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Watch man trounce a Ferrari on his 207 mph rocket bike

That's right. Swiss François Gissy put a rocket on his bicycle, got up to an insane speed and left a Ferrari in the dust. And you can watch.

Michael Franco
Freelancer Michael Franco writes about the serious and silly sides of science and technology for CNET and other pixel and paper pubs. He's kept his fingers on the keyboard while owning a B&B in Amish country, managing an eco-resort in the Caribbean, sweating in Singapore, and rehydrating (with beer, of course) in Prague. E-mail Michael.
Michael Franco

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Pyscho cycling. Video screenshot by Michael Franco/CNET

French cyclist François Gissy (aka "rocketman340" on YouTube) likes to go fast.

In 2013, he strapped a rocket to a bicycle and achieved a speed of 285 kilometers per hour (about 177 mph) in 6.7 seconds. Now, he's broken his own record by hitting a speed of 333 kph (about 207 mph), on the Circuit Paul Ricard track located at Le Castellet in the south of France. And he did it using a "skinny and completely stripped bicycle," according to the YouTube video about the feat (see below). Gizmag reports that Gissy held on to the uber-bike as it let loose the energy equivalent of 560 horsepower and 1.96 Gs.

The bike was propelled by a cluster of three small rockets fueled with hydrogen peroxide. Not only were they enough to get Gissy to record-breaking speeds, they were also enough to make a Ferrari 430 Scuderia with 650 horses under its hood look like a Ford Fiesta as he left it far behind near the starting line, as you'll see in the video below.

"If we can find some serious sponsors, then we would like to build a monstrous bicycle, which will be called 'Spine Crusher,' Gissy told Gizmag's Loz Blain regarding what's next. "The goal would be to accelerate to more than 400 kph (249 mph) in less than 2 seconds. I just cross my fingers that we will have the green light soon in order to start the construction."