Half a century ago, Beryl Burton broke the 12-hour time trial record. Not "just" the women's record, mind you: She broke the record by a full eight kilometers (five miles), which is something like a runner shaving five minutes off a marathon record.
Almost two years ago, Denise Mueller-Korenek rode faster on a bicycle than any woman--or man--before her. She beat a then-23-year-old record by 27.3 kilometers, or 17 miles, per hour. At 296 kilometers per hour (183.93 mph), she rode faster than an Airbus A340 taking off.
Now, here's another addition to the pantheon of women breaking men's records: Cat Dixon and Raz Marsden pedaled a tandem bicycle around the world in 263 days, beating the previous record by 18 days.
Their 29,391 km (18,263 mile) route took them through 25 countries, where they encountered everything from a continent-wide heat wave in Europe, monsoons in Asia and brush fires in Australia.
But perhaps their most daunting challenge was one they couldn't have anticipated. They caught one of the last ferries back to their native England--where they began their ride--on the day, in March, when the COVID-19-induced travel ban began.
Oh, and they're only a few years younger than I am!
Their feat has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
(Thanks to "voyage of the eye" for alerting me to Ms. Dixon's and Marsden's story.)
Almost two years ago, Denise Mueller-Korenek rode faster on a bicycle than any woman--or man--before her. She beat a then-23-year-old record by 27.3 kilometers, or 17 miles, per hour. At 296 kilometers per hour (183.93 mph), she rode faster than an Airbus A340 taking off.
Now, here's another addition to the pantheon of women breaking men's records: Cat Dixon and Raz Marsden pedaled a tandem bicycle around the world in 263 days, beating the previous record by 18 days.
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| Cat Dixon (l) and Raz Marsden (r) |
Their 29,391 km (18,263 mile) route took them through 25 countries, where they encountered everything from a continent-wide heat wave in Europe, monsoons in Asia and brush fires in Australia.
But perhaps their most daunting challenge was one they couldn't have anticipated. They caught one of the last ferries back to their native England--where they began their ride--on the day, in March, when the COVID-19-induced travel ban began.
Oh, and they're only a few years younger than I am!
Their feat has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
(Thanks to "voyage of the eye" for alerting me to Ms. Dixon's and Marsden's story.)
In the women's Strade Bianche last Saturday, in near-100F degree Tuscan heat, Annemiek Van Vleuten sprung from the peloton in the final 25km to bridge to a select chasing group that was about 4 minutes behind the solo race leader, Mavi Garcia. When it soon became apparent that the chasing group was not closing the gap to Garcia, Van Vleuten launched an amazing pursuit, eliminating the 4 minute lead to join Garcia with 6km remaining. Garcia attached to Van Vleuten's wheel and was able to hang on there until the final ascent of the Via Santa Catarina, where Van Vleuten attacked one final time, gaining an astonishing 22 second lead in the short, steep ascent. This was one of the most suspenseful finishes to any cycling race I've ever watched, and I've never seen athletes (of either gender) dig deeper.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most remarkable statistic from this race is that Van Vleuten's time to cover the final 25km was better than all but 2 of the men racing the Strade Bianche that day. Annemiek and other elite cyclists are demolishing the assumptions about what female athletes are capable of.