Space[0] is easy, orbit[1] is hard.

[0] The Kármán line, where aerodynamics are less important than orbital dynamics, is only 100 km up.

[1] You're always falling. The trick is to go sideways so fast you keep missing the ground.

There's a lot less "up" and "down" in the world than there is "around" and "across".

Incredibly difficult heights to achieve are very frequently quite commonplace distances to cover. It's weird, but it's just part of living on a planet dominated by gravity.

Space is generally considered to start at either 100 km or 60 miles up, so 200 miles is squarely in space. Before the Space Shuttle was retired, the ISS orbited at just over 200 miles for years.

No one can do 200 vertical miles in a day right? Pick your slope, still not gonna happen.

Unfortunately my maximum cycling speed is well short of 7-8 km/s

I think you forgot the part where you are supposed to go 200mph up and not sideways, but okay let's play this game and assume a 100% incline.

Here you go: https://youtube.com/watch?v=n_cHSx7VM18

> only 200 miles up

Statements like this always cause me to reflect on the breathtaking achievements in powered flight over the past 100 years.

Very much yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line

Yes https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/