Anatomy of a Photo: Bringing Back The Hour

Brad Wiggins is sitting at home, watching his team implode at a Tour de France he was not invited to.

What’s on his mind? An attempt at the Hour Record, that’s what. Now that the UCI has allowed riders to mount a conventional (track) time trial machine in their efforts and the likes of Boardman, Obree, Moser, Rominger, and Indurain all get their records back, I’m getting wicked psyched for a renaissance of one of the coolest periods of Cycling when rider after rider attempted and re-attempted the record during the 90’s.

Unfortunately, the regulations won’t allow for anyone to hop aboard Fignon’s old monster – which he never rode – but at least we have a chance that Wiggins, Cancellara, Martin and co will spend the next few years one-upping each other in what could be the most gratuitous suffer fest our sport has to offer.

Bring it the fuck on.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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Teocalli says:

Jul 23 2014 at 10:23 am

@Mike_P

Sorry to drag you all away from the fascinating science, which I don't really understand and which is all starting to sound like ways of "breaking wind" more efficiently. I'm amazed that no-one has yet posted this...

Did the video cut just as they got to the result?
frank says:

Jul 24 2014 at 12:44 pm

@Owen

@Buck Rogers

@frank

@Mike_P

Sorry to drag you all away from the fascinating science, which I don't really understand and which is all starting to sound like ways of "breaking wind" more efficiently. I'm amazed that no-one has yet posted this...

Gutted not to do it again this year, but I've got a plan to do it on the anniversary of Merckx's ride this October.

This was sooo much fun following the live feed last year. We need to have more events where Frahnk kills himself and we can all sit back and laugh and get fucked up in our own houses at the same time.

I'd tune in, especially if there were some system by which we could drunkenly support/heckle him as he destroys himself. And/or compares himself to some sort of ubermench at the start like this one.

We should be able to make all your dreams come true.

@Mike_P

@Owen

@Buck Rogers

@frank

@Mike_P

Sorry to drag you all away from the fascinating science, which I don't really understand and which is all starting to sound like ways of "breaking wind" more efficiently. I'm amazed that no-one has yet posted this...

Gutted not to do it again this year, but I've got a plan to do it on the anniversary of Merckx's ride this October.

This was sooo much fun following the live feed last year. We need to have more events where Frahnk kills himself and we can all sit back and laugh and get fucked up in our own houses at the same time.

I'd tune in, especially if there were some system by which we could drunkenly support/heckle him as he destroys himself. And/or compares himself to some sort of ubermench at the start like this one.

Isn't this place, right here, where we normally drunkenly heckle Frank? If only we could somehow organise Frank versus Haleakala versus The Hour as an event in two halves to run one immediately after the other. That's got to be worth pay-per-view.

Once Google gets Wifi at the top of the Big H, we should be able to pull it off - not in immediate succession, but at least in series.

@therealpeel

@frank

@Ccos

Well thankfully Fignon didn't take aerodynamics all that seriously at a particular time trial in late 1989. Perhaps that rig was his way of overcompensating.

That's a Renault Gitane, so it would have been a bike for an attempt some time in the early to mid 80"²s. I'm guessing '84.

@anhtony

@thefringthing

Boardman, Obree, Moser, Rominger, and Indurain don't all get their records back. The line is still Sosenka's record, which is a bit silly because beating it on a modern pursuit bike won't be that hard, relatively speaking. Honestly I think the old status quo with two categories, Merckx and aero, was better than these new rules.

Not sure what I think about them being able to use pursuit bikes other than maybe the idea is that it would be more apealing to attempt for TT guy's, I guess if get's people more excited about it I am ok with it .

The point is that it is an ITT, so the gear should be allowed. In fact, I hope the rules get relaxed enough that they get to innovate a bit again as well rather than just using the same bikes.

Is innovation really that great? I mean, look at the lead photo and the Trek 7 series aero, their grotesque mutations of the fabulous machine we call a bike. I think the UCI is a bit arcane and mysterious sometimes with their rules sometimes, but without some of those rules we might see Pro-Tour riders TT'ing on recumbents due to better aerodynamic properties or on some crazy contraption made out of a dishwasher. Respect the Bike.

Fair point, but innovation is really what drove the excitement of the Hour. Obree's, in particular, as he busted himself on those jacked-up bikes, thinking outside the box and going batshit fast.
brett says:

Dec 16 2014 at 7:05 pm

Looks like Jacky Bobby is having a crack at the Hour too...
davidlhill says:

Dec 17 2014 at 4:15 am

Isn't he handicapping himself by trying to set it in a station? I know there are big clocks everywhere that would help with the timekeeping, but surely an indoor track would be better suited?

David
wiscot says:

Dec 17 2014 at 8:43 am

Hell's bells, I can't keep up with all the folks going for the record. It's like waiting for a bus: you wait for ages with nothing in sight then 5 come at once. Should be fun to watch. I see the really big names (Fabs, Tony Panzerwagen) are keeping quiet . . . maybe waiting to let the young uns make their efforts then see what they have to do. Can't believe the UCI actually did something that generated genuine excitement. Would never have happened in McQuaid's day, that's for sure.
brett says:

Dec 17 2014 at 9:59 am

Rohan Dennis now having a go too...
Teocalli says:

Jan 31 2015 at 7:54 am

Mathais Braendle 51.852 Km

Jack Bobridge 51.3xx Km