Jon Walpole
The odds of ATT adding OLN to your regular cable linup (when they know you
really don't have much choice in Cable services) are about the same as my
chances of bettering Eddy Merckx's hour record, i.e. slim to none
Hey, I just read that Eddy Merckx no longer holds the World hour record ;-)
Way to go Chris! See below.
Jon
Boardman breaks Merckx mark
Chris Boardman became the first male cyclist to successfully attempt the men's Hour Record under the new UCI rules when
he rode 49.441 kilometres, marginally beating the nominal standard of 49.431 kilometres set by Eddy Merckx in 1972.
However, he had to fight until the end, falling 0.1 km/h behind with just five minutes to go. An amazing last three laps, which
he called "the hardest three laps of my life" pushed him up over the average, so that he finished 10 metres "ahead" of
Merckx.
Afterwards, he nearly collapsed and had to be assisted in stepping off the bike by his team manager Roger Legeay and wife
Sally-Anne.
"I've never been in so much pain after a race," he said, attributing it to riding in a crouched position on the drop handlebars.
The same pain was experienced by Anna Wilson 10 days ago. "If I had known how hard it would be, I would never have
attempted it. I now know how much pain Merckx felt."
He affirmed that it was the last race of his career, and it was certainly an impressive and gutsy way to go out. It could so
easily have gone the other way. "I'm glad every one walked away happy," he said.
There was some controversy surrounding the ride, as Boardman had previously thought that whatever distance he rode
would be accepted as the new standard. However, the UCI confirmed that Merckx' 1972 mark was the record just two
and a half hours before he started his ride, placing extra pressure on him.
The previous day, he had said that "40 kilometres would still be a new record," although he was still aiming for 49.5
kilometres for the sake of honour. Boardman's business manager, Peter Woodworth described him as "very upset" at the
"last minute" revelation that he would need to beat Eddy Merckx' mark for it to be considered a record. Hein Verbruggen
(UCI president) even telephoned Roger Legeay on the day to clarify things.
It could have been embarrassing and unfortunate if the 10 metre difference had been the other way, as then both parties
would have had some explaining to do, especially regarding the legality of Merckx' bike.
Boardman added that future record attempts should be made at sea level in order to keep the conditions similar. He now
holds both UCI recognised records, the "Best Hour Performance" at 56.375 kilometres, and the Hour Record, at 49.444
kilometres, with the latter subject to ratification by the UCI over the next few weeks.
Data for the attempt
km time
5 6.04.016
10 12.03.889
15 18.04.635
20 24.06.975
25 30.11.663
30 36.18.409
35 42.27.043
40 48.33.402
45 54.40.588
46 55.53.916
47 57.06.713
48 58.17.899
49 59.29.264
49.25 59.46.661 (lap 197)
49.50 60.04.041 (lap 198)
Last lap time: 17.380 s
Last lap time fraction: 13.339 s
Distance = 250 x 13.339/17.380
= 191.872 m
Official distance: 49.441872 km