Beryl

Tropical Storm Beryl which formed last week off the coast of South Carolina then took a trip south to come ashore in north Florida. Beryl then did a “U” turn to travel over Georgia and coastal South Carolina last evening.

It did little damage; just dumped a whole lot of rain on the area.  I was relieved by the storm’s passing because now I no longer have to listen to a local TV Weather-man, Rob Fowler, butcher the pronunciation of the name Beryl.  

It is a two syllable name (Bear-ill) our local weather expert made it a one syllable name (Birl) like Girl. I think one of the reasons it drove me crazy was that the name reminded me of probably the greatest female cyclist ever; British rider Beryl Burton. This TV weatherman, for me anyway, was insulting her memory.

Beryl Burton (Above.) a year younger than me, dominated women’s cycling for over 20 years from the late 1950s until the early 1980s. British Time-Trialing was really the only sport open to a female cyclist in the UK during that period; and she was much faster than many men of that era, including me.

She held British National Women’s Records for all time-trial distances, and although these records have since fallen, one has to remember the times were set before aero-bars and disc wheels became standard TT equipment.

To give an idea of just how great a cyclist Beryl Burton was, here are the times for the records she set.

10 miles: 21:25 (1973) stood for 20 years
25 miles: 53:21 (1976) stood for 20 years
30 miles: 1:08:36 (1981) stood for 10 years
50 miles: 1:51:30 (1976) stood for 20 years
100 miles: 3:55:05 (1968) stood for 18 years
12-hour: 277.25m (1967) still stands

One record for the 12 hour event, Beryl set in 1967, at 277.25 miles, still stands. As a women’s record it will probably stand for many more years and possibly indefinitely.  277 miles is a distance many men would still be happy to achieve today, and with road racing now an available sport for top female cyclists, few women will even attempt the 12 hour time-trial event anymore.

Amazingly, this 12 hour record was greater than the men’s record at that time. There is a famous true story of when she caught Mike McNamara, who himself was on the way to recording a new men's national 12 hour record - 0.73 miles shorter than the figure Beryl Burton set.

In her biography Beryl recalled how she felt sorry for McNamarra, his moment of glory overshadowed by a woman. As she passed him she offered him a Liquorice Allsort (A famous British candy.) Mike took it, thanked her and ate it.

In spite of the fact that British Time-Trials on flat courses were the only competition open to her, Beryl Burton still managed to dominate World Championships.

With little or no road racing experience, she won the women’s world road race championship in 1960 and 1967 (Picture left.) and was runner-up in 1961.

On the track, she specialized in the Individual Pursuit event, winning World Championship medals almost every year across three decades. She was world champion five times (1959, 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1966), silver-medalist three times (1961, 1964 and 1968), and won bronze in 1967, 1970 and 1973.

When one considers that Women’s World Championship Road Races in Beryl’s day were only 40km. (25miles.) in length; had they been the 130km. of today’s women’s events (80 miles plus.) she would have decimated her rivals and won far more often.

Also there is the consideration that there was no women’s time-trial event for the World Championships back then, and women’s cycling was not included in the Olympic Games until 1984 at the end of Beryl’s career. How many more World medals could Beryl Burton have won?

Sadly it was Beryl Burton’s grit and determination that may have lead to her early death. As Beryl aged and her health deteriorated, she slowed, she trained even harder. Inevitably, this all proved too much.

One week short of turning 59, in May 1996, Beryl Burton - in whom doctors had always observed a curious heart rhythm - headed out for the last bike ride she'd ever make. On her bike, on roads close to her Yorkshire home, Britain's most prolific female racing cyclist collapsed and died.

The death of Beryl Burton taught me an important lesson. When you age there is no shame in slowing down; you have nothing more to prove. Know your physical limitations.

                       

Stan Ockers

Belgian cyclist Constantin “Stan” Ockers (Right.) was another hero of my youth.

He was around in the era of riders like Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartelli, Louison Bobet, and other great riders of the 1950s.

Born in 1920, Stan Ockers began his professional career in 1941 in occupied Europe at the height of WWII.

He was a sprinter and won many of his races that way; He won the Green Points Jersey in the Tour de France in 1955, and 1956.

However, he was a good climber too, which was unusual then and would be even more unusual today when the sprinters are usually the first ones dropped when the TDF reaches the mountain stages.

Ockers was 2^nd in the 1950 tour de France behind Swiss rider Ferdi Kubler; and proof of his climbing ability he was also 2^nd in the King of the Mountains category.

A young French cyclist Louison Bobet won the King of the Mountains Jersey that year, and was overall 3^rdin the General Classification behind Ockers.

Bobet would go on to become the first rider to win three consecutive Tour de France titles in 1953, 1954 and 1955.

The picture above is from the 1952 Tour de France, the riders are seen climbing Mont Ventoux; one of the toughest climbs of the Tour. Gino Bartali leads Stan Ockers, followed by Jean Dotto, Raphaël Géminiani, Fausto Coppi, Antonio Gelabert and Wout Wagtmans.

To hold one’s own in the company of some of the world’s best climbers of that era, is the mark of a great all-round athlete. Stan Ockers was once again 2^nd in the 1952 TDF behind one of the all time greats, Fausto Coppi.

(Above left to right.) Bernardo Ruiz, Gino Bartali, Stan Ockers and Fausto Coppi

(Above.) Federico Bahamontes leads Stan Ockers (In his World Champions Jersey.) and Roger Walkowiak in the 1956 TDF. Notice the condition of the roads on these mountain climbs during that era.

Stan Ockers actually improved as he aged; 1955 and 1956 when Stan was 35 and 36 years old, were in terms of wins, his best seasons. He won the World Road Championship in 1955 and was 4^th the following year.

In 1955 his wins in the Classics included, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège, Weekend Ardennais. The following year 1956, Ockers was 1st overall Roma-Napoli-Roma, won the 19th stage tour de France, Saint-Etienne, and was again Points Winner in the TDF.

Like many great road sprinters, Stan Ockers rode the track during the winter season.

He often partnered the other great Belgian road sprinter Rik Van Steenbergen in Six Day events.

He won the Antwerp Six Day in 1956, and that same year set a new Derny Paced Hour Record. (Derny Paced pictured above right.)

Sadly 1956 was Stan Ockers last season. On September 29^th 1956 he crashed during a race on the Antwerp track. He died from head injuries two days later.

Other riders, Nest Sterckx, Rik Van Looy and Gerrit Voorting, who along with Stan were involved in the seemingly ordinary fall, remained unhurt; a tragic end nobody had expected.

Crowds of people numbering in the tens of thousands paid their last respects as the funeral procession passed.(Picture left.)

There is a permanent monument built to honor Stan Ