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Neil Campbell hits 174mph to become fastest man on a bike

Briton has said he may go on to try and beat Denise Mueller-Korenek's motor-paced world record...

Great Britain’s Neil Campbell had hit a speed of 174.3 miles per hour (280.6 kilometres an hour) to become the fastest man on a bike – with his ride at Elvington Airfield in North Yorkshire also breaking his own motor-paced European record.

Fred Rompelberg from the Netherlands held the motor-paced world record for almost a quarter of a century from 1995, when he rode 166.9 miles per hour (268.8 kilometres per hour) at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Last year, at the same venue, Denise Mueller-Korenek of the United States broke that record, hitting 184 miles per hour (296 kilometres per hour).

Campbell, who works as an architect in Essex, has said he would like to target that record, although he accepts that he would have to travel to Utah to try and break it, with the runway at Elvington not long enough to accommodate such an attempt.

In successfully beating Rompelberg’s speed this weekend, he was towed behind a Porsche Cayenne before being released, and once he had been through the timed section deployed a parachute to help him come to a stop.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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robike | 4 years ago
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Is Upper Hayford long enough - about 3.5kn, where elvington is 2.8.

I guess its the acceleration that is the challenge - "taxiing" in at one end as fast as possible before really hitting the legs on the straight - how long is the minimum measurement distance - 200m or more?

 

 

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OldRidgeback | 4 years ago
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That's really impressive. I Hope he tried for the cycling speed record next.

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ktache | 4 years ago
3 likes

The dialogue in Momento would have gone a lot quicker.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
1 like

Didn't Guy Pearce try and do this a couple of years ago?  Pembrey Sands, drafting behind a truck, IIRC?

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The _Kaner replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
5 likes
brooksby wrote:

Didn't Guy Pearce try and do this a couple of years ago?  Pembrey Sands, drafting behind a truck, IIRC?

Guy Pearce...the actor.
Guy Martin.....

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brooksby replied to The _Kaner | 4 years ago
1 like

The _Kaner wrote:
brooksby wrote:

Didn't Guy Pearce try and do this a couple of years ago?  Pembrey Sands, drafting behind a truck, IIRC?

Guy Pearce...the actor. Guy Martin.....

Whichever... The one with the curly hair, strong accent, and a mug of strong tea superglued to his hand.

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jaysa | 4 years ago
1 like

280kph on a bike ??  Raw courage  - and behind a board he couldnt see through too.

Have done 110kph which felt plenty quick - what must 2.5 times the speed be like !

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fixation80 | 4 years ago
1 like

Wow! and Wow again, I could have done with that car on my less than moderate ten mile time trial yesterday, it was windy!

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