The One Hour Record

gntlmn

Take a look at these splits: http://www.wolfgang-menn.de/hourrecuci.htm

Sosenka's splits were most even of the three. Merckx was going for, and acheived, world records in a few events which were the first splits of his 1 hour performance. He did this deliberately, but there were a few who said that he would not be able to break the world 1 hour record because he would be too much in the red from going out too fast. Well, he defied their advice and set the records anyway. I wonder if he wished he wouldn't have done that now. My guess is that he would have been faster than 50 km for hiis hour if he would not have gone out so fast. Then his record would still be unbeaten.

What do you think of that?

gntlmn

Apparently, Sosenka has mentioned he will go for the record again in 2006, not only Bodrogi. They're still aiming for the magic 50 km, which has never yet been broken.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3742

limerickman

I was going through some of my archive material - and I found some info about Eddy Merckx and his world hour record in Mexico in 1972.

First of all, because Merckx was a professional, and because the record was broken at the Olympic velodrome in Mexico City, the photogrpahers were encouraged to try to get a shot of Merckx in full flight at the top end of the velodrom with the Olympic 5 ring symbol on the northbank.
There is an iconic photo of Merckx owned by Offside/L'Equipe showing the ultimate pro, on his bike in his Molteni jersey with the amateur symbol - the Olympic rings - as abackdrop.

The second fact is that Merckx used a Merckx bike with - and wait for it - a
52/14 setup.
He had planned to use a 52/15 but found that conditions were better suited to a 52/14. (Ritter used a 54/15 in 1968 at the same venue).


The track at Mexico was outdoor and was made of wood.

Merckx had contest 127 races that season and won 50 of them prior to attempting the record : his wins included Milan san remo, Liege - B - Liege,
Tour of Lombardy, TDF GC and Points competition, Giro GC, Fleche Wallone,
Ghent Wevelgem.

Superb.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

gntlmn

It must have been a very good year for Merckx with 50 out of 127. He was even better than his roughly 1 out of 3 wins in his entire career.

I'm looking for the elevation of the velodrome in Bourdeaux, France, where Bodrogi will make an attempt at the One Hour Record. Does anyone know what it is?

wilmar13

According to this site it is at sea level.
http://www.bikecult.com/bikecultboo...ecordsHour.html

matbooth

Bordeaux is as close as you're going to get to sea level short of riding on a beach. It is slightly inland but just south of an huge estuary (the Gironde) which drains into the Atlantic. I think a large part of the city's development was as a port. The Lac complex is pretty close to the river so it is unlikely to be more than 10m above sea level. I think that the main reason it is a preferred venue for hour attempts is the large radius of the bends for a 250m track (as well as being a wonderfully fast surface).

Hope that is of some use,

Mat Booth (www.trackcycling.info)

gntlmn

Thanks for the info on the Bordeaux track, guys. I was thinking that it was in the mtns. I'm set straight on that now: sea level.

While we weren't watching, Bodrogi has quietly crept a little closer to that record in winning the Hungarian Championshp ITT of 50 km on June 22, 2006. What's that magic number again?

http://www.trap-friis.dk/cykling/hungary.Bodrogi.htm
http://www.time-sport.com/us/home.htm

Ok. I see that the rumor on the net is not a rumor. He won by 5 MINUTES. I don't recognize the other riders' names though.

http://www.cicloleiriense.com.br/noticias_ver.asp?id=98

He's 4 minutes, 14 seconds off 50Km for an hr, but that's outdoors. I don't know what the conditions were like. Probably the most significant thing is the margin of victory: 5 min. He might make a name for himself in Bordeaux.

gntlmn

It appears that Bodrogi will not be making an attempt on The Hour after all. See the last paragraph on the web page.

http://www.procycling.com/news.aspx?ID=2253

I can't tell if that means he won't be attempting it at all this year or whether the attempt is merely delayed. My guess is that he's not doing it.

Eastway82

I'm late to this thread and haven't had time to read back through the lot, so sorry if I'm posting old news, but I've just read Michael Hutchinson's book, 'The Hour' which charts his progress towards two hour attempts (2003/4), as well as giving a very entertaining historical background to the record, the holders, its origins and the chaos surrounding the 'Athlete's Hour' rules etc. Well worth a look, published by Yellow Jersey Press (Random House), ISBN0224075195

SaintAndrew

i think the biggest thing with merckx is he made just oe attempt. obree, for example, made two attempts back to back, and spent a ton of time playing with his riding to get it right. boardman as well. so yeah i think you're right merckx could have done a better one if he'd messed around more but the guy just didn't wanna do it again.

velodrome.co.nr

i think the hour record has lost its reputation since ondrej soskena took the record from boardman

__________________
http://www.velodrome.org.uk - A Home for Cyclists

gntlmn

I'd have to disagree with that. Sosenka is the better of the two in the one hour. Remember Boardman's specialty was not the hour. He was better at the short events, and it's pretty amazing that he was actually able to set the hour even though that wasn't his game. Remember they used to call him Mr Prologue in the Tour de France. He was a force to be reckoned with in the very short races. An hour takes a different physiology. He would not win the longer TT's in the Tour.

gntlmn

"Never again," he said.

gntlmn

Here's a study that suggests that fluid should be consumed before the TT, not during, if it's one hour long. This means warm up, drink, and then ride. You're not going to get any benefit by drinking during the One Hour. It will only be a distraction.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...3&dopt=Abstract