Tag Archives: time trials

Obree’s 2009 hour record bike

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I have had the photo below, (by Andy McAndlish, originally published in an article on bikeradar) on my desktop for a while and the moment had been lost to blog it. Sometimes you have to be quick, which is why I try to stay away from race news and results.

But I have started listening to old episodes of the Velocast again (still available on podomatic), and in episode 10 they discussed this bike, albeit with aero bars.

(Photo: Andy McAndlish)

There’s another great shot of Obree riding the bike if you click through to bikeradar, showing his outstanding aptitude for innovating to find an extremely aerodynamic position. He used his trademark custom parts to get an aerodynamic position, but within the “new” UCI rules, which aim to keep bikes within the style of Eddy Merckx’s 1972 record.

Velocasters Scott and John covered Obree’s attempt on the hour record, which at 43 years old would have been a great challenge, but alas the machine did not work on the velodrome bankings as expected, which hit Graeme hard. He was advised to abadnon the hour attempt.

The bike remains though (and I wonder where it is now). It has a Selle Italia Flite saddle with a purple fluffy cover reminiscent of some sort of muppet. The Reynolds 653 steel frame catches the eye, with it’s 1-and-1/8 inch tubing that is very thin-looking by today’s standards. Added to this are aluminium time trial handlebars that were hand-whittled by Obree for for three months! And some custom pedals, again hand-whittled! The sort of obsessive attention to detail that made Graeme such an amazing time trialler.

More shots of the bike
Bikeradar interview with more great pics

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The real Scottish 10 mile record!

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Steven McGinty pointed out, on my Scottish Time Trial records post, that Scottish Cycling’s published information is out of date. Now I am sure they are a busy organisation but it’s a bit disappointing that the 10 record, which I mistakenly posted as Graeme Obree’s, in a time of 19:29 in 1997, is in fact held by the late great Jason McIntyre. Thanks to Steven for pointing this out, but I had a hunch the information wasn’t the freshest, and thought a blog post might unearth some more info.

Above is Jason in the 2006 Tour de Trossachs, which he won in National 25 mile TT champion’s jersey. Picture: Jamie Forbes / Glasgow Ivy CC

Jason MacIntyre beat Graeme Obree’s 10 mile record in 2007 recording 18:49 on the West Ferry course, on the A8 at Langbank, in a Glasgow Wheelers open event. This ride was covered on Jason’s personal website, which has been kept online for posterity.

July the 11th was the day i was fortunate enough to break Graeme Obrees Scottish 10mls TT record. West Ferry, Glasgow was the course and with luck the weather changed for the good as i was about to ride. An average of 31.7 mph was what i needed to get on the record. By the time i reached the turn i was just of the pace, but with a following wind the home stretch brought speeds of up to 42 mph. This was enough to get up to and then over the record average, finishing with an average of just over 32 mph & a time of 18:47. A big thank you to all my friends, family & sponsors without whom this would not have been possible.

– update 19/10: Scottish Cycling let me know that they are in the process of checking and updating their ‘records records’ and these will be shown more prominently on the website at some point. Good work!

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Scottish time trial records

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This information comes from deep in the bowels of the Scottish Cycling website, a resource that it full of great tidbits that are hard to find (like it’s parent site, British Cycling).

At the original time of writing this post, the current Scottish Cycling Champions information was only up to date for 2009, although some of that info – that the National men’s road champion was Evan Oliphant, Kenta Gallagher was National Cyclocross champion, or that Dave Henderson was Cross Country series champion– I covered some of these championships on this blog with lots also on veloresults.

The time trial records are interesting though, because many of them have stood for a long time. At one stage Obree held the Scottish record for the three staple distances of British time trialling- the 10, 25 and 50 miles. And George Berwick still does hold the 24 hour record, a mark that has stood since 1967. I pondered this question in a previous post.

amended to include Jason MacIntyre’s 10 record.

