The hour record for bicycles is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle. There are several records. The most famous is for upright bicycles meeting the requirements of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). It is one of the most prestigious in cycling. Hour-record attempts are made in a velodrome, but never at high altitude.
The first recorded record was in 1876 when the American Frank Dodds rode 26.508 km (16.471 mi) on a penny-farthing. In 1972, Eddy Merckx set a record of 49.431 km (30.715 mi) that stood for 12 years. The current UCI record is by Ondřej Sosenka, 49.700 km (30.882 mi), the current WHPVA/IHPVA record by Francesco Russo stands at 91.56 km (56.89 mi).
Read more about Hour Record: History, Hour Records and Holders (Male), Hour Records (female)
Famous quotes containing the words hour and/or record:
“I still feel just as I told you, that I shall come safely out of this war. I felt so the other day when danger was near. I certainly enjoyed the excitement of fighting our way out of Giles to the Narrows as much as any excitement I ever experienced. I had a good deal of anxiety the first hour or two on account of my command, but not a particle on my own account. After that, and after I saw that we were getting on well, it was really jolly. We all joked and laughed and cheered constantly.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (18221893)
“We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it has been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)