José Meiffret was born in 1913 in France and was not a conventional cyclist by racing standards. Instead, he pursued a unique and perilous branch of the sport: motor-paced cycling—a form of speed racing where a cyclist rides closely behind a pace car or motorcycle to take advantage of the slipstream and reduce air resistance.
By the early 1960s, Meiffret had already made several attempts at breaking speed records on a bicycle, with varying degrees of success. But in 1962, at the age of 49, he set out to break the existing world speed record for a cyclist riding behind a motor vehicle on a flat surface.
(Note the vehicle used)