A team of eight from the Netherlands has set a new Guinness World Record (GWR) with the longest bicycle ever made, measuring an astonishing 55.16 meters (180 feet 11 inches). To put that in perspective, the bicycle is about the length of two blue whales or four double-decker buses. The previous record was set by Bernie Ryan from Australia in 2020, whose bicycle measured 47.5 meters (155 feet 8 inches).
According to GWT, the team was led by 39-year-old Ivan Schalk who has been dreaming of building this remarkable bicycle since he was a child. “I’ve been thinking about the idea for years. I once received a Guinness World Records book in which I came across this record," he said.
In the video shared by the official GWT YouTube channel, the team is seen meticulously welding and joining parts together to build the incredibly long bike. The three-minute-long footage captures a man at the front and five others at the rear, all pedalling to move the massive bicycle forward.
Watch the video here:
Notably, the team also set another record for the longest tandem bicycle by adding more pedals and covering the distance with multiple riders, as per GWT.
Ivan with experience in building carnival floats began the ambitious project in 2018 as a way to occupy himself in his free time. He needed help in building the giant bicycle so he sought help from fellow community members at a local carnival in his home village of Prinsenbeek.
“Prinsenbeek is known for its volunteers and high technical employability," Ivan said.
“You can hang out in front of the TV, but we’re not like that here in Prinsenbeek. We have the technical knowledge and want to apply this knowledge to the maximum," he added.
The construction process spanned several years and was marked by various challenges with a halt of nearly two years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Components of the bike such as front and rear parts were produced in-house while the central structure was sourced from a specialised company that manufactures long steel structures.
The bicycle will now be showcased at the Prinsenbeek Local History Museum.
Over the past 60 years, the record has been broken multiple times. It was initially set in 1965 with a bicycle built in Cologne, Germany, measuring 8 metres (26 feet 3 inches). Since then, the record has been held by individuals and teams from around the world including New Zealand, Italy, Belgium, Australia and two teams from the Netherlands.
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