Amanda Coker (born 1992, in North Carolina) is an American ultra-cyclist and the current record holder of the World Endurance record for distance in a calendar year.

Career

Coker first began riding alongside her father, Ricky, as a teenager, and found success as a racer, placing sixth in the time trial at the junior national championships in 2010. She later enrolled at Fort Lewis College in

Durango, Colorado Durango is the home rule city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis College ...

as part of a collegiate cycling programs. In 2011 Coker was hit by a distracted motorist. The crash threw her and knocked her

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

, leaving her with brain and spinal injuries. After recovering, she resumed cycling in 2015. On 15 May 2016 Coker began an attempt to set a new record for distance covered over the course of a year. Riding a course in Flatwoods Park in

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

she rode a day on average. After 130 days of riding she had covered , beating

Billie Fleming Lilian Irene Bartram known as Billie Fleming and Billie Dovey (13 April 1914 – 12 May 2014), was a long-distance cyclist who set the woman's record for greatest distance cycled in a year in 1938 at . At the time of her death in 2014 she conti ...

's female record of which had stood since 1938. In April 2017 she surpassed the previous overall record of set by Kurt Searvogel. In May 2017 she completed the year, setting a new record of , beating the previous record by over . During the attempt, her longest ride in a single day was , completed on the penultimate day. After setting the new record, Coker continued cycling, seeking to break the record for the shortest time to cover . For 77 years that record was held by Tommy Godwin, who set off in January 1939 and reached the mark in May 1940, after 500 days of cycling. On July 11, 2017, Coker reached , after 423 days of cycling. On October 23, 2021, Coker set a new road record of 512.506 miles (824.8 km) in 24 hours, and became the first woman to break in 24 hours riding solo. During the record attempt, she also broke 10 other WUCA/Guinness World records for other various durations and distances.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coker, Amanda American female cyclists Ultra-distance cyclists Living people 1992 births Cyclists from North Carolina 21st-century American sportswomen