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Video: Rob Holden takes on the Hour - on a Boris Bike
Sir Bradley Wiggins isn’t the only cyclist to have had a crack at an Hour record in a London Olympic venue in the past couple of weeks – Rob Holden took to the track at Herne Hill Velodrome last month and rode 31.285km on a Boris Bike, nearly four times heavier than the Pinarello Bolide HR Wiggins rode on Sunday.
It’s the third and last in a series of challenges that the 48-year-old has undertaken on the three-speed 23kg city hire bike, all of them aimed at raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support.
In 2013, he and two friends hired one in South London, drove to Provence where he rode it up Mont Ventoux, and got it back on the docking station inside 24 hours.
Last year, they headed across the Atlantic to tackle Mount Washington, the highest peak in the north-eastern United States, with Rob riding a New York City Citibike, virtually identical to the London Santander Cycles bikes.
Speaking of his latest exploit, which took place on the morning of 29 May, Rob said: “60 minutes may not sound a lot. But going as hard as you can at 110 revs a minutes is agony.
“You’ve really got to focus. You’ve got to concentrate on holding that line, the shortest line around the track.
“You’ve got to keep your rhythm, you’ve got to keep your cadence up, and you’ve got to stay in control.
“So pacing is everything and you’re really aiming to stay as close to that pace right through to 10 minutes to go and then you quite literally empty the tanks from there.
“The last 10 minutes of the ride is where you have to put everything out there, it’s the hardest mental challenge of the whole ride.
After crossing the line for the final time after the 60 minutes were up, he said: “Never again.”
He added: “I’m sure every Hour rider says it but my butt probably hurts the most, sat in that same position.”
So far, his ride has raised nearly £350 for Macmillan Cancer Support on his Just Giving page.
It’s the second unusual attempt at setting an Hour record we’ve seen in recent weeks – last month, Matt Richardson rode a Raleigh Chopper for 31.9km on the track at Palmer Park in Reading.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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In SE London, psychopath riders are the majority of people on bicycles Oh dear! another festive stealth anti-cyclist ☃️
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15 comments
Pleased to see he's got the Boris Bike Aero Bar position happening. Works really well downhill.
There's bits of me that hurt just thinking about it.
Huge and undying respect to Rob Holden and his Merry Band of fellow eccentrics. Well done and keep up the good work.
Does he get an equivalent jacket with his time on? Made by Primark perhaps.
This is the only hour record that matters.
Given that all the criticism of Bradley Wiggins was levelled at the fact that you can't (easily) buy some of the bits commercially is this legitimate?
I mean... you can't *buy* a Boris bike!
I bet you could but you'd probably have to buy them in bulk. It'd probably end up costing you the same as it would to buy Sir Brad's Pinerello!
You can "buy" them insofar as you choose not to return it and pay the £300 charge.
Glasgow city-bikes are faster.
Just saying.
Hmmm. He didn't quite make 20 miles....... Who's next?
In my experience the quality of the bikes can vary wildly, some feel like they've got both brakes stuck on, but some are surprisingly nippy (for a 23kg bike).
If I were to give it a go, I'd test lots of them to find just the perfect one! There's not much you can do about the aerodynamics though!
This is exactly the sort of lunatic spirit that rekindles my hope in Britain.
In the past I had considered getting a Boris Bike down to G10/42 for an evening 10. Maybe one day.
I like how this record is in keeping with the spirit of the hour record before the rule change; anyone can go and get almost the exact same bike - without even having to buy it - and put themselves against the test.
I know it's unlikely, but I'd like to see the 'Boris Bike Hour Record' actually take off. It'd be fascinating, and hilarious to watch.
But then someone would remove the bag holder thingy, or disconnect the dynamo or pump up the tyres or something and there would be OUTRAGE.
Or worse yet, get TfL to commission a Boris Bike with a custom-made 3D-printed bag-holder-thingy. Made of titanium. 0.o
I think it's now overwhelmingly likely, I wouldn't be surprised to see a pro have a go at it.