There’s nothing like the feeling of accomplishment you get from mastering a new skill, is there? Well, maybe there’s one thing—and that’s setting a new world record. We can certainly imagine that Lithuanian stunt rider Arūnas Gibieža probably felt incredible when he nailed the new record for the longest no-hands motorcycle wheelie in September, 2022.
He was participating in the Red Bull Showrun event in Vilnius, Lithuania, when he made the attempt. Although he’d had plans in the works for some time to set this record—and of course, made sure that the Guinness World Records folks were on hand to witness the attempt—it's not the easiest thing in the world to practice.
Popping a successful wheelie is one thing, but having access to the length of road that you’d need to break the previous world record (567 meters, or about 1,860.24 feet, set in 2019 by Rohitesh Upadhyay) isn’t something you do every day. Although he was able to get some practice before the big day, the only time he was able to practice in a place with access to the appropriate length of road was the day of his actual attempt. (You know, no pressure or anything.)
To achieve the record, Gibieža had to maintain a constant speed of 43 miles per hour (or 70 kilometers per hour) throughout the duration of the run—which was apparently the most difficult part. Despite his brake overheating at one point, he managed a total run of 580 meters and 81 centimeters (or 1,902 feet and 32 inches), according to the official adjudicator who rode alongside him in a Jeep.
Gibieža, who has been riding and doing stunts since the age of 10, said that he’d dreamed of setting such a world record all his life. He’s now 32 years old, and he’s a professional stunt rider for Red Bull—so there’s plenty of time left to achieve all sorts of things.
That’s exactly what he told the Guinness World Records folks at the event, as well. He said, "if someone ever beats this record, I'll probably have another go at it then. Of course, there are a few tricks that are even more difficult to pull off, such as wheelieing while riding backward on [a] bike."
Goals are how you keep moving forward—or backward, depending. Congratulations to Arūnas Gibieža on this spectacular achievement, and many more years of awesome riding in the future!
