Anthony.R.Brown My Quest For The Hour Cycling Record – Last Chance!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
The reason I came onto this Forum was for some inspiration,and to try and find my TT ride results for the years 1979 – 1981 while I was riding in the Chelmer club.
So far I have not had much luck :sad: I have asked a few people if they might have the results in copies of Cycling that they have,and I have tried to find the results online from local newspaper cycling archives,and again no luck.
So I will now give some more information about the TT rides I done,and I have uploaded some photo’s of the Medals I managed to find,which even surprised me considering the amount of times I moved in my life.
For the Medals I have photo’s of I am sure the results can be found from someone in the Chelmer club,what I am interested in are the results for the other TT’s I done.
One example ride I done was on a course I rode on quite a lot,based at Brentwood on the A12 leading up to mountnessing,it was an evening 10 mile and I think it was a becontree wheelers event ? I came 1st and my brother Steven brown came 2nd,which was a big deal for me as it was the first time I ever beat my brother at anything :smile: he was not exactly a Time trialist,as he mainly done Road racing.
On the same course I rode some more 10’s and my Chelmer club mate Dean Sharpe rode,I managed to beat him most of the time as far as I can remember (hope you are OK if you are reading Dean) :smile: these were RTTC events so it should be possible to get the results.
Another result I am after on a different course was done on the E72 or the other named one on the same course ? It was again a 10 mile event and I managed to beat Leo RC club rider Vic Haines who holds records for Tandem rides plus a good normal TT rider,and I also beat Beryl Burton,and it was also an RTTC event,so it should be possible to find it.
My last result I would like to find is attached as a photo,it was a 10 mile event and I came 2nd in a time of 24.20,and done in 1981,I would love to know who the other riders were ? And again another RTTC event.
One of the best rides I done was a Chelmer club event,on 28-9-80 with a time of 1.0.35 also shown in the Medal photo’s as (A.Brown) and in the yearly results book as (T.Brown),it was the yearly Kathleen Smith Trophy,a 25 mile event on the country roads just outside Chelmsford,and a difficult course,this was a race when my fitness peaked! I will never forget when I turned up to ride and Peter Horsnell looked at me and said “You fit looking Bst#d” he was more than right as it was the first time I beat the club champion Tim Bright,I won the event and even better was that I also won the 1st Handicap for the most improved rider,not an easy task! Also shown in the Medals photo’s.
The other interesting thing about the ride,it was the first time I raced with my all new TT bike,a special Rory O’ Brien bike,because I was working there at the time in the Romford,North street branch,it was an all Gold bike :smile:,the colour was an amazing Flamboyant Gold,the mavic wheel rims,and hubs,and the 54 campagnola chainset,rear mech,brakes,levers,cinelli bars & stem etc. were all anodised Gold,it looked amazing!
I also had some innovations done to the frame like an aerodynamic plates was welded behind the bottom bracket,and something else I done which turned out to be a mistake! :sad: was I had the Top tube shortened by 1 inch ? my way of thinking was to make it lighter, a shorter frame with a longer handlebar stem but the same length regarding reach,must be lighter which it was,but I overlooked the fact that I used long toe clips,and there was a slight overlap with the front tyre...not good!
Sadly it was the only time I rode the bike :sad: as my life changed shortly after this ride,even though I done a few rides in 1981.


How I got interested in Cycling…

I got interested in the mid 1970’s and the Cyclist that inspired me was the one and only Eddy Merckx,it was not his amazing wins or sprinting finishes,for me it was him riding up hills,he was known as the "The Cannibal" and I think he showed this more in the mountains than anywhere else.
When riding he looked like he had to win,his face showed complete commitment and determination,and what was amazing was that he could climb as good as or better than any smaller rider,who normally had an advantage,his power to weight ratio was amazing!
The photo below shows him at his best!…

19147101453_7372e1c191_c.jpg


Anthony.R.Brown My Quest For The Hour Cycling Record – Last Chance!

What might surprise people is that I never had an interest in Road Racing,even though I was inspired by Eddy Merckx,my main interest also came from Eddy as soon as I heard about The Hour Record...I was hooked I wanted to do this so much,it was when I was at one of my fittest times in the 1980’s and I started to plan how it would be possible to break a legends record like Eddy’s which he done in 1972, at 49.431 km (30.715 mi) in Mexico City,the record stood for 12 years.
It was then that it came to me that Aerodynamics could play a big part in breaking the record,I drew a steel bike Frame covered in tear-drop fibreglass,with a sloping top tube,I had never seen anything like it before and knew it was an answer,now the same type of bike is made of carbon fibre,so my design was ahead of it’s time!
I never got the chance to have a go at the record as I said above my life changed,I moved away from the Country side and the Chelmer club when my grandfather passed away,as I lived with my Grandparents,then I moved back to London near a job I had,and stopped Cycling almost completely.
Moving on to 2021 and the Covid-19 situation this sparked something off in me in 2020 to start cycling again,mainly because I have a lot of time,and I wanted to see if I could get fit again like I once was.
This was when I got a real surprise at how fit I felt in a few months,and got me thinking again about TT’s and the Hour Record for older riders :smile:
After some research I found there were Hour Record categories for all different ages,and the one that got my interest was for the 55 – 59 age group,as today 08/03 I am now 59 (Last Chance!) :smile:
What is strange is the difference for this group and the next group,60 – 64 ? regarding the distance done for each Record.
For the 55 – 59 that is held by Kevin Metcalfe from the USA with a distance of 49.121 km,
then for the 60 – 64 group it’s Andrej Žavbi, Poland 45.732 km,which is a difference of 3.389 km ?
I don’t understand how there can be such a difference for one year ? I am sure when I am Sixty next year,I will feel the same as I do now,and I probably could do that ride,riding backwards! :smile:

