Suze Clemitson - Ride the Revolution : the Inside Stories from Women in Cycling.

RIDE THE REVOLUTION

THE INSIDE STORIES FROM WOMEN IN CYCLING

Suze Clemitson

CONTENTS

Housewife, Superstar

Beryl Burton was the undisputed superstar of womens cycling in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Yorkshire which has the same kind of relationship with great cyclists as Brittany does in France she didnt start riding a bike until she was a teenager. Starting on her husband Charlies road bike she was soon on her way to a string of victories that make her the female equivalent of Eddy Merckx and some. After all, Merckx was never the best rider in his sport for 25 years in a row. No book on womens cycling would be complete without Beryl Burton the Yorkshire housewife who became a cycling superstar.

Like Beryl Burton, Im a Yorkshire lass. I come from a long line of tough, formidable and inspirational women Ive often said that life with my mother is like living with Beryl and have long been drawn to the story of the housewife from Leeds who became the greatest woman cyclist ever. I originally approached Maxine Peake, author of a play based on Burtons autobiography Personal Best to write about her for this book. Maxine was lovely but had to demur owing to her incredibly busy schedule. So the task fell to me to try and encapsulate Burtons incredible life in a handful of pages. I spoke to women who had known her including Yvonne McGregor, who describes herself as a Burton mini me and read through the archives of her extraordinary life and career. No book on womens cycling is complete without Beryl Burton, who blazed a lonely and formidable trail for modern women cyclists. The original housewife superstar, she is the toughest of tough acts to follow.

THE ABCs of CYCLING

By Beryl Burton

A is for ACTIVITIES , of which cycling is the best what other recreation has such a diversity of interests? Be it touring, club runs, camping, hostelling, time trialling, road or track racing the bicycle caters for all.

B is for BEARINGS which must be kept adjusted, clean, and lubricated to keep your cycling enjoyable.

C is for CYCLIST be one and not just an athlete on wheels its more fun.

D is for DOPE the biggest one is the rider who uses it.

E is for EQUIPMENT choose the type most suited to your needs and pocket look after it check it weekly.

F is for FITNESS for which you must train each one according to his or her own need.

G is for GEARS clean and lubricate weekly. Be sure to check the cables its too late in the middle of an event.

H is for HYGIENE both dental and personal are important to a healthy body.

I is for IMMERSION in water, a thing I never do during the racing season try a shower or rub-down instead.

J is for JOY the feeling one gets when fit and riding the bicycle.

K is for KEEN and efficient brakes check the cables and brake pads your life could depend of them.

L is for LIGHTS see and be seen dont get caught out in the evening without good lights and reflectors.

M is for MUDGUARDS except for racing, I can see no excuse for subjecting your body and bicycle to wheel spray on wet roads.

N is for NUTRITION intelligent eating rather than dieting is my approach. Eating healthy foods in the proper amounts relative to your activity level forms a good nucleus of fitness.

O is for OIL a must for every free-running machine dont forget to lubricate the chain.

P is for POSITION on the bicycle comfort is my first essential consideration. Handlebars are only one inch lower than the saddle height.

Q is for QUERIES ask the experienced riders views, then adapt to your own requirements.

R is for ROLLERS , which help you beat the fog, smog, and ice of winter evenings.

S is for SHOES, SOCKS & SHORTS , which should be close-fitting, clean, comfortable, and good quality.

T is for TYRES choose the type and size most suited to your needs and look after them. Check weekly for cuts and ride them at the proper inflation.

U is for the UNSUNG praises of cycling let everyone know that you are a cyclist and proud of it!

V is for VICTORY which should be the aim of every sporting cyclist work for it it doesnt come easy.

W is for WILLPOWER it keeps you going when youre hurting cultivate it.

X is for the eXtra care you must take in your appearance and behavior when on the bicycle. Remember, you are an ambassador for our sport.

Y is for YOUNGSTERS encourage them to take up cycling.

ZZZ is for the extra sleep you will require if this isnt going to be wasted effort.

I dont feel that Ive got anything special about me. Ive just got two legs, two arms and a body, and a heart and lungs.

In the 1950s and 1960s two women gloried in the twin initials BB. One was poetry in motion, a superstar who left men grovelling in her wake. The other was Brigitte Bardot.

Where Bardot purred and oozed her way across the silver screen, Beryl Burton arguably the greatest woman cyclist who ever turned a pedal was a star of the British and European roads. She never turned professional, never had a formal coach, never rode with disc wheels or a skinsuit. Yet her formidable series of records continued to hold up against riders with all the advantages of modern technology. What might she have achieved with the heft of British Cycling behind her? With the lightest and sleekest of track and road bikes and the services of a sports psychologist?

Beryl would likely have had no truck with such nonsense. She had her legs and her heart and her lungs and they took her to a phenomenal series of records that will likely never be matched. In the age of sports science and carbon fibre, her 1967 12-hour time trial record of 277.25 miles has never been bettered.

A slight, slender figure, she was always a picture of determination on the bike, her body bent low along the top tube, her distinctive close cropped curls framing the resolute face. She had the ability to get the lowest of tucks just in the drops. Not for Beryl the triathlon handlebars modern time trailers routinely rely on. She was close to aerodynamic perfection.

If Beryl Burton had been French, Joan of Arc would have to take second place. That was the oft quoted assessment of an otherwise anonymous French journalist. Her autobiography Personal Best contains an exhaustive and exhausting list of her achievements. Imagine winning seventy national titles at every distance from 10 miles to a 100 miles. Now add in 12 titles on the road and 12 on the track. Then theres the medal tally at World Championship level five golds, three silvers and four bronzes for track pursuit, two golds and a silver as road race champion. Thats an awful lot of rainbow striped jerseys. Not for nothing was BB the British Best All-Rounder (BBAR) an astonishing 25 years in a row. Across three decades, from 1959 to 1983, BB reigned supreme. And how many Olympic golds might Beryl have won if there had been a womens road race before 1984 or a time trial before 1996?

When the Tour de France Fminin launched in 1984, Burton approached the British Cycling Federation for a place on the team. Surely the great BB deserved a ride by right in such a prestigious event? But she was 47 and the BCF felt she lacked road racing qualifications Beryl had focused exclusively on time trialling on her way to her 25th and final BBAR. Then a lifeline one of the selected riders dropped out at the last minute. But Beryl was having none of it she told the BCF exactly where they could stick their offer.