A French cyclist broke the land speed record by reaching 163 MPH on a rocket-powered bicycle.
Francois Gissy from Alsace recorded a top speed of 163mph on his self-built vehicle on an old runway in Munchhouse in North Eastern France.
This record beat his previous mark of 150 mph, set in 2002, and just missed out on the powered bike speed record set in 1995 by the Slipstream bike by 3mph.
Gissy designed the bike himself while Swiss company Exotic Thermo Engineering (ETE) and engineer Arnold Neracher designed the rocket that propelled it
ETE’s rocket used hydrogen peroxide and is called an ‘ecological monopropellant motor.’
The rocket works by putting concentrated liquid hydrogen peroxide into a storage tank that contains a catalyst.
The fuel can be a liquid, such as pure alcohol called ethanol that is sprayed in after the catalyst chamber.
The hot steam is then pushed through a nozzle attached to the end of the rock and this provides the thrust need to push the bicycle forward.
This is really awesome