Krystian Herba, a Polish cyclist who set the world record for stairs climbed on a bicycle in February 2014, broke his own record at the Taipei 101 tower on Sunday, .
鈥淭his was absolutely the most difficult challenge ever in my life, but definitely this is my biggest success,鈥澛 afterward.
Herba, who first set a record in this category by riding up the Shanghai World Financial Center in 2013, broke that record in February 2014 by ascending 2,919 stairs up the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia, entering an official performance of 2,755 steps, . (Guinness adjudicators have not yet ratified his latest performance.) Whereas Herba climbed only additional step in Melbourne than the 2,754 steps he climbed in Shanghai, his new victory in Taipei was decisive, totaling 3,139 steps.
The 33-year-old physical education teacher explained that he was able to reach the fitness levels required to climb the Taipei 101 by riding his bike repeatedly up a 17-story building in Rzeszow, Poland.
Beginning in 2004, the 1,670.6-foot Taipei 101 tower was recognized as the tallest building in the world, and remained so until 2010, when the 2,722-foot Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, overtook it. Herba rode up 60 floors in the Taipei 101 before boarding an elevator, which took him back down to ground level before he pedaled up to the 91st floor, completing the 3,139-step feat in 2 hours, 13 minutes. Herba told reporters that the elevator maneuver would not invalidate his having set a new record.