Denise Mueller-Korenek

Denise Mueller-Korenek (born ) is an American cyclist. she holds the world record for paced bicycle land speed and is considered "the fastest cyclist on earth". She set the record on September 16, 2018, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, by traveling an average of 183.932 mph (296.009 km/h) on a custom-built carbon KHS bicycle behind a custom-built vehicle to minimize air resistance. The previous record, , was set in 1995 by Dutchman Fred Rompelberg. Two years earlier she set the women's bicycle land speed record, pedaling 147.7 mph (237.7 km/h). She is the first and only woman in history to hold the world record, which was first established in 1899.

Early life and education

Denise Mueller was born into a family of daredevils. Her father, Myron Mueller, was an ultra-distance cyclist; he celebrated his 70th birthday by pedaling the entire perimeter of the coterminous United States, a distance of more than . He is in the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the oldest person to bicycle that perimeter. Her mother, Anna Dement, raced midget demolition-derby cars. "In our family, crazy is our sort of normal," Denise said. She graduated from San Dieguito High School.

In 1991, she appeared in a segment with her mentor John Howard (cyclist) in an instructional videotape produced by New & Unique Videos entitled "John Howard's Lessons in Cycling" which won an International Film & TV Festival of New York Silver Medal and a National Telly Award.

Career

Mueller competed as a junior cyclist in her teens and finished in the top three in national and world competitions more than a dozen times. She won national championships in road, track and mountain biking 15 times. She retired in 1992 at age 19. She went to work for her family's security company, eventually becoming president and CEO.

In 2009, Mueller-Korenek resumed bicycling and running, competing in marathons and Ironman Triathlon competitions. Her trainer, both in her teens and later, is John Howard, a three-time Olympian and holder of the world speed record before Rompelberg. Mueller-Korenek decided to go for the speed record when Howard told her no woman had ever attempted it. She began seriously training to set a new bicycle speed record in 2012. Along the way she won two national titles for her age group. In 2016, she made her first run at the record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Her speed of established the women's world record.

In paced bicycle racing, the cyclist follows immediately behind a pace car equipped with a wind shield, so that they are pedaling in the car's slipstream. Riding at that speed just inches behind a pace car is so dangerous that most world-class cyclists do not attempt it. The custom bicycle is geared so high that it has to be towed by the pace car until it reaches ; the cyclist then casts off the towrope and pedals under their own power. Rompelberg, whose record she was trying to break, encouraged her efforts and allowed her to use as a pace car the same custom dragster he had used in setting the record. The pace car was driven by professional race car driver Shea Holbrook. In her 2018 attempt, Mueller-Korenek circled the track times after casting off the tow rope, breaking the world record on her final mile. Her goal had been to break the previous record of ; she was surprised to learn she had reached , breaking Rompelberg's record by almost . "We weren't supposed to go more than 175," she said.

External Links

Documentary
How This Cyclist Hit 184MPH and Set the World Record
Wall Street Journal. (YouTube, 21 min)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller-Korenek, Denise
Living people
1973 births
American female cyclists
Cyclists from California
People from Valley Center, California
American women business executives
World record holders
21st-century American women