Motor Pacing

My Google home page contains a widget that keeps me up-to-date on Useless Knowledge.  I found today’s useless entry pretty amazing.

American John Howard holds the world record for bicycle speed. In 1985, he reached 245.08 kilometers per hour (about 154 miles per hour) by cycling in the slipstream of a specially designed car.

 While I enjoy cruising down hills during my rides, it makes my skin crawl thinking about moving 154 MPH on a bicycle.  I did a search to read more about that incredible journey, and here’s what I found:

Olympic Cyclist and IRONMAN triathlon winner, John Howard set a 152.2 Miles per Hour speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah on July 20, 1985.  He is drafting in the wake of a 500 Horsepower Streamliner.  This type of  human powered record is called motor pacing.  The pace vehicle was modified by adding a large tail fairing to 337 MPH record holding Vesco Streamliner.  The fairing keeps the wind off John and reduces the aerodynamic drag he is pedaling against to near nothing.

How many crank rotations does one have to pedal each second to travel at that speed?  This is really an incredible story, and I recommend reading about it here.