Tag Archives: Graeme Obree

Obree tuck 1992

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In a real Obree mood this weekend so here’s some more. Further to John Galloway’s comment on the last post, here’s a picture of Obree’s tuck position in use with upturned bars before he developed his custom ‘Old Faithful’ bike that won him the hour record.

The sharper eyed amongst you migh notice that this scan of the SCU handbook 1992 was blogged at My Shaved Legs- I’m pretty sure web addresses weren’t in common use back then!

The blogger recounts his arrival in Scotland from the USA and refers to this cover as one of those “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” moments.

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Graeme Obree tuck position

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Inspired by Graeme Obree’s tweets and the emergence of a long-overdue website, I’m in the mood to blog a few more things about him.

Up to now I hadn’t found a decent picture of his revolutionary tuck position. He used it when he won the world individual pursuit championship and broke the hour record in 1993. I saw the image on Phil Jones’ blog and wanted to add it to my own collection of Obree pictures.

I’d blogged Graham Watson’s pic of the Superman position, which he developed after the position below was banned by the UCI. He won the individual pursuit and broke the hour record a second time riding Superman style in 1995. That too was banned by the officious UCI.

Read all about it, and his other struggles, in The Flying Scotsman: The Graeme Obree Story.

It’s the spirit of innovation and invention that I love about this. That’s a particularly Scottish trait, because as many people know, we invented just about everything.

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Graeme Obree gets interactive

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Graeme Obree has a new website and has started tweeting.

He is writing again- a new book about training, and I believe has been writing on mental health too. I’m not sure if there are two separate books in the pipeline or if the mental side of an athlete’s training will be part of a single book.

You can book him for talks- he appeared recently in Glasgow and Phil Jones aka Roadphil has met him a few times this year. Looking forward to hearing more from him in the near future.

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Tour de Trossachs

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October kicks off with the Tour de Trossachs mountain time trial, run by the Glasgow Ivy CC and stalwart race organiser Jeannette Hazlett. It is a true classic in the Scottish, and in fact the British racing calendar. Amazingly it has run since 1943.

The former winners read like a who’s who of Scottish Cycling greatness: Ian Steel in the 50s, Billy Billsland in the 60s, Robert Millar in 1978 and the 80s, Graeme Obree breaking the record on a fixed gear in the 90s, and and Jason McIntyre winning in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and breaking Obree’s record.

Continue reading →

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Graeme Obree on Islay

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Scottish Cycling legend Graeme Obree has been on Islay, taking part in the Ardbeg Gourmet Ride and an dinner at the Ardbeg Distillery.

The pic above is taken by twmp on flickr (aka Brian Palmer’s The Washing Machine Post) – click the image to see more from the day.

Brian had been joyfully tweeting this week about Graeme visiting, and you can read all about it on The Washing Machine Post, including the ride and the custom (of course) steel bike Graeme was riding.

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Graeme Obree at Etape Caledonia

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Graeme Obree was seen at last weekend’s Etape Caledonia by @macluskie, who grabbed this great shot of him in Fullarton Wheelers kit, surrounded by pleased-looking VC Glasgow South riders.

He chatted for a while to people about how good the event was and being at Lance Armstrong’s first Twitter ride in Paisley.

Obree told Tayside & Fife newspaper The Courier:

“It’s been a fantastic day and the whole town has turned out to make the atmosphere really special.

“It’s not like a real race because the cyclists can work together on the closed roads and provide each other with the support they need.”

Full article here, with additional photos from rider @b_cran

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Audience with Graeme Obree Monday 24th May

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“Glasgow Wheelers are delighted to host a talk with Scottish time trial and track legend Graeme Obree next Monday (24th May 2010).”

It’s great to see Greame Obree out and about and being involved in cycling in general. He aborted an attempt on the hour record last year after succumbing to depression when he discovered his latest bike design and position didn’t work on the track.


image from Glasgow Wheelers website. click link below for more details.

Graeme, a former Wheeler himself in the early 90s, will be talking about a number of areas: his past competitive experiences; future plans and will be happy to answer any questions from the audience. Any of you who attended his talk last year at the Tramway Theatre in Pollokshields will recognise that he is an outstanding, engaging speaker able to hold a crowd in the palm of his hand without any sign of speech notes. He was aided last time by the prop of his latest bike, replete with a 60 tooth chainring (it may have been bigger actually). ”

Proceedings will kick off shortly after 7pm. Refreshments will be on offer afterwards. The Club would like to offer a warm welcome to the general public to attend in addition to Club members. Tickets available at the door for £5 – outstanding value to hear first hand the stories of an amazing man and amazing athlete – just don’t let him near your washing machine!!!

Details at www.glasgowwheelers.com

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Official rules of the Scottish Cyclist: gearing

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24. The use of 25- or 27-toothed cogs are acceptable due to the propensity of ridiculously steep mountainous training routes that the Scottish Cyclist rides. British and Scottish road engineering does not tend towards the gentle ‘hairpins’ that the Euro Cyclist enjoys. The roads instead go straight up 10-20% inclines, rather than winding their pretty way up the mountain.

25 and 27 tooth cogs may also be necessary for the Scottish Cyclist that fuels himself on Irn-Bru and sausage rolls.

Alternatively, if you are man enough, a single fixed gear is preferred. Graeme Obree won the Tour de Trossachs mountain time trial, over the Dukes Pass and the Braes of Greenock on a fixed gear- nuff said.

Official rules- the full list

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Picture of the Day: Obree Superman

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This image comes from the stable of Graham Watson- a superb shot of Obree in full flight at the World Championships.

Graeme Obree 1995 World Pursuit Champion, image by Graham Watson, used with permission

Obree pic – originally posted by Graham Watson on twitpic

Graham Watson captioned this picture with “1994 Worlds?” but I am thinking it is more likely 1995? Obree reclaimed the hour record from Chris Boardman in 1994 at Bordeaux, with his tucked position, which was banned for the World Pursuit Championships by the UCI one hour before the race.

He then developed the Superman position and won the World Pursuit Championship in 1995 using it.

You can buy prints like this from http://www.grahamwatson.com.

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Scottish greats didn’t care about style

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In my Official Rules of the Scottish Cyclist, point 1 eschews practicality over functionality. I cited the example of two of Scotland’s greatest ever cyclists who eschewed style over functionality.

Graeme Obree’s ‘washing machine’ bike was designed around an unusual frame and a pretty wacky, and let’s face it, ugly aero position. However, style was of absolutely no interest to Obree and he won the world pursuit title (1995) and broke the hour record on it (1993).

Robert Millar took this a stage further- his ponytail/mullet haircuts seemed to have been chosen specifically because they were unstylish. This was partly because he relished being an outsider and partly to ‘keep him out of nightclubs‘. Despite these dubious looks, he rode to podium places in all three grand tours, and is Scotland’s greatest cyclist of all time.

The point is, they didn’t care what people thought of how they looked. All they cared about was winning.

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