MISSOURI'S FIRST HOUR RECORD
How far can the fastest cyclists in Missouri ride in one hour, with just one gear, and no power or computer data for assistance? The Missouri Hour Record will put this to the test. However, unlike Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Hour Record attempts, which must be performed on an indoor wooden Velodrome with a track bike, the Missouri Hour Record takes the essence of this race and applies it to our outdoor concrete Penrose Park Velodrome. Instead of requiring track bikes, the only two requirements for the Missouri Hour Record are that a competitor must use only 1 gear, and are not allowed to see power, speed, or cadence data.
THE MISSOURI HOUR RECORD ARENA
Welcome to the newly resurfaced Penrose Park Velodrome, the arena for the Missouri Hour Record. Originally built in 1962, the Penrose Park Velodrome has a rich history of track racing in St Louis, and is one of only 27 velodromes in the United States. Measuring in at 324 meters long with corner bankings as steep as 28 degrees, this outdoor concrete Velodrome creates the perfect landscape for a competitor to push their body to the physical limit.
THE HOUR RECORD ACROSS THE GLOBE
The Hour Record has been tested by elite cyclists for over a century, with the first official Hour Record set by a French cyclist in 1893 with a distance of 21.95 miles. Fast forward to 1972 and Belgian Eddy Merckx grew that distance to 30.71 miles. Within the last 10 years, Hour Record attempts have been getting increasingly popular. In fact, since 2014 there have been a total of 30 World Hour Record attempts, with 20 failed attempts and 10 new winning Hour Records. Currently, Belgium Victor Campenaerts holds the fastest Men’s Hour Record with a total of 34.23 miles ridden, and Italian Vittoria Busi holds the fastest Women’s Hour Record with a total of 29.83 miles ridden.
MEN'S UCI HOUR RECORD HOLDERS SINCE 2014
- Jens Voigt 2014 - 31.758 miles (51.110 km)
- Matthias Brändle 2014 - 32.219 miles (51.852 km)
- Rohan Dennis 2015 - 32.616 miles (52.491 km)
- Alex Dowsett 2015 - 32.893 miles (52.937 km)
- Sir Bradley Wiggins 2015 - 33.880 miles (54.526 km)
- Victor Campenaerts 2019 - 34.230 miles (55.089 km)
WOMEN'S UCI HOUR RECORD HOLDERS SINCE 2015
- Molly Shaffer Van Houweling 2015 - 28.752 miles (46.273 km)
- Birdie O’Donnell 2016 - 29.131 miles (46.882 km)
- Evelyn Stevens 2016 - 29.813 miles (47.980 km)
- Vittoria Busi 2018 - 29.830 miles (48.007 km)
