- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
Guy Martin Speed tandem 01Guy Martin tackles 24-hour tandem record in first of new series of Speed
Motorcyclist, bike rider and junior national treasure Guy Martin returned to our TV screens last night in a new series of Speed and in the first episode took on the record for the greatest distance ridden on a tandem in 24 hours.
Martin's no stranger to 24-hour racing on motorbikes and mountain bikes. For the tandem attempt he teamed up with 24-hour solo mountain bike racer Jason Miles and enlisted the help of bike designer Mike Burrows, Team Sky nutritionist Nigel Mitchell and others.
"I always like a challenge with a bit of a twist," says Martin at the start of the show. "I don't want to do the norm. I thought a tandem would be summat a bit different wouldn't it?"
The target Martin and Miles set themselves was 505 miles, the mark set by American ultra-distance racers Rich Fedrigon and Byron Gremley in 1990.
On the way to the attempt they have to figure out what sort of bike to ride and solve the problems of cooling, nutrition and hydration for what they intend to be a non-stop effort.
Burrows convinces them they'll be a lot faster on a recumbent and he and fellow human-powered vehicle legend Miles Kingsbury cook up a dramatic side-by-side recumbent trike with a fairing that puts Martin and Miles under a vast bubble canopy.
On their first outing, trying to go round the Goodwood motor-racing track as fast as possible, they miss a corner and end up in the weeds.
"I wanted them to go steadily," says Burrows, "and they didn't. They're nutters. What they did was go as fast as they bloody well could."
At this point purists will start to gnash their teeth a bit as the Fredrigon and Gremley record was set on a conventional tandem, not any sort of recumbent. But treat the whole thing as a made-for-TV boys' own adventure and enjoy the sheer determination and good humour of all involved and it's great fun TV.
The choice of a recumbent trike as the record attempt vehicle brings its own set of problems. How do you get food into the bubble? How do you stay cool in the summer sun while pedalling a flying greenhouse? How do you have a wee?
Ingenuity and experimentation solve the problems to one degree or another, only for another, completely uncontrollable problem to loom: the weather. The record attempt is set for the weekend of August 10 and the tail end of hurricane Bertha is confidently predicted to clobber the South of England.
Do our heroes break the record? Can they conquer the weather, stand 24 hours in ultra-close proximity and beat the chafing of continuous pedalling?
You can find out for yourself on the Channel 4 catch up service. It's well worth 50 minutes of your time.
Here's the trailer for the series:
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
Latest Comments
- Steve K 4 min 53 sec ago
Personally, I'm a fan of the advertising hoardings at Fulchester Rovers approach to advertising. Drink beer. Smoke tabs. Sleep in beds Etc
- Steve K 7 min 19 sec ago
I assume this was in relation to the Bridge AND MUSEUM leaving X. Built by one of my relatives, that bridge. (Possibly)
- brooksby 12 min 45 sec ago
Quick show of hands: how many people think that if the council was to start allowing motor vehicles through there then these people wouldn't see a...
- brooksby 23 min 20 sec ago
- brooksby 1 hour 7 min ago
We would all refer M'Learned Friend to Replies Made Every Other Time They Make This Snark
- brooksby 1 hour 10 min ago
Council issues statement to try and make bad publicity go away, but doesn't bother to give its contractors new instructions
- belugabob 1 hour 16 min ago
Yes, we stole our bikes, clothing, food, houses, furniture, never paid for anything (there y avoid contribution to the tax coffers) and are all...
- Rendel Harris 1 hour 29 min ago
I got the impression that he was thinking of the same jacket as me but possibly not; in any case, it isn't people making a mistake that annoys, it...
Add new comment
23 comments
Bit of a cheat as previous records were on open roads and not closed race circuit!
Bit of a cheat as previous records were on open roads and not closed race circuit!
Bit of a cheat as previous records were on open roads and not closed race circuit!
Due to Speed being primarily a science programme, I think it's important to present as many interesting science-y things as possible. The differences in wind efficiency and what can therefore be achieved with a faired recumbent as a opposed to an upright bike. What happens to the human body when it gets hot. What happens when two competitive blokes have a virtual reality race. What the human body needs as fuel to keep going, etc etc etc.
It wasn't really a programme to mainly showcase how great we are as athletes nor was it intended as a study into how breaking records is easier with a big budget. As for the "proper athletes"comment, I'm happy to discuss my race results directly.
Anyway, we both really enjoyed filming it and I reckon the programme turned out brilliantly. I think the wider recumbent community are quite pleased with the exposure it's given to the sport as well.
I was a bit disappointed that all of the EPIC farting was cut out (bear in mind that all sound resonated inside the tandem like an acoustic guitar). Also the interview we did with James Cracknell was interesting, although it was a sobering "if you guys aren't careful you might come to a sticky end" straight-faced bit that wouldn't really have fit in with the rest of the comedy sketches that we did.
