The Science Behind the Bike is a four part film series by Cyclevox and the Open University. Documenting the Hour Record from beginnings to now, it then branches to tech development, rider physiology, and physical forces at work while bicycling. Each video runs 8-10 minutes.
Available for free download on iTunes, click on through for the full Youtube set…
This process has officially crowned Eddy Merkx as the greatest cyclist to ever walk the face of the earth. You have a competition that gets completely out of whack with technology and crazy riding positions.. and when organizers look for a benchmark to redefine the sport and get it back on track.. they go back in time to 1972 and identify Eddy Merkx’s performance as the benchmark. That my friends.. is the definition of cycling bad a$$.
Don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades. – Eddy Merkx
Quote couldn’t be more appropriately applied. Long live the cannibal.
I think there is space for different classes of hour records – just has swimming has different classes of strokes ( in which freestyle takes all the glory ).
There is some simplicity in the record for ‘ how far can an unpowered human travel in one hour ‘ Eddie Merkx class bike = 49.441km, free style class = 91.556km http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_record#Hour_records_and_holders_.28Male.29.
Without belittling the athletes involved, the Eddie Merkx class is in danger of becoming like the ‘walking race’ in athletics where each competitor has to be shadowed by an umpire to make sure they always have one foot on the ground. Or butterfly stroke in swimming – pretty to look at but grossly inefficient.
Whilst it’s fine to have a yardstick to compare athlete to athlete through time, the UCI are hindering progress in the sport.