At the moment I am in contact correspondence with the Slovak Cycling Federation,trying to arrange for a Wooden Track where it might be possible to have a go at the Record,unfortunately there are no good suitable Tracks in Slovakia,there is one being built but it won’t be ready until maybe 2023 ?
So the only other option because of Covid restrictions is a country near to Slovakia,like Austria or the Czech Republic ?
I live in hope of the situation changing ? But I have always been unlucky in my life! The Covid is just another thing that had to happen! But it might be a good thing if I get a chance :smile:


Below is the link to The Hour Record…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_record


Below is a link to my Medals...

https://ibb.co/album/kHdFMH

And attached...





Anthony.R.Brown 08/03/2021

Former Chelmer CC
 

Attachments

  • 20210308_102501.jpg
    20210308_102501.jpg
    38.1 KB · Views: 6
  • 20210308_105116.jpg
    20210308_105116.jpg
    66.9 KB · Views: 9
Last edited:

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Have you tried the Time Trialling Forum for results ?

http://www.timetriallingforum.co.uk/
 
What is strange is the difference for this group and the next group,60 – 64 ? regarding the distance done for each Record.
For the 55 – 59 that is held by Kevin Metcalfe from the USA with a distance of 49.121 km,
then for the 60 – 64 group it’s Andrej Žavbi, Poland 45.732 km,which is a difference of 3.389 km ?
I don’t understand how there can be such a difference for one year ? I am sure when I am Sixty next year,I will feel the same as I do now,and I probably could do that ride,riding backwards! :smile:
You do get these anomalies with age-related records. I think it's just because so few people do hour attempts. I would guess that Kevin Metcalfe didn't try after he was 60, and maybe Andrej Zavbi was not of the same ability as Kevin.

Were they pros? In most eras, the top pro time-triallists aren't making multiple attempts at the hour, so the records can be a little soft; so it's quite a random distribution.
 

T4tomo

Guru
You want to make sure that Tim Bright isn't in any shape to have a go, it looks like, whilst you beat once, he had your number in all the years either side :okay:
 
OP
OP
Anthony.R.Brown

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
PS good Luck in your quest. are you still time trialing or racing - you'll need that for the hour.

Thank you :smile: I am not Time trialling at the moment,after the winter layoff I am getting my basic fitness sorted out on a heavy mountain bike in the forests :smile: as soon as the kilos are off I will be doing the speed & endurance stuff.
 
OP
OP
Anthony.R.Brown

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
You do get these anomalies with age-related records. I think it's just because so few people do hour attempts. I would guess that Kevin Metcalfe didn't try after he was 60, and maybe Andrej Zavbi was not of the same ability as Kevin.

Were they pros? In most eras, the top pro time-triallists aren't making multiple attempts at the hour, so the records can be a little soft; so it's quite a random distribution.
Some good points,but for me if I break a record and I feel good about it...then I will keep trying until I am completely spent,knowing I can do no better!
 
OP
OP
Anthony.R.Brown

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
You want to make sure that Tim Bright isn't in any shape to have a go, it looks like, whilst you beat once, he had your number in all the years either side :okay:
Tim would not have beat me when I peaked later,I know by the time I done when I beat him compared to what I could do later,before I was only casual,later I was on a bike 6/7 days a week! :smile:
 
Last edited:

T4tomo

Guru
Aren't you're better off waiting a year and picking off Andrej Žavbi, Poland 45.732 km.

how close are you getting to their times at the moment?
 
OP
OP
Anthony.R.Brown

Anthony.R.Brown

Active Member
Aren't you're better off waiting a year and picking off Andrej Žavbi, Poland 45.732 km.

how close are you getting to their times at the moment?

Well if the Covid situation does not change ? then I might have to :sad: But I will need more of an incentive to do it! because 45.732 km = 28.4165474 Miles,and if my calculations are correct I have already done that on Normal road TT courses, so I need a point ? I guess just to have ones name on the list might be it ? :smile:


A.R.B
 
Top Bottom