NEW YORK, USA (AP) — The Black Widow of eating contests gobbled up nearly 181 chicken wings in 12 minutes, devouring the national championship record in Buffalo on Sunday.

“I’m so happy!” said Sonya Thomas, who ate 4.86 pounds of chicken wings to win the contest, besting world eating marvel Joey Chestnut at the ninth annual National Buffalo Wing Festival.

Buffalo, about 300 miles (480 kilometres) north-west of New York, is said to be the birthplace of the wings, typically fried and covered in tangy vinegar and hot sauce.

Chestnut, America’s No 1 professional eater, was favoured to win Sunday’s competition. He came in second after eating 169 chicken wings, or 4.55 pounds.

This was the first time Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Chestnut, of San Jose, California, faced off in a chicken wing-eating contest. They went at it “neck and neck”, said Drew Cerza, the founder of the festival, which was inspired by the 2001 Bill Murray comedy Osmosis Jones, about a compulsive eater.

Clean air promotion

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Hundreds of naked and partially nude cyclists have pedalled their way through Philadelphia to promote bicycling awareness and cleaner air.

Some of the buff bikers wore body paint, some were in bathing suits and some were completely naked.

This was the second year for the Philly Naked Bike Ride. Similar rides have taken place in more than 70 cities worldwide since 2004.

The bicyclists pedalled several miles through the city on Sunday evening.

$5 bargain

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) — The bicycle had two flat tires, but Greg Estes figured the $5 asking price still made it a bargain. Little did he know just how much.

Estes checked on the bike’s origin after buying it at a yard sale in Owenton this month. He learned it was custom built for cycling star Floyd Landis for a 2007 mountain bike race in Colorado, shortly after Landis’ now-vacated victory in the 2006 Tour de France. Landis crashed in the Colorado race and finished second.

A manager at Cyco-Path Bicycles in California says they built the bike for Landis. He told Estes he could get $6,000 or more for it on the open market.

The bigger mystery is how the bike got to Kentucky at all. The yard sale owner told Estes she found it abandoned on the side of a highway.

Pity the pastor

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (AP) — A series of unfortunate coincidences led to a case of mistaken identity that put a Louisiana minister behind bars for nearly eight hours.

Gregory Jones, pastor at Eden Worship Center, was pulled over for speeding and arrested as a man wanted for violating parole in Texas.

The minister not only had the same name as the wanted man, but the same birthdate — and a Texas driver’s licence. So he wound up handcuffed and taken to a Shreveport jail.

Jones says deputies treated him well and assured him they were checking his claims. A photograph and fingerprint check eventually confirmed he wasn’t the wanted man.

Caddo Lt Don Gibbs says the department was sorry for Jones’ inconvenience but committed to ensuring wanted criminals don’t accidentally go free.