GET INSPIRED - OR ABOUT WUCA RECORDS

As we have written previously, the World UltraCycling Association is the only active organisation for ultracyclists from around the world, which operates on a global scale. Its objectives include being active in the global development of ultracycling as a sport and setting standards for ultracycling performance, including recorded records. In the course of its activities, WUCA has analysed, certified and registered in its database the largest number of various records in the world in cycling of various types, and updates this database on a regular basis.

Currently, the following types of records can be found in the database:

1. fastest time over a given distance from 100 to 1000km, broken down by:
   • type of bicycle
   • place: road/ indoor track/ open track,
   • age category
2. the longest distance ridden in 6/12/24 hours broken down by:
   • type of bicycle
   • place: road/ indoor/outdoor track,
   • age category.
3. geographical" records, i.e. the fastest route ridden
   • through a given country (across),
   • across a given state,
   • from capital city to capital city,
   • from town to town,
   • around (e.g. lakes).
4. most kilometres travelled in:
   • year: Highest Annual Mileage (HAMR),
   • month: Highest Monthly Mileage (HMMR),
   • week: Highest Weekly Mileage (HWMR).

The rules set out by WUCA for recording an attempt at a particular record are not complicated and can be found on the WUCA website and the records themselves are so numerous that any experienced cyclist should be able to find one that they can set a goal to break.

It won't be easy, as most records are very demanding, but records are not only there to secure a permanent place in the history of a sport's development, or to add to one's sporting CV, but also to inspire others to break them, to see where the limits of human ability are currently set and to try to push them. Below you will find a few we have selected that we found particularly interesting:

1. fastest 1000km on a road bike on a road bike: Christoph Strasser 23h18m20s
2. fastest 1000km on a road bike in the 50-59 age group: Marko Baloh 1d4h50m14s
3. most km on the road in 24hrs: Christoph Strasser: 1026km
4. most km on the open velodrome in 24hrs: Ralph Diseviscourt: 927.7km
5. most km on the indoor velodrome in 24hr women in the 50-59 age group: Anna Mei 592,4km
6. HAMR: Amanda Coker: 139,296.3km for one year
7. HMMR: Alexandra Meixner: 13,330.5km for one month
8. HWMR: Alexandra Meixner: 3953.1km for one week

It is worth mentioning here that Amanda Coker is also the holder of the WUCA-verified Guinness World Record for the fastest 100,000 miles (160,934km) cycled. She did this between May 2016 and June 2017 by cycling this distance in 423 days (an average of 236.41 miles - 380.47 km per day)! In doing so, she beat by as many as 77 days the record belonging to Tommy Godwin from 1939-1940 (500 days).

The setting of rules by the WUCA and the certification of records is a tool that ensures equal competition in the category and comparability of achievements. Without this, it would be difficult to talk about records at all. There is no other organisation in the world at the moment that deals with this kind of activity with regard to long-distance cycling, and which has such a large experience of several decades and a database of hundreds of records. This adds credibility to the WUCA-certified records, and therefore also prestige for the record-holder, who has the certainty that he is measuring himself on an equal footing with the best in the world during his attempt.

Have you already chosen your dream record to break? We invite you to compete on the Race Around Poland route, during which WUCA records have already been broken.

Photo: Damian Ługowski - Marko Baloh on RAP 2021