Faster with Dr Hutch

The Hour Record

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Episode notes

This time on Faster, I’m talking about the Hour Record. And I’m talking about it with a stellar group of guests, including current record-holders Ellen van Dijk and Victor Campenaerts, as well as former holders Joss Lowden, Molly Van Houweling and Alex Dowsett.

The Hour is the simplest challenge in cycling – how far you can ride on a track, on your own, in one hour. There are no tactics, or teammates, just you and what you’ve got.

And while it’s simple, it has a reputation as just about the toughest thing you can subject yourself to on a bike. Even the great Eddy Merckx said it was the longest hour of his entire career, and that he’d suffered as never before.

We look at what makes it so difficult – the challenges of pacing, and the unrelenting pressure of riding at full effort with no snatches of rest, no chances to move on the bike. There’s the question of how you train for something so unique, something that only a tiny handful of riders have ever even attempted. And what can you learn from it – does the Hour make you a better rider back in the world of normal racing?

We talk about failure too, because Hour attempts can and do go horribly wrong. What’s it like to square up to something as black-and-white as the Hour and not quite make it? More than one of my guests tells me that a record attempt that fails is a much worse experience than one that succeeds, not just emotionally, but physically. It’s the most important record in cycling, and it’s a great way to kick off the second season of Faster.