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Tech

​Crazy French Guy Breaks Rocket-Powered Bike Record

François Gissy scoffs at pedal-pushing.

Rockets and bikes are two of the greatest inventions of mankind separately, so it's shocking that we don't spend more time combining them into one incredibly insane vehicle. But French thrillseeker François Gissy has devoted his life to rocket-powered bikes, and over the weekend, he broke his own world record by reaching a top speed of 207 miles per hour on one. Watch the video, because it will hit home just how ill-advised riding a rocket bike truly is.

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As an avid cyclist who is also accident prone, all I can see is potential road rash here (would it even still be classified as road rash if it engulfed your entire body?). That initial jolt of acceleration took Gissy from zero to 207 miles per hour in under five seconds, which would blow the doors off of the fastest production cars in the world, which is not surprising given the improved aerodynamics of the slim two-wheeler—oh yeah, and that whole rocket part.

It's at this point that I must emphasize that Gissy's bike is not some kind of high-tech motorbike. Other than it's elongated frame, it's a regular mountain bike with three hydrogen peroxide thrusters strapped to the back as casually as panniers.

The bike was designed and built by Gissy's friend Arnold Neracher, who is an interesting character in his own right. A medical and chemical engineering consultant by trade, Neracher has been tinkering around with rockets and lasers for several years, and rocket-powered bikes aren't the only vehicles he's known for. His company Exotic Thermo Engineering has also released a rocket-powered go-kart, a rocket car, and a jetpack that doesn't really work yet.

Gissy's new world record has certainly thrust rocket-powered bikes into the spotlight, and it will be interesting—and nerve-wracking—to see if anyone saddles up to challenge him. A quick YouTube search of similar bike designs runs the gamut from heavily specialized racing bikes to rickety DIY contraptions, one of which is self-described as "the most dangerous unsafe bike EVER," so the niche is clearly thriving on all levels.

And you know what that means: it's only a matter of time once BMX riders get it into their heads to strap multistage rocket engines onto their bikes. Much like Gissy's pumped-up ride, this new take on an old sport is probably going to be really hard to slow down.