing your frontal slipstream as you normally would

Right? I can almost visualize a similar usage whereby the draft vehicle could use strategic vents or venturi to direct a pushing flow behind said cyclist. Hell if there's a wind powered vehicle that can go faster than said wind speed I'm in the all bets are off camp unless it violates the laws of thermo.

I imagine you'd start tumbling almost immediately.

I bet you would for sure if you weren't tucked in really tight. Probably would otherwise too. Interesting question though.

Maybe they already funnelled the exhaust out of the way so it's not pumped toward her.

Almost certainly as this is a very easy thing to do engine/vehicle-wise and would not impact the vehicle's performance much/at all.
posted by RolandOfEld at 3:50 PM on September 17, 2018

I'm kinda curious about what sorta wattage she's developing

I read a bunch of stuff today on this, so I'm not sure of the cite, but somewhere they said she'd be over 700 watts for several minutes.

That is crazytown wattage. I'm a not-weak rider; people do racing at participatory (but probably not podium) levels at my level of strength. I had a hard, fast ride on Sunday, and my peak wattage for twelve seconds was 747. But I'm also a large dude (220), and power scales with size. I'm just assuming that, in her capacity as a lady, she's much smaller than I am.

The tl;dr here is that holy fuck ishe's strong as hell

I wonder what impact sucking down exhaust for that long has on this activity. Would a low or no emissions vehicle fare better from a lung perspective? Maybe they already funnelled the exhaust out of the way so it's not pumped toward her.

I expect the towing vehicle had top-venting exhaust; isn't that more common for dragsters? In any case, I wouldn't assume AT ALL that the towing vehicle had rear-mounted pipes like a normal human car. It's a high-speed thing, with all sorts of design choices predicated on speed that make it completely alien to your Volkswagen or whatever.
posted by uberchet at 3:58 PM on September 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

Maybe the tow truck driver that I thought was trying to kill me this morning was really trying to get me to hook up to be towed so that I could try this?
posted by asperity at 4:05 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

I do love that the bike has a dual-crown downhill suspension fork and 17 inch wheels. Ironic considering the bits of accepted wisdom in cycling like "bigger wheels are faster" and "you can't pedal fast with suspension it saps your energy".
posted by other barry at 4:14 PM on September 17, 2018

The dragster has side exhausts, which is pretty common, and they exit in front of the fairing the bicycle sits in, so it is ducted around where she is pedalling. This is clear from other pictures.
posted by Brockles at 4:15 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Also, did anyone notice the bicycling.com article was written by Selene Yeager - eponysterical?
posted by other barry at 4:18 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

That's just shy of 300kph, jeebus.
posted by mhoye at 4:25 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

For perspective, here's an elephant Olympic track cyclist powering a 700W toaster. This is an enormous amount of power for a human to sustain beyond a few seconds.
posted by klanawa at 4:56 PM on September 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

Fuck yeah! RIDE LIKE A GIRL!
posted by loquacious at 4:57 PM on September 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

Oh, they have one of female cyclist doing the toaster too. They're all badass. Wow.
posted by klanawa at 4:58 PM on September 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

She thought through her outfit better than this guy.
posted by waving at 4:59 PM on September 17, 2018

What would it even feel like to fall out of draft in this situation?

That happened to John Howard during one of his record attempts. The valve springs on his innertubes wouldn't hold pressure against the centrifugal force at those speeds, and one of his wheels deflated. He stayed upright, IIRC. And then got different innertubes.
posted by adamrice at 5:01 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

I feel bad for those poor toaster cyclists - they should put a big fan on them to help shed heat.
posted by muddgirl at 5:03 PM on September 17, 2018

Video.
posted by standardasparagus at 5:06 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

ok watching that video the most hair raising part was her getting towed up to speed

that looked janky af
posted by GuyZero at 5:16 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

I think I saw an interview where she talked about oscillating between 200 and 700 watts depending where she was in the vortex. So not a sustained 700W output, but still insanely difficult especially if she's on the smaller side. She also said she got kicked out of the vortex at 130MPH and it was "intense".
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:22 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Impressive. Very close to the 221MPH that is the top speed thus far in MotoGP this year.
posted by juiceCake at 5:28 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

That 183 mph was the average for the last mile.
posted by aniola at 5:42 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Love that wind-powered vehicle. Someone got into an internet debate and then built the vehicle to prove their point.

Such a cool concept ride. I want a wind-powered vehicle that goes faster than the wind!
posted by aniola at 5:46 PM on September 17, 2018

I want a wind-powered vehicle that goes faster than the wind!

