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Enlarge ImageRiding a bike at 20 to 30 miles per hour (32 to 48 kph) really feels like flying, so imagine the feeling of going 85.71 (about 138 kph).
That’s exactly what Canadian company AeroVelo, maker of human-powered vehicles, managed to achieve on Thursday, when company founder Todd Reichart pedaled his way to a new human-powered speed record at the 2015 World Human Powered Speed Challenge competition. He was riding the wheeled Aerovelo Eta human-powered speed bike built by a team of 14.
The previous record for a human-powered vehicle was 83.13 miles per hour (about 133.8 kilometers per hour), set by Dutch cyclist Sebastiaan Bowier in 2013.
AeroVelo is no stranger to human-powered firsts — that’s pretty much what it does. The company built the Snowbird Ornithopter, which took the first human-powered flapping winged aircraft flight in 2010. The AeroVelo Atlas won the $250,000 (about £160,000, AU $350,000) Sikorsky Prize in 2013 for first minute-long human-powered helicopter flight.
Reichert and AeroVelo’s record is not completely safe, however, as the competition continues through Saturday. You can learn more about the Eta design process in the video below.
(Via Engadget)
