On Friday at the World Human Speed Championships at Battle Mountain, Nevada, Obree finally made the attempt. Though he fell short of that ultimate record, he did break the world prone record (for cycling head first, face down) with an impressive speed of 56.62 mph (91 km/h). Yet the overall speed record was broken during the event, by a team from the Delft University of Technology and VU University Amsterdam.

 

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, Obree revealed that the record fell after a number of incremental improvements from the 47 mph he achieved at the beginning of the week. "The timekeeper announced it is a new official world record, and that's a strange feeling," he said. "I've not heard that for 20 years." That was when Obree set the one-hour cycle distance world record on another bike he designed and built himself, Old Faithful.