Mueller-Korenek’s KHS

Nothing’s ever dull in the world of cycling land speed records, explains John Kitchiner, neither the rider nor the ride. But which is craziest?

THE HISTORY OF cycling speed records is long and varied. From Charles ‘Mile a Minute’ Murphy’s 1899 ‘motor-paced’ record (he hit 60mph by drafting a train, having covered the track in plywood sheets) to Eric Barone’s downhill, unpaced, record of 227km/h (141.5mph) set on the snowy slopes of the French Alps. Not to mention Ilona Peltier’s unpaced benchmark of 126.5km/h (78.6mph) on a recumbent as recently as 2019.

No matter the category variant or niche, two things remain constant: the pilot in question has more than a few screws loose and the attempt involves some kind of equally crazy ‘frankenbike’. Compared to Graeme Obree’s ‘Old Faithful’ — with wheel bearings made from old washing machine parts (see LondonCyclist, Autumn 2018) and on which he set a World hour record — these speeder bikes push engineering in a whole different direction.

You naturally need wide open spaces for such public displays of lunacy and on 16 September 2018, the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah played host to America’s Denise MullerKorenek and her unique, custom KHS bike.

The frame was built entirely from carbon fibre, with an extra triangle added behind the rear wheel, creating a very long (over 2m) but very stable machine. Rims, spokes and tyres were sourced from vintage drag motorcycles and paired with modified Profile hubs. But things got truly Heath Robinson with a compound drivetrain comprising two chainrings, two cogs and a shed load of chain; with a monster 62:12 gear ratio, when doubled that meant that Mueller-Korenek would travel about 40m for a single pedal rotation. Just mind-blowing numbers.

Tucked in and towed behind a 1,000-horsepower dragster pace car (with special wind-beating fairing fitted), driven by professional racing driver Shea Holbrook, Mueller-Korenek cast off the rope at the designated time and clocked a new best time near the very end of her run — 296km/h (183.9mph)! She’d smashed the previous high and remains the first and only woman in history to hold the motor-paced world record.

Incidentally there’s also an indoor speed record, set in 1995 by Bruce Bursford — a frankly terrifying 334.6km/h (207.9mph) — using the facilities and special ‘rollers’ at the Malcolm Campbell building at Brooklands Museum in Surrey.