10 Miles 1997 Jason MacIntyre Unattached 18:49
25 Miles 1994 G. Obree P.C.A. 48:43
30 Miles 2004 M. Atkinson Team Velo Ecosse/Montpeliers 1:02:47
50 Miles 1992 G Obree Greenock RC / Castle Levan Hotels 1:43:04
100 Miles 2006 M.Atkinson Equipe Velo Ecosse/Montpeliers 3:49:45
12 Hrs 2005 J. Wilson Sandy Wallace Cycles 279.97 miles
24 Hrs 1967 G. Berwick Glasgow RC 448.70 miles

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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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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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David Millar’s ‘Bat Wing’ skinsuit

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I’m not hugely into time trialling but this item, heard on the Joe Beer podcast, and about Scotland’s top pro racer was interesting. I also hadn’t heard or seen it anywhere else so thought it was worth posting.

At about 55:50 on this podcast, coach Joe Beer talks about ‘aero going bonkers’ at the 2010 Tour de France. Items included Lance Armstrong’s ‘burner’ rear mech and Dave Millar’s ‘Batsuit’. Co-host Martin Crocker commented that his wife noticed that Dave Millar seemingly hadn’t pulled his skinsuit on correctly. In fact it was a special cut to create a smoother line between the body and the arm area.

57 David Millar - Garmin
Continue reading →

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Arthur Doyle Scottish 10mile TT Champion

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Earlier this month- Saturday 16th May- on the A77 course, Arthur Doyle won the Jason McIntyre memorial Scottish 10 mile time trial championships for the second year in a row with a 20.46. He rides for Dooley’s Cycles.

The time trial was covered in detail over at Veloresults, with TT pics so I won’t rehash that- instead I found a good picture from the Granite City RT photo gallery from the second Super Six road race. Arthur Doyle is in the pink hat, with a Granite City rider and Rob Wilkins of Stirling on his wheel.

Later in May he rode the British 10 mile TT championships, finishing 11th in 20.13, although it seemed the course was busy with traffic, and frustratingly passing traffic seems to have benefited some riders but not the Scottish champion.

The National 10 TT title was won by Michael Hutchison in a time of 18.37.

Links
Scottish 10 championships report & podium shots on Dooleys Cycles website
Full results of the Jason McIntyre memorial 10TT on the Nevis Cycles website.

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The PruTour prologue, Stirling 1998

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May 1998, Stirling. A brave beginning for the PruTour, formerly the Kellog’s Tour and now the revived Tour of Britain.

I frequently see the PruTour referred to as ill-fated — it ran for only two editions. The names of the Festina and Linda McCartney teams on the start sheet certainly make for ominous reading. The Linda McCartney team went on to fold in 2001 due to financial problems but later that summer, cycling was rocked by the biggest scandal it has ever known when the extent of the doping culture was blown wide open with the Festina affair.

Stuart O'Grady at 1998 PruTour prologue time trial

This preview article in The Independent highlights Chris Boardman’s concerns over a lack of form ahead of the race. He needn’t have worried- he won the prologue and the overall. The piece also gives a useful breakdown of the teams and riders involved.

George Hincapie was second in the prologue, 1.7 seconds behind. “The last hill was sheer hell. It was difficult to judge your pace and leave something in reserve for the last 200 metres.” Having ridden this hill I know just what he is talking about — the gradient doesn’t seem hard, but rounding the corner to the final cobbled section up to the esplanade, it really begins to bite.

Richard Moore, now better known for his book In Search of Robert Millar, rode the race as part of a Scottish Team with Brian Smith. Without going into detailed quotes, they didn’t fare well. May 1998 was not a time to look forward for Scottish Cycling. Luckily we are booming again with a thriving amateur scene, representation (of sorts) on the ProTour and a strong new challenge at Pro Continental level with Endura Racing.

Robert, whose picture I blogged recently gave me his memories of the day: “It was a brilliant day for cycling and I was very impressed at the turnout of spectators. It was very free and easy and you could photograph the riders easily. Unfortunately I missed Chris Boardman who was
powering up over the cobbles, sitting down, steady as a rock while my camera was switched off. I then went down to the bottom of King Street to see the Gan team’s bikes and they all came out of the campervan as I was studying them. Stuart O’Grady came over and said hello. I think they were just making sure I was going to pinch one.”

Further reading
Preview from The Herald
Report from The Scotsman
New York Times – focus on Boardman after the prologue

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