UKH

I’m in the middle of reading “Beryl: in search of Britain’s Greatest Athlete” by Jeremy Wilson. Having grown up in a cycling-mad family I knew a bit about Beryl (among cyclists the surname has never been needed) and in particular that she was the only woman to have broken the men’s record in a major sporting event, but this book is a fascinating read. To my shame, I never knew the half of it. The book is full of amazing facts, and the shameful history of women cyclists’ treatment by the governing bodies of the sport is absolutely jaw-dropping. The rampant misogyny is incredible. Even for anyone who knows little or nothing of the sport this is a great, though sometimes uncomfortable read.

I've just finished it...

Has anyone read the William Fotheringham biography? Supposed to be very good too. 

no, I haven’t

I just had a look to see if Maxine Peake's radio play about her was on BBC Sounds somewhere - it's not but I found it here instead.  (It was originally broadcast on Radio 4 in 2012.) 

You might enjoy this too.

https://archive.org/details/beryl-a-love-story-on-two-wheels-by-maxine-peak...

Yes, very good. 

Saw her racing at morecambe prom many moons ago in a race called the devil takes the hindmost a particularly mean form of racing,she decimated the field

Have you read Nicole Cooke's book? The Breakaway. It's shocking - she was so talented

Now called the elimination race, at which Laura Trott was brilliant 

Thanks for the tip

Thanks

My takeaway from reading Fotheringham’s book was that she was supremely talented and probably quite unlikeable. She had beef with her daughter for quite some time after her daughter beat her in a significant race as I recall. 

Enjoyed this.

In case anyone reading this doesn’t know what Beryl Burton achieved, here’s one of her most amazing feats. In 1967 she got a start in the Otley CC 12 hour time trial, the field for which was almost totally male. The handful of women  taking part were set off after the men (all riders set off at minute intervals). In the closing minutes of the race Beryl caught and passed the leading male rider and current record holder, Mike McNamara, offering him a liquorish all sort as she passed. When the dust finally settled Beryl had covered 277.25 miles in her 12 hours, winning the race and setting a new Competition Record for women which exceeded the record for men, surely a unique achievement in any athletic event.

Jeremy Wilson’s book addresses this. There certainly areas of her character that were quite difficult, but in large part this was the flip side of the single mindedness that made her a supreme champion. Her relationship with Denise was certainly more difficult once Denise had become a rival.

My Mum met her briefly a few times at TTs. I think one her proudest moments was when Beryl told her 'well done'

We saw the stage play with Bolton Octagon (camped out in the Library at the time). A very powerful story. 

That would depend on how you define Competition Record, record, unique, and athletic event.

Angela Bandini did this in freediving in the very early 1990s, breaking the mens’ no limits record. Things were not so accurately measured at that time but there is no dispute that she recorded a depth greater than the then two top men Jacques Mayol and Enzo Majorca. It’s probably happened in other sports. 

 I knew there would be something!

In this vein, it worth noting that the record for the Spine Race (the Pennine Way, south to north, in winter), is held by a woman, Jasmin Paris. In 2019, she beat the previous record by 12 hours to complete the distance in a little over 83 hours. Along the way, she was expressing milk for her baby daughter. The latter achievement will not be matched by any men!

Yes, I remember that now. Amazing performance.

Ooh.  I'm a bit envious, I would like to have seen the stage play.

Competition records can only be set unpaced in a competitive time trial under the auspices of the RTTC (Road Time Trials Council). This specifically excludes records set in a solo record attempt under the auspices of the RRA (Road Records Association). RTTC time trials over a set distance (eg 10 miles, 25 miles, etc etc) entail a start and finish a short distance apart and usually cover each bit of road twice in opposite directions. In contrast, the RRA record for 50 miles at one time was set on a straight out course beginning near Plynlimon and finishing a few feet above sea level somewhere in England and was set on a day with a howling westerly gale.

That was exactly my point. 

In Morley in West Yorkshire there is a Beryl Burton Memorial Garden which has a large mural and it is worth a visit.

It’s on my to do list.