The Hour – Michael Hutchinson

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Buy it if: You can easily explain why you prefer Shimano or Campagnolo and know the difference between tubulars and clinchers…

Don’t Buy it if: Your thoughts: “Enough is enough, it’s a guy riding around in a circle, who cares how far he goes, he’s still in the same place…”

You have one hour, ride as far as you can. That sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? And that’s precisely the paradox that is cycling’s hour record. What sounds simple rarely is…not to mention it’s not exactly easy to ride at over 55 kph for 60 minutes.

The Hour by Michael Hutchinson purports to be the story of a relatively unknown journeyman cyclist – the author himself – and his quest to set a new standard for one of the most significant records in the sport. And if it were only that, it would probably still be interesting.

You see, the Hour isn’t just one of many records. While there are other track cycling records – many in fact – they are all based on covering a distance in less time. This one is unique for being based on the inversion of the standard. Everyone must suffer for the same duration. And those who have moved that distance ever farther comprise a who’s who of cycling: Anquetil, Indurain, Boardman, Moser and, of course, Merckx.

Though Hutchinson largely focuses on himself (and the attendant difficulties that come along with trying to break cycling’s purest record – booking track time, building a legal bike, finding the fastest tires) it’s his constant references to past record holders and attempts that really make for compelling reading. This history covers the time since the hour’s inception by the Tour de France’s creator Henri Desgrange up to the Chris Boardman/Graeme Obree period, which saw the record fall to one rider on a million dollar superbike and to another on a homemade amalgamation with washing machine bearings at it’s heart. The author’s own efforts and difficulties in trying to meet the rules of the UCI (cycling’s governing body), find the fastest, most appropriate equipment (aerodynamic helmets and wheels are disallowed), and maintaining the physical training required to sustain a speed of 34 MPH for 60 minutes are given context when compared with past efforts.

If anything, the book stumbles slightly in that it almost makes the record seem approachable. Hutchinson can’t be completely blamed for this, after all, the record is not as far from his grasp as it would be for the average person. Fully explaining the sheer physical difficulty of a ride like this could border on arrogance if not couched properly, but for any readers who are familiar with the list of previous Hour record holders the enormity of the effort will be readily apparent.

Overall this book succeeds in both its own story and as a history of the Hour record itself. The pacing is good and Hutchinson does a superb job of tying the past in with his own memoir. Well worth a read even for those who don’t know the difference between an English and Italian bottom bracket…