Cycling speed records are defined in many unusual way. For purists, it’s about the athlete pushing themselves on flat ground to the utmost speed. These mad men and women have pushed speeds of 83 mph (133 km/h) and 75 mph(121 km/h) respectively.

Then there are the paced records, where a cyclist utilizes a motor vehicle to minimize wind resistance. The first record of this style was set in 1899, when Charles “Mile a Minute” Murphy convinced a railroad company to lay down plywood sheets between railroad tracks and draft a train. He hit 60 mph (96 km/h) and became the first person to ride a mile on a bicycle in under a minute.

There are also the downhill records where riders hurtle down snow capped mountains (or sometimes a volcano) to reach speeds of over 100 mph (160 km/h)

Then there is this guy. Who used a Swedish designed hydrogen peroxide powered rocket to propel himself to 163 mph (263 km/h) on a former military base in France.

Despite the auxiliary power, this daredevil still wasn’t fast enough to surpass the flat surface, motor paced record of 167 mph (268 (km/h) set by Fred Rompelberg (who was fifty at the time!) in 1995.

Via Nos.SL