A six and a half hour, 150km ride is no mean feat … but Oscar Delaite’s achievement might just blow your socks off.
He did it on one wheel.
The Frenchman shattered his own world record in recent weeks, once again securing a place in the Guinness Book of World Records with the longest-ever wheelie.
“I finally achieved my wheeling record goal! After a year of preparation, I did the longest wheelie in history: 150 km in 6 hours and 31 minutes, without stopping,” the college student wrote on social media.
Most of us have pulled off wheelies at one time or another. Peter Sagan made it his signature stunt when riding in the autobus at races such as the Tour de France.
But Sagan, great as he was, isn’t a patch on this 19 year old.
Delaite held his bike upright for an even greater duration that the longest Tour stage took this year.
That’s a staggering achievement and, well, more than a little wacky.
“The day went really well. It was hard, long, very long… but it was worth it!” Delaite wrote. “Mission accomplished, and I’m super proud to have reached the 150 km mark and fulfilled the contract!
“A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me since the beginning of this adventure. This is only the beginning ”
The latest in a series of balancing brilliance
Delaite has had his eyes set on quirky records for quite some time. Back in May 2023 he completed 100.5km while riding a bike with no front wheel. That’s incidentally easier than his latest achievement, due to the lack of weight of the wheel.
In July 2024 he was at it again, setting the mark for the longest one handed wheelie when he defied gravity and reason for 1 hour 46 minutes and 34 seconds.
His latest mark, though, is an even bigger athletic feat.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the engineering student from the Université de Technologié de Troyes trained for more than a year before his effort. He completed 10 to 15 hours a week in order to build the required strength and skill.
That paid off in spades, with Delaite averaging over 23km/h (14.3 miles per hour) in the course of his record-setting ride.
“The main pain was in my ass,” he said.
Aches and pains of holding such a position for so long now fading, he is looking for other opportunities to shine.
The WSJ has suggested these might include a wheelie version of “Everesting,” namely clocking up more than 29,029 feet of climbing in a single ride.
It’s not clear what this would look like, what bike would be used, or where it might be done.
Details are as scarce as can be right now, but Delaite will be plotting and planning and dreaming up something big.
You can’t keep a good man down. Or, in this case, his own front wheel.
Source URL: https://velo.outsideonline.com/news/reinventing-wheelie-frenchman-rode-150km-one-wheel/