Entering 2026, Lefthand has written his name all over the cycling world record pages — both virtual and real life — many, many times and with no intent on stopping soon.

“A couple years ago, I would never think of myself as a world record holder, much less, someone who’s attempting to do those types of things,” he said. “It’s oddly become a familiar ground for me. ”

Since last spring, Lefthand has set and been certified for 32 world records recognized by Guinness and the World Ultra Cycling Association, or WUCA.

This began with an attempt at several virtual cycling records in April.

Photo supplied, Bailey Lefthand

“In April, I got ready to do a ride that was going to break 14 world records,” he said. “Twelve (were verified) by WUCA and all 14 by Guinness. WUCA has a relationship with Guinness where their world records become Guinness World records. Twelve of the world records were through WUCA and there was a whole process I had to go through that was pretty intense — I had to do an outdoor ride to certify how fast I was so they could gauge my indoor speed more accurately. … The two Guinness world records had their own level of verification. I had to have witnesses I didn’t know there and go through all these other steps to do those records.”

He said that all of the records have been certified and are standing as of mid-January 2026.

“At the time, it was just kind of wild,” he said. “It felt surreal, like a dream, like it’s not reality in the sense that it’s not something I was waiting for my whole life.”

The full gauntlet of world records that Lefthand has achieved is as follows:

• Greatest virtual distance on a static cycle in 24 hours (male)
• Greatest virtual distance on a static cycle in 12 hours (male)
• 24 hour Virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 12 hour Virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 6 hour Virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 500 Mile Virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 300 mile virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 200 mile virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 100 miles virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 1000 km virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 500 km virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 300 km virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 200 km virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 100 km virtual, Male 18-49, upright bike, non-fixed gear
• 12 hour road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 6 hour road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 300 mile road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 200 mile road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 100 mile road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 500 km road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 300 km road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 200 km road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 100 km road, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 12 hour road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 6 hour road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 300 mile road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 200 mile road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 100 mile road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 500 km road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 300 km road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 200 km road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear
• 100 km road unsupported, Male 18-49, recumbent bike, non-fixed gear

Lefthand noted that the “Greatest virtual distance on a static cycle in 12 hours (male)” record has been challenged and is awaiting certification. All other records continue to stand as of mid-January.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

He said that it hasn’t necessarily been an easy ride.

“It’s not without its hard work — I trained 25 hours or more per week for a couple of years to get into the kind of shape to be able to do it,” he said.

This was especially true when Lefthand sustained a sidelining injury last fall.

“Doing these things, you don’t have ‘no risks;’ that’s for sure,” he said. “I was getting ready to do, in October, a gravel world record where I was going to ride for 12 hours on gravel and set all of these gravel world records that haven’t been set yet, so they would be initial records. … In a training ride the week before the event, I crashed on a trail — there was a pallet on the trail that hadn’t previously been there when I’d gone on it before and I was going too fast to stop and do anything. So I went over the top of this pallet, fell and broke my collarbone.”

He said this was a very trying moment.

Photo supplied

“I was pretty upset at that point,” he said. “I was a week away from doing the other event. … I was going to do a race in Oklahoma and that just derailed everything.”

Lefthand said the injury required surgery and changed the trajectory of the rest of his year. He would end up going to Arizona in December to set his first set of recumbent bike records.

“I was mostly healed and mostly everything felt good,” he said. “It was hard work, but I bounced back, finished the World Cup and was happy to salvage the year, if you will.”

Lefthand described the time since his initial record-setting venture as “wild” and that it was the beginning of his adventures.

“I went from being an avid cyclist, someone who was very interested in doing all of these rides, to someone who is now considering themselves doing this professionally and more full-time,” he said. “We’re planning on traveling a lot this year to different states for different races.”

He said that he and his family recently picked up a travel van in Missouri to make cross-country journeys easier.

“Part of our journey this year will be to travel to these races as a family and we’re adventuring along the way,” he said. “This next year, we’re going to do that six or seven more times throughout the year where we travel somewhere, I do a record ride or race or something like that, and then we’ll spend a few days in the area traveling, adventuring and hiking as a family.”

Lefthand said he has around one to two races per month throughout 2026.

“Cycling is something that I love and I love to do it,” he said. “Now I have a little more of a job aspect to it where I expect myself and other people expect me to perform some, so there’ a little bit more pressure than normal. But it’s an interesting pressure because it’s, once again, something I love. I like doing it, so it doesn’t feel as much like work or like a job because it’s something I would want to be doing anyway, even if I didn’t have responsibilities.”