Another son just kept thinking 鈥淢y mom is fricking nuts.鈥�

Denise Mueller is crazy 鈥� in the best way. In the way where she just kept pushing her body and boundaries and mental blocks until she did what no woman has ever done.

The 43-year-old mother of three sons is the world鈥檚 fastest woman on a bicycle. Ever.

She set the women鈥檚 land-speed record for cycling when she rode 147.75 mph (not a typo) on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last September.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so surreal out there. It鈥檚 being in the flow,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he world slows down and sort of be-comes a warped sense of reality. It鈥檚 what I鈥檓 meant to do. Literally, there鈥檚 nothing else in the world but what I鈥檓 doing and time slows down.鈥�

The Carlsbad, California, resident is being honored at this year鈥檚 蜜柚直播 Medical Center El Tour de 蜜柚直播 presented by Casino del Sol. She will celebrate Southern 蜜柚直播鈥檚 largest participatory athletic event by riding in the 55-mile race on a tandem bike with her coach, John Howard.

Saturday鈥檚 race around the perimeter of 蜜柚直播 is a twist for Mueller, who won the female division of the 75-mile race last year. It will be a training ride for her next pursuit 鈥� the overall land-speed record of 167 mph set by Dutch cyclist Fred Rompelberg in 1995.

鈥淭he faster I go, the slower everything else seems.鈥�

The speed is what keeps her going, says her son Daniel Boever, 17. 鈥淪he鈥檚 an adrenaline junkie. She loves speed.鈥�

She drives go-karts, rides off-road motorcycles and races cars. She also races her modified, zippy Mini Cooper through a timed course (called autocross). She鈥檚 known to eat swiftly and as a kid competed with her dad to see who could finish dinner first.

Here are five questions with Mueller:

• What is a land-speed record and how does it work? A cyclist is towed by a specialized car to 90 mph and then has to gain additional speed on her own as she drafts behind the pace car which is blocked from the wind by a fairing or a structure added to increase streamlining or reduce drag.

On a customized bike with an elongated frame and motorcycle wheels and tires to reduce the center of gravity, Mueller wears a special leather-and-lycra racing suit. Her helmet has a two-way radio that helps her communicate with the driver of the car.

• Where did this idea come from? Mueller was a 13-time junior national cycling champion when she decided to hang up the bike at age 19. She spent the next two decades raising her boys: Jonathan, 22, Michael, 21, and Daniel, and working in her family鈥檚 security business. She鈥檚 now CEO of Rancho Santa Fe Security.

She wedged in gym workouts when she could, ran some marathons and did a full Ironman triathlon in 2013. She crossed paths with Howard, who floated the idea after encouraging her to do more training.

鈥淵ou need to re-legitimize yourself in the cycling world so people understand who you are,鈥� Mueller recalled Howard saying. 鈥淗e saw something in me that I didn鈥檛 see.鈥�

Howard, a three-time cycling Olympian himself, also set the land-speed record in 1985 (152.2 mph.)

Mueller won two master鈥檚 cycling titles and proved she was ready.

• What did you learn from parenting that helps in your athletic pursuits?

Mueller says the athleticism and goal-setting are in her genes. Her mom jumped out of a plane on her 80th birthday, and her dad cycled around the perimeter of the U.S. (12,100 miles) in 9陆 months.

鈥淚 had parents go above and beyond, with no limitations for their kid,鈥� she said.

With that as her foundation, Mueller found patience in more than 20 years of mothering.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a bigger reason for things. When you鈥檙e young, it鈥檚 hard to see the impact of things long-term. When you鈥檙e a parent, you鈥檙e an example.鈥�

There were sacrifices, lots of training, and she relishes showing the boys and others that hard work pays off.

• How do you train? Mueller rides about 150 miles a week between a couple of long rides with a training group consisting mostly of men and high-intensity work at the Velodrome in San Diego. Her gym workouts include intense strength work. She also rides behind a motorcycle (called motor-pacing) so that she can practice drafting at high speeds and pedaling at a high turnover rate (professional rider; do not try this at home).
• What鈥檚 next for you? Next September, Mueller aims to break the overall land-speed cycling mark of 167 mph held by Rompelberg.

鈥淥ne hundred seventy mph is my ultimate goal,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e will have our special team back. I鈥檝e enjoyed it every step of the way. It鈥檚 not scary or intimidating at all.

鈥淲e鈥檙e doing this again because we didn鈥檛 get to unleash the mph we knew we could accomplish.鈥