I spent another day riding the trainer…and actually enjoying it because I’d found another inspirational, cycling movie to watch. This one was the called ‘The Flying Scotsman’ and was based on the true story of Graeme Obree, a cycling time-trial specialist who twice won the World Championships in individual pursuit.
His story is more about his battle with clinical depression; he twice attempted suicide, and his cutting edge innovations in the design of his track bike. He found himself wanting to break the one-hour distance record for track racing…an all-out ride to go as far as you can in one hour on a bicycle track in a Velodrome…but lacking the sophisticated bike to complete the task or the money to purchase one. Instead, he decided to design and build his own. He created a machine that brought the pedals closer together…the width of a banana between them…and a set of handlebars that were little more than a short pole upon which he rested his chest while he rode. He also determined, while watching his washing machine spin at 1,200 revolutions per minute, that the bearings necessary to allow it to spin so fast were likely superior to standard biking bearings. He disassembled his machine and put them in his bike.
In 1993, he attached the World record for one hour, which stood at a little over 51 kilometers…or 31 miles. Failing on his first try, but having rented the velodrome’s track for 24 hours, he went to his hotel to get some sleep and again attempted the feat the following morning…breaking the existing record by over 400 meters. He went on to win the World Championships that same year and his bike’s unorthodox design began to catch on. For reasons and motivations known only to them, the governing body of international track racing, the Union Cycliste Internationale, began a determined effort to disqualify Obree and his bike from competition. They began to change and modify rules for bikes to disqualify his innovations…often times without warning and effectively disqualifying him from defending his world title. I’ll end my narration here for those of you interested in seeing the movie…and it’s a good one.
I’d done my Survival Workout before the ride on a cool but sunny evening. I had to back off on anything involving the biceps, which was really sore as a result of the hard work out I’d done Saturday. I did wrap it in ice for thirty minutes for the first time and that offered some relief, but I need to do more of this or my pitching days are over.
Survival Workout: 60 minutes. Bike duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 for SW and 120 for the bike.
Calories burned: 600 for SW and 1250 for the bike.
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