Ever heard of Beryl Burton?

[Rafferty]

Eileen Sheridan was an awesome cyclist in her day. Place to place riding was her forte.

 

[Smokin Joe]

So was time trialling initially a very British thing, or did it spread to other countries very quickly?

Time trials were always with us both here and on the continent, but with a few exceptions the Europeans used them in stage races as they do now, whereas in Britain they were the staple form of racing on the road.

 

[Smokin Joe]

One of her records

One of those records still stands today, the 277 miles in 12 hours, never mind that the equipment, particularly wheels are so much lighter and quicker, add in that she did not have tri bars it makes you wonder what she could have done with modern equipment. My better half will be having a crack at the 12 hour this Sunday but she will be highly unlikely to do that kind of mileage. Beryl really was a one off, the best ever by a very long way.
Are you around for this @colly ?

One of the reasons Burton's 12 hour distance is still a women's record is that hardly anyone rides the handful of annual events. Look through the CTT records and the 12 and 24 records for both men and women rarely move.

Burton was head and shoulders above the female competition in her day, but there wasn't much. Many of the women who rode the World Championship road races in the sixties and seventies would have struggled to stay in a 3rd Cat event over here.

 

[Danny]

Burton was head and shoulders above the female competition in her day, but there wasn't much. Many of the women who rode the World Championship road races in the sixties and seventies would have struggled to stay in a 3rd Cat event over here.

What we don't know, is how good she would have been if she had had access to modern equipment, training techniques, nutrition, funding, and of course more challenging competition.

 

[Smokin Joe]

What we don't know, is how good she would have been if she had had access to modern equipment, training techniques, nutrition, funding, and of course more challenging competition.

That's the difficulty of comparing sports people from different eras, Danny. What is without a doubt is that she would have been a top rider, but unlikely to have dominated to the extent she did in today's much more competitive market.

Unproven, I'd suggest.

 

[Glow worm]

I think there is a radio play about her. I believe I heard it on Radio 4 about 5 years ago.

Bump! - now being repeated on R4 as I type- should be on Iplayer shortly.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Bump! - now being repeated on R4 as I type- should be on Iplayer shortly.

it's on YouTube too

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Me neither. Shocking really, when you read of...

"...a play premiering in Leeds as part of the Yorkshire festival later this month, timed to coincide with the Tour's visit, celebrates the greatest British female cyclist of all time. Not Victoria Pendleton or Laura Trott. But Beryl Burton of Morley, who for two glorious years in the 1960s held the men's world 12-hour time trial record.

In 1967 she pedalled 277.25 miles in 12 hours, famously overtaking Mike McNamara, her male rival, and giving him a liquorice allsort as she passed. It wasn't until 1969 that a man went faster. No woman has ever bettered her time."

For the full story: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jun/13/tour-de-france-beryl-burton

Love that liquorice allsort!

Yes I have as this is just down the road from me:

 

[Soltydog]

play on at Hull truck http://m.hulltruck.co.uk/?showID=919 for anyone in the area that's interested. Might be on elsewhere too

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Resurfacing this (by the expedient of using her name as search, & picking at random)

Graham, her nephew, who I know, added the first clip to FaceBook
The second two are my contributions, to him (& you)

They may interest some of you

About Beryl, after the first 90 seconds

Her (1967) 12 hour record (277.35 miles) still stands today
Heck, it took 20 years to beat her 10 mile record, & that was only by 10 seconds

 

[John the Monkey]

Mrs M and I saw the New Vic's restaging of Maxine Peake's play last week.

The company had changed it a bit to work better in the round, and it was terrific - I'm wary of saying too much, for fear of spoiling the surprise if any of you get chance to see it. Suffice to say, it's well worth catching if they tour it!

 

[biggs682]

. Suffice to say, it's well worth catching if they tour it!

Would love to see it if it does go on tour

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Resurfacing this (by the expedient of using her name as search, & picking at random)

Graham, her nephew, who I know, added the first clip to FaceBook
The second two are my contributions, to him (& you)

Great viewing- thanks for sharing

 

[Smokin Joe]

Her (1967) 12 hour record (277.35 miles) still stands today

That's more indicative of the state of long distance time trialing than anything else. Very few men ride them and even fewer women, none of the top riders do.

 

[r04DiE]

Me neither. Shocking really, when you read of...

Sad to say that I have never heard of her, not that I'm one for being knowledgeable about sportspeople or celebrities. Anyways, I'm glad you told me about her - she's my kind of celeb Thanks.