My thoughts on the whole thing are here http://40psi.wordpress.com
Cheers, Jase.
I am also impressed although it was obviously for telly not realistic record breaking. Human powered record methinks. Doubt it would class as a tandem 24 hr record and the programme was remiss not to say that. Even so great fun to watch.
'Guy Martin is a always good for a watch'
Not so sure about that. Energetic and enthusiastic bloke, for sure. Terrible at communication. Did anyone have the misfortune to see 'Guy Martin's Spitfire'? Cringeworthy.
Used to work with Jason. Top bloke and a complete cycling nut.
A recent Sunday Times profile on this man revealed he has 21 points on his licence for speeding, but Magistrates allowed him to keep his licence. He is quoted that he "likes risking his life". Seems he likes to risk the lives of others too.
You what?! He is a TT rider - he probably knows more about riding at speed than you can judge from reading a couple of lines in a newspaper!
So you agree that driving skill should determine how fast someone is allowed to drive/ride? How do we determine that?
Ps he's a TT rider who's never won a tt. (I may have to edit that coz I didn't watch this year's)
Well, presumably you are a cyclist, what have you won? While I think he shouldn't be treated differently to any other motorist. It seems abit bitter to judge him based on what he has or has not won.
That paragraph about the points, the quote and that he likes to risk the lives of others is badly written and annoying. Who made the quote, Martin, or the Magistrate? And the rest of us lose our licence at 12 points, as far as I know, so something doesn't make sense. That Sunday Times profile seems as badly written as his Spitfire programme, which was still a good show.
I am not saying having 21 points on your licence for speeding is a good thing, but there is no explanation or background of how he got them. Some of us are more intelligent than to just accept "Speed kills" and then say "he likes to rink others lives".
Well it's now open to 2 'proper' athletes to have a go with that or similar equipment.
Possibly with a bit more development on the seating!
Hate to be a pedant, and I haven't seen the programme, but that isn't a tandem! Hope the record they were going for was for a 2-person HPV instead!
If you google it, the definition of tandem is:
tandem
noun
1.
a bicycle with seats and pedals for two riders, one behind the other.
a group of two people or machines working together.
"the Giants had the greatest pitching tandem in baseball history"
adverb
1.
with two or more horses harnessed one behind another.
"I rode tandem to Paris"
alongside each other; together.
adjective
1.
having two things arranged one in front of the other.
"a tandem trailer"
I'm proud to be a pedant, and I did see the programme and I agree with you.
"Tandem" is a Latin word meaning "at length" and was originally used to describe harnessing horses one behind the other precisely to distinguish this arrangement from harnessing them side by side.
A two rider bike with the riders side by side used to be called a sociable, for obvious reasons which might not apply to riders enclosed in a small bubble for 24 hours, as someone points out above.
I saw the programme, and admired their sheer determination to set a new record. I also like Guy Martin - he's very watchable and entertaining.
However - as mentioned above - a tandem is a bicycle.
The recumbent used for this record had 3 wheels - so it was a tricycle.
Brilliant effort, though - and a hell of a feat!! Well done!!
Tandem can apply to anything, not just bicycle. Last weekend I was riding around on a tandem recumbent
FILE0016.JPG
Guy Martin is a complete nutcase, I think he's ace.
Quite how you spend 24 hours in a bubble with someone who thinks that riding solo for that amount of time is a good idea I'm not sure. Doesn't sound very sociable!
Also, the farts don't bear thinking about.
I enjoyed it a lot, Guy Martin is a always good for a watch.
Purists can say what they want, the records are held by the WHPVA (World Human Powered Vehicle Association) so anything with multiple riders can set that record. Stick 3 guys on a bike and they could hold that record. (http://www.whpva.org/land.html#372)
They also set the 12 hour record in the process of doing the 24 hr attempt.
Because WHPVA don't distinguish between different forms of bicycle like others do, so therefore Fredrigon and Gremley record could have been broken on anything with multiple riders. If it was the UMCA record, they have serperate for upright and tandem.
Fredrigon and Gremley still hold the world record with UMCA for upright tandems https://www.ultracycling.com/sections/records/stats/timed/
yes definitely worth a watch. Really enjoyable, great 'lads having a laugh and adventure' type TV, as the author says.
I too did wonder whether it was genuinely comparable, to try to set a record in a fared recumbant compared to other attempts which were on a normal tandem..
Although having seen some of the problems this type of bike gave them in 24 hrs, it's a pretty good effort either way!
Last night? That's disappointing- I highly enjoyed the last series and despite following a huge number of relevant cycling/ pop culture twitter and facebook accounts this one slipped through unmentioned from what I saw.
Will have to track it down on catch up now- thanks for mentioning it, post event.
You've a few more opportunities yet:
tonight, 22:00 on 4Seven
1st nov 19:05 ch4
1st nov 21:00 4Seven
HTH