The Longest Ride: Woman Bikes 86,500 Miles In One Year

A 24-year-old woman just broke the world record for most miles ridden by bicycle in one year. In fact, she crushed it.

Amanda Coker, 24, rode her bike the equivalent of almost four times around the Earth over the last year. The distance is mind-bending. For perspective, she averaged an astonishing 235 miles per day for 365 days. That’s about the distance from New York City to Washington D.C.

But she did it all on one stretch of road. She biked the seven-mile loop around Flatwoods Park in Tampa, Fla., almost every day for the last year, to the tune of 13 hours and an average 236.8 miles per day.

That’s about 86,500 miles from May 15, 2016, to May 14, 2017. And for those doubting this is possible (you’re not alone), the Guinness World Records have already recognized her as the new record holder.

Amanda Coker: Annual Mileage Record

Beginning at 4 a.m. every morning, Coker hopped on the saddle and logged miles. On her slowest day, she clocked 55 miles, more than most people bike in a month. But it paled in comparison to her best day, 302 miles.

Coker uploaded her cycling data to Strava and updated her progress on Facebook for all to observe (and confirm). Oddly enough, her mission at the outset was not to break Kurt Seravogel’s 76,076-mile Highest Annual Mileage Record (HAM’R).

“My goal is to establish a UMCA (Ultra Marathon Cycling Association) record for the highest annual mileage for a woman,” Coker wrote on her blog. That record was a “mere” 29,603.7 miles, set by Billie Fleming “Dovey” — in 1938.

Coker, a Raleigh, N.C., native passed that mark in September, just four months in. With two-thirds of a year left, she kept pedaling.

In April, with 40 days remaining, she assumed the title of UMCA’s HAM’R by passing Seravogel. After that, it was just a matter of padding her lead.

Riding For Traumatic Brain Injury

Perhaps more impressive than the miles Coker logged is the fact that she accomplished it just six years after a near-fatal accident.

In 2011, Coker and her father Ricky were riding their bikes when they were struck from behind by a car. Coker flew more than 50 feet. She suffered a traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, broken leg, and lacerations. Her father suffered a fractured spine.

The accident took Coker out of cycling, but not for long. In 2015, she got back on the proverbial horse.

In 2015, after increasingly rigorous training rides, she went for a doozy.

As she wrote on her blog, “To regain my fitness and reignite my cycling passion,” Coker biked 2,935 miles across the entire U.S in 2015.

Our collective hats go off to this incredible athlete. Amazing work, Amanda!