GRAEME OBREE

'Graeme Obree' (born 11 September 1965 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK) is a Scottish racing cyclist.
In July 1993, he broke the world hour record, previously held for nine years by Francesco Moser, with a distance of 51.596 kilometres (32.06 miles). Obree's record lasted less than a week, being broken by Englishman Chris Boardman. Obree retook the record in April 1994.
He was also individual pursuit world champion in 1993 and 1995.
Obree is the subject of the 2006 film, ''The Flying Scotsman'', based on his autobiography.

Contents

Innovative riding position and bike layout

Personal achievements

Setbacks

Present day

References

Related media

External links

Innovative riding position and bike layout

Obree's achievements were seen as remarkable since his riding had been largely at amateur events, and he did not have major sponsorship and development support. Instead, he developed a unique riding position (the "crouch", or "tuck" position) and constructed a unique bike frame to use.
His aim was to reduce wind resistance and instability, while increasing pedalling power. He reduced air resistance from the legs by designing a very narrow bottom bracket and dispensing with a top tube to prevent his knees from hitting the frame. The bike also had chainstays at 45 degrees rather than horizontal to allow for the cranks to pass with such a narrow bottom bracket. He placed the handlebars so that his shoulders were almost touching them, with his arms folded by his side as he cycled: this reduced air resistance on his head and torso. The seat was placed so that his legs exerted maximum force on the pedals. The front fork had only one blade (however, this was a Mike Burrows design added later to the bike), carefully shaped to be as narrow as possible. He called his bike "Old Faithful". Although he made his first (failed) hour record attempt on a similar carbon fibre frame, Obree used "Old Faithful" to break the hour record.

Personal achievements

His Hour record, achieved on 17 July 1993 at the Hamar velodrome in Norway, was celebrated as a triumph for the ordinary rider, for the outsider over the establishment. His was said to be a triumph of art over science in cycling, and opened up new areas for development in coming years.
In addition to the mechanical and aerodynamic advantages, he had tremendous commitment and stamina. For example, when his first attempt at the Hour record was unsuccessful, he wanted to try again immediately. Normally, weeks of recovery are needed after such a demanding effort, but he was allowed to try the next day, and was successful.
After Boardman had broken Obree's Hour record, Obree travelled to the Velodrome du Lac in Bordeaux, France and on 27 April 1994, exceeded Boardman's distance, riding 52.713 km. This world record lasted until the following September when it was broken by Miguel Indurain.
Domestically, he also broke the British 10-mile individual time trial record in 1993, won the RTTC 50-mile championship the same year (setting a new competition record of 1:39:01 in the process), and won the 25-mile championship in 1996. He had a come-back in 1997, clocking 18:36 for 10-miles the day before winning the BCF 25-mile time trial championship.
So, as well as being an innovator of new aerodynamic positions, Obree must also be remembered as an outstanding athlete in his own right.

Setbacks

His brother died suddenly in 1994, and Graeme slid in and out of depression over the ensuing years. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI, the world governing body for cycling), after his second Hour World record in 1994, changed the rules for bike layout. His bike and riding position were effectively banned: he did not find out about this unwritten rule change until one hour before he began the World Championship pursuit race in Italy.
Nevertheless, Obree went on to develop another new riding position, the "superman" style, where his arms were fully extended in front as he rode, and he went on to win the World pursuit championship with this and his "Old Faithful" in 1995. However, this riding position was also later banned by the UCI, on grounds that human effort and skill are more significant than technological advance. The bike is now a permanent exhibit in the Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh.
Illness prevented Obree making much further progress in his sport. After several episodes of ill health he started a business manufacturing handlebars suitable for the "superman" riding position. This collapsed when the UCI banned the position.
He published his autobiography in 2003 entitled ''The Flying Scotsman''. A film based on the book premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2006, starring Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Boyd.^[1] In November 2006 Metro-Goldwyn Mayer bought worldwide distribution rights and the film was released in the U.S on 29 December 2006;^[2] it was given a UK-wide release on 29 June 2007.

Present day

He lives quietly with his wife and two children near Irvine, in Scotland. However, he continues to race occasionally, competing in individual time trials for Ayrshire-based Fullarton Wheelers cycling club. In May 2005, he crashed during a rainstorm in the national 10-mile individual time trial championship near Nantwich in Cheshire. He was a member of the winning three-man club squad that took the team title in the Scottish 10-mile time trial championships in May 2006.^[3]
Graeme also is talking about another attempt at the hour record.^[4] However, it is as yet unclear if this will ever go ahead due to his family commitments, and if it does which record Obree will aim for — the "veterans" record set by Francesco Moser at the age of 42 on a non-UCI legal bike, or the current "athletes" record held by Ondřej Sosenka.

References

1. Flying Scotsman to launch Edinburgh film fest
2. MGM to release Obree movie in the U.S.
3. Scottish Cycling Newsletter late 2006
4. JBST Podcast interview, 20 June 2007

Related media

★ Flying Scotsman: Cycling to Triumph Through My Darkest Hours'' Graeme Obree VeloPress 2005 ISBN 1-931382-72-7

★ Flying Scotsman'' Graeme Obree Birlinn Books 2003 ISBN 1-84158-335-9

★ Flying Scotsman (2005)'' movie, IMDb link

★ [1] The Flying Scotsman speaks: Graeme Obree interview 'stv' website

External links

★ Graeme Obree

★ Graeme Obree's Bikes

★ Graeme Obree and the World Hour Record

★ VeloPress U.S. Edition of the Graeme Obree Autobiography Flying Scotsman: Cycling to Triumph Through My Darkest Hours

★ MGM to release Obree movie in the U.S.

★ Graeme Obree's home made bike photograph

★ The Flying Scotman movie (unofficial site)

★ photo story by Jonathan Worth