The Amazing Flying Scotsman
May 22, 2009 10:05 AM Subscribe
The hour record is one of the greatest challenges in bicycling, with seemingly the simplest rules: Ride as fast as you can for exactly sixty minutes, zero seconds. If you go farther than anybody else, you hold the record. In 1993, Graeme Obree held that record for one day. Fifteen years later, at the age of 44,
Graeme Obree will fly again.
Obree's bizarre-looking
homemade bikes and aerodynamic postures were highly controversial, as they didn't look like traditional track bikes. His
1993 ride kicked off a records war between himself, professional racers Chris Boardman, Tony Rominger and Miguel Indurain. The record shattered eight times in three years, a four-way battle ending with the cycling governing body eventually striking their accomplishments from the official Hour Record. With their attempts retroactively filed under a lesser "Human Effort" category without constraints on bicycle design and rider posture, the competition fizzled out.
Following his first hour record, Obree had a very brief, desultory professional cycling that was cut short before his first race (fired in part because he refused to dope). He has spent most of his life in Scotland, away from the European hubs of racing activity and setting national time trial records on his home turf. His autobiography, The Flying Scotsman, was published in 2003 and later turned into a
feature film.
I respect his accomplishments and admire his moxie, but...dude. When it comes to the world of high-level athletic competition, age is more than just a number.
posted by you just lost the game at 10:20 AM on May 22, 2009