The Lochgilphead Hour Record

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In his book “The Hour” Michael Hutchinson wrote : “The Hour. It's the only cycling record that matters: one man and his bike against the clock in a quest for pure speed. No teammates, no rivals, no tactics, no gears, no brakes. Just one simple question - in sixty minutes, how far can you go?”

On 21st March 2015 in aid of Sport Relief you have the opportunity fulfill your cycling destiny. Your very own opportunity to record your Hour distance in ideal conditions for a great cause.

• A competition location selected at sea-level according to stringent UCI competition standards
• An Argyll indoor venue chosen to be specifically lower than canal-level and responsibly chlorinated
• Using your own specially prepared hand-crafted “state of the art” bike (i.e. washed)
• A “no breaks” format for max effort to power output (i.e. on a turbo)
• Using the emotional spur of peer “support” from 5 others for motivation (i.e. be nice to each other) 
• Easy access to bananas 
• A low-resistance, highly-controlled environment free of wind, traffic, potholes and lonesome beavers
• A chosen course with the perfect gradient
• Age-specific performance adjustment to ensure fair play and equal opportunity
• The opportunity to shower afterwards
• Your chance to show the world the cyclist you were born to be.

You probably recall that the film "The Flying Scotsman" was centered on Graeme Obree - who twice broke cycling's world Hour record (July 1993 and April 1994) and was the individual pursuit world champion in 1993 and 1995.

It's an indoor cycling event and Chris Boardman was also a world record holder for the UK. His battle with Graeme Obree during the 1990s for the hour record defined a generation of British cycling and pushed the limits of bicycle design. It's actually a large part of the reason why we have tri-bars.

There is something of a pure athletic “poetry” about the hour challenge that captures the imagination. Boardman and Obree’s records, achieved by pushing the technology of the time with tri-bar extensions, amazing quality bearings (from a washing machine in Obree's case) and a radical ‘superman’ position, were later reclassified as ‘best human efforts’ by the sport's governing body (UCI). In effect their formal "World Hour Record" status was deleted. UCI insisted any future attempts at the Hour Record must be made on a standard bike like that used by long-standing record-holder Eddie Merckx. That makes it much more like the bike you own - so as cyclists we have a real connection with this record & our relative achievements can be compared.

In 2000, UCI wrote the new rules that prohibited extreme positions and bikes and invalidated the records set by Francesco Moser, Graeme Obree, Chris Boardman, Miguel Indurain and Tony Rominger.

Chris Boardman responded to the new rules by breaking Merckx's 28-year record distance on a bike fitting the new (more basic) criteria. He beat Merckx by just ten metres ! Chris's record was set at 49.441km shortly before his retirement in 2000.

The emphasis on low technology and controlled conditions makes the Hour Record a magical blend of wo(man), machine and history. It also makes it very accessiable to likes of you and me. Today Ondřej Sosenka holds the hour record at 49.700 kilometres - set in Moscow on July 19, 2005. He beat the 49.441km distance Chris Boardman set in Manchester. You have to go back to 1972 when Eddy Merckx rode 49.431 to find the next "official" record established on compliant bikes.

Boardman was quoted : “I hope .. the goal of establishing a record that allowed comparison between athletes 30 years past or 30 years in the future could be truly realised – ‘The Athletes Hour’.”

To support Sport Relief 2015 Kirsty and the MACPool Board are following on from Stuart's enthusiasm last year. They have generously offered use of the MACPool Pool's meeting room and 1st aid cover for free. In turn DareToTriLife will offer free use of our CompuTrainer's during the challenge.

All this means you can try to set your own Hour Record for Sport Relief. 

We plan to have 3 or 4 waves available : starting sharply at 08:15, 10:20, 12.30 and 14:45 respectively. Bring your own (clean) road or cyclocross bike and we will project an animated, flat, wind-free, rain-free and pothole-free course for you to ride as fast as you can in 1 hour.

The Veterans Time Trial Association (here) produce some age adjustment tables that we will use to standardize the performances of all participants.

So your age won't matter & you'll compete on a level playing field.

I know even now I'll get this equation badly wrong so remember it's just for fun and our decision is final, probably deeply flawed and annoyingly-binding. There may well be outstanding quality M&S Lochmuir salmon available to the male and female winners (*). Lochmuir salmon contains more health providing EPA and DHA ("good fatty acids") than you can wave a bike pump at - so do yourself a major favour and stock up with Lochmuir next time you're close to an M&S  Simply Foods.

Forget Sainsbury's - get the Real Deal at M&S

If you'd like to be a part of this we'd love to see you. Drop me an Email to ...  DareToTriLife@GMail.Com and we'll sort you out.

Typical DareToTriLife MultiRider Layout at MACPool

• 6 persons of any sex and any age per wave so we have 
• A max of 24 places
• Slots will be allocated on a 1st come 1st served basis. 
• Who knows it might become an annual event with a league table held (perhaps) on Pool's Website.

• As the time for this and the venue are being donated for free we're hoping for a minimum donation of £20 per person (hopefully more). This is payable at the pool reception on arrival 100% of what you offer will go to Sport Relief.

* : "The Hour" is listed under the Resources page from Amazon and were you aware that people generally don't eat enough salmon ?