Berthet: 1933 record ©www.velorizontal.com

The pursuit of 'The Fastest Man on Earth' title has always been hotly contested.

The first recorded attempts took place in 1912 when Frenchman Etienne Bunau-Varilla patented a streamlined enclosure for a bicycle and its rider. Descendants of this bicycle set speed records in Europe from until 1933.

On 18 November 1933, another Frenchman, Marcel Berthet, covered 49.99kms/31.06 miles in one hour, more than 5km/3mph faster than anyone had traveled over this distance on a standard bicycle.

Earlier in 1933 Charles Mochet had built a supine recumbent (lying on his back) bicycle, with a streamlined body. French rider Francois Faure used this to set a number of speed records between 1933 and 1938.

More recently, in September 1992, American Chris Huber and his aerodynamic sprintbike, Dexter-Hysol Cheetah , achieved an official two-way average run of 6.51 seconds, which equated to a speed of 110.6kph/
68.72mph.

For eight years, Huber, as the holder of the Human Powered Vehicle World Land Speed Record, was able to keep the competition at bay. Despite a number of subsequent attempts, the record was only recently broken.

 

	Whittingham [left]: Record holder ©Team Varna

In October 2000, Canadian rider Sam Whittingham and his George Georgiev designed bike Varna Mephisto, set a new record. His time was 6.15 seconds, which equated to a speed of 117.1kph/72.74mph.

However, with the impending World Human Powered Speed Challenge, Whittingham’s record is expected to be much more short-lived. The general consensus is that the record will be broken during the event, probably by more than one rider.

But whether it is Queally, Whittingham, Weaver or Markham who has recorded the fastest mark by the end of the week remains to be seen. The title of 'The Fastest Man on Earth' is well and truly up for grabs.

- Ash Potterton & Marisa Viola