A French college student has shattered a world record by riding a bicycle wheelie for more than 93 miles—not once letting the front wheel touch the ground. Oscar Delaite, a 19-year-old engineering student at the Université de Technologié de Troyes, pulled off the feat over six hours and 31 minutes on an indoor track in the French spa town of Vittel, completing 752 continuous laps and smashing the previous record by more than 43 miles. The feat—"Greatest Distance Covered While Performing a Continuous Bicycle Wheelie"—was completed in September and is now confirmed by Guinness World Records, which sent Delaite a congratulatory email on Monday.
Why endure such a challenge? For Delaite, the answer is simple: "Because it's fun," he tells Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay, though he admits his butt was "painful for a week" afterwards. While it may seem an odd pursuit, Delaite is no stranger to wheelie records. He already owned the titles for the longest one-handed wheelie and the longest continuous wheelie without the front wheel, though he notes the latter is a bit easier since there's less weight to lift.
For his latest and most high-profile mark, Oscar trained for more than a year, 10 to 15 hours a week. His record-breaking set up was quite typical: a Rose commuter bike with a flat bar and slick, 50 millimeter width tires, standard pressure. The only modification was adjusting the seat so Oscar could sit as he attempted the record. Delaite wore a helmet, a camera strapped to his chest, and a water supply draped around his back. He did not wear fancy cycling shoes—he wore Nike basketball high-tops. Over the six and a half hours, he averaged a speed of 14 miles an hour, which Gay notes is "rather remarkable."
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