Buy a sailboat.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:59 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I do love that the bike has a dual-crown downhill suspension fork and 17 inch wheels. Ironic considering the bits of accepted wisdom in cycling like "bigger wheels are faster" and "you can't pedal fast with suspension it saps your energy".

I watched a bunch of the videos on her FB page before the event, and the guy who designed the bike (for Kona) had some very interesting things to say about the design. For instance, the entire thing is designed around the tires. Normal bike tires would just disintegrate under the forces they were anticipating, so he went looking for some rubber that would hold up and found these motorcycle tires. They determined the wheel size/build, and then the bike took shape around that.

Amazing cyclist, amazing team, amazing engineering; this really was an incredible accomplishment!
posted by carsonb at 6:06 PM on September 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

Wired says "As a junior cyclist she won 13 national championships in road, track, and mountain bike racing, before anxiety led her to quit the sport"

I would not find this less anxiety producing, personally. I was biting my knuckles through the entire video.
posted by fshgrl at 6:25 PM on September 17, 2018

That dried lake bed must be quite bumpy at those speeds. The suspension is necessary.

There's not much margin for error. The bike looked a little unstable in the middle of the video, and touching the dragster fairing at the side would be terrible.

...

I want a wind-powered vehicle that goes faster than the wind!

Buy a sailboat.

sailing at 68 mph. Another purpose built vehicle.
posted by jjj606 at 6:29 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Here's Charles "Mile-a-Minute" Murphy's completely bonkers account of the first ever land-speed record ride, where he rode behind a locomotive, on plywood boards laid down over the railroad ties:

"With eyes glued upon the vertical strip of white on back of the car… I experienced an entirely different feeling compared with my previous ride", Murphy recalled. "The officials knew that there was something wrong, that I was labouring under great difficulties. I could not understand the violent vibration in the track, as though I was riding over an undulation instead of level track; feeling hot missiles striking my face and body. I learned afterwards it was burning rubber from under the car.

"Within five seconds the rate of speed was terrific; I was riding in a maelstrom of swirling dust, hot cinders, paper and other particles of matter. The whipsaw feeling through a veritable storm of fire became harder every second. I could feel myself getting weaker every second I saw ridicule, contempt, disgrace and a lifetime dream gone up in smoke. I saw the agonised faces, yelling, holding out stretched hands as if they would like to get hold of or assist me somehow."

The half-mile passed in 29.4 seconds.

"Wobbling to and fro, but still gaining, the dust, the odour of burning rubber… The car was crowded with men who had been used to seeing any and all things that were dangerous, but the howling and screaming of sturdy officials and newspaper men from all over the United States that stood on the platform put all on edge. Suddenly, three-quarters was passed in 43 4/5 seconds. I expected to go off the track, travelling faster than the train, with the terrible storm of dust, pebbles, hot rubber and cinders. I looked up blankly. It was getting to a point where I could expect anything."

Finally he saw the waving Stars and Stripes that marked the finish. He was at that point 15 feet behind the train, having struggled to stay with it. By then, however, he was closing the gap and therefore riding faster than the train. Sam Booth shut off steam. Murphy crashed into the train. The bike tipped up and Murphy let go and grabbed an upright bar. Fullerton caught one arm and a man called Joseph H. Cummin the other and they pulled both bike and rider to the platform.

"I lay motionless, face down, on the platform. I was all in. I was half-carried to a cot at the end of the car; the roar of the train was challenged by hysterical yells. Grown men hugged and kissed each other. One man fainted and another went into hysterics, while I remained speechless on my back, ashen in colour and sore all over," Murphy said.

Booth, the driver, was worried. He'd seen Murphy drop back on the first ride and had looked for him to do the same on the second. Seconds after shutting off steam he reached the end of the racing track and thought Murphy had piled into unprotected ties (UK: sleepers) between the rails. Seeing him being treated for burns from flying cinders, he thought he was dead.

posted by hydrophonic at 7:09 PM on September 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

I do love that the bike has a dual-crown downhill suspension fork and 17 inch wheels. Ironic considering the bits of accepted wisdom in cycling like "bigger wheels are faster" and "you can't pedal fast with suspension it saps your energy".

Well, yeah, but surely you can stipulate that 180+MPH in a draft is a drastically different use-case than your 25MPH group ride.
posted by uberchet at 8:01 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Obviously aerodynamics aren't too important in this scenario

Slipstreams are caused by turbulent flow. This scenario is all about aerodynamics.

*Rolls eyes* I meant the aerodynamics of how a bike and rider are configured in a scenario where she's drafting a vehicle, as opposed to a rider that's having to break the mass of air on her own. My point was she can afford to sit upright because the vehicle is breaking the air for her. Without a vehicle in front of you it makes more sense to look like this.
posted by good in a vacuum at 8:24 PM on September 17, 2018

In this article it mentions that her team consisted of Rompelberg, whose record she broke, and John Howard, who set the record in 1985. Neat that they would support her in this challenge.

The land speed record community is pretty tight. I've got a riding buddy who runs motorcycles out there, and it's very much a bunch of nerdy motor enthusiasts all trying to go fast. Not the typical competitive sports culture typically associated with racing.
posted by calamari kid at 8:53 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Okay, 180 miles per hour is one mile every 20 seconds. With 17 inch wheels, or, approximately a 53-inch circumference, that's about twenty wheel revolutions per second. She was experiencing time dilation, dude.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:26 AM on September 18, 2018

sitting up to maximize the drafting force might be better than minimizing your frontal slipstream as you normally would.
*
Right? I can almost visualize a similar usage whereby the draft vehicle could use strategic vents or venturi to direct a pushing flow behind said cyclist.

There's a type of racing called steher (stayer) racing in which every bike racer is paced by a huge motorcycle whose pilot is standing upright. They ride unique bikes with tiny front wheels (to get closer to their pacer) and relatively upright positions.

This is because a big draft doesn't just reduce the wind resistance in front of you; it curls around and creates a vortext behind you that sucks you along. Being upright helps you catch this curl.
posted by entropone at 4:42 AM on September 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

BrotherCaine: I think I saw an interview where she talked about oscillating between 200 and 700 watts depending where she was in the vortex. So not a sustained 700W output, but still insanely difficult especially if she's on the smaller side. She also said she got kicked out of the vortex at 130MPH and it was "intense".

She's going in and out of the vortex? IOW, she's trying to stay in the center of a small tornado, and occasionally she slips out of the center and gets hit by random tornado air coming from a random direction?

Jesus.
posted by clawsoon at 5:56 AM on September 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

My first reaction on watching the video of her interview was to note that her forearms are fucking ripped. I guess they'd have to be, to hold steady at these speeds.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:59 AM on September 18, 2018

fshgrl: I would not find this less anxiety producing...

However in competitive cycling there's other people intentionally getting in your way? Add to that if it's a co-ed race, some guys might rage over getting passed by a woman. Previously.

Not that that's necessarily where her anxiety was, but that's immediately where my mind went to whem thinking of how speed records could be easier.

I'm a runner, not a biker, but I do some biking. My top speed, on a hybrid, going downhill, is around 35mph territory, and anything over 28mph is still always scary. I couldn't handle her towing speed, much less the insanity that she accomplished. To think that she's exited the vortex at 130mph and is still around, and went back for more? Amazing.
posted by nobeagle at 8:13 AM on September 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

"...probably puts out more power than just a handful of top men..."

No; the physical differences between men and women mean that the top women athletes are always going to be on the order of 10 percent slower than the top men. And among men, the bottom pros are going to only slightly slower than the top pros, so the top professional women are going to be generally competitive with good male amateurs.

This article has a neat chart with power output by gender and level of competition. The top women put out similar power as typical "A grade" amateur men.

But as noted by other comments, this amazing accomplishment is not just about power output.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:48 AM on September 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

Not to derail too much, but the record for maximum distance cycled in one year is also held by a woman, Amanda Coker, who managed 86,537 miles (139,269 km) obliterating the previous record by about 10,000 miles. She kept going, and also set the record for fastest time to 100,000 miles, at 423 days.

Obviously this was her entire life for the duration: she was averaging 237 miles/day, and on her shortest day's riding still logged 55 miles, despite being in a hurricane. Peak power isn't that important here, although she's no slowpoke: she had to be able to maintain a pretty quick pace to do that, and her average speed was fast enough that a weekend warrior would probably have a hard time keeping up with her for long (never mind 13 hours, her normal riding day). Her endurance and mental toughness are obviously off the charts.
posted by adamrice at 9:41 AM on September 18, 2018 [4 favorites]

But as noted by other comments, this amazing accomplishment is not just about power output.

Aye, this falls more on the "sport" side of Hemingway's distinction between "games and sports".
posted by clawsoon at 9:49 AM on September 18, 2018

Wow, reading about Amanda Coker, she did most of that in a 7 mile loop in a local park.
posted by tavella at 11:50 AM on September 18, 2018

My first reaction on watching the video of her interview was to note that her forearms are fucking ripped. I guess they'd have to be, to hold steady at these speeds.

I'm guessing there's an extensive arm, core and back strength training regime just for her to be able to generate 700w. For me, a lot of sprinting from a dead stop tends to develop core/oblique and arm strength even more than leg strength and I'm strictly amateur.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:03 PM on September 18, 2018