(UPI) – Ivan Schalk, a 39-year-old from the Netherlands, has fulfilled his childhood dream by assembling a team of engineering experts to build the world’s longest bicycle, measuring an astonishing 180 feet and 11 inches.
“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 told Guinness World Records.
Drawing on his experience in constructing carnival floats, Schalk recruited a team of fellow residents of Prisenbeek, a village in the Netherlands, including Joost Sweep, Jimmy Vermeeren, Sander Vissers, Bas Zuidema, Steffie van de Riet, Daan Husson, Toine Kleemans, Jasper Korving, and Op De Beek Hebben We De Langste.
“Prinsenbeek is known for its volunteers and high technical employability,” Schalk 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.”
Schalk said designing and building the bike was a long process that ended up being paused for two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team finally broke the record by taking their 180-foot, 11-inch bicycle for a 100-metre (328-foot) ride, with one team member operating the handlebars up front and another pedaling in the back.
The team then broke the record for the world’s longest tandem bicycle by adding extra pedals and more team members into the mix.
“We left nothing to chance in terms of safety,” Schalk said. “You can see this, for example, in the fact that the cyclists are not outside the structure, but inside it.”
The bicycle will now have a new home at the local history museum in Prinsenbeek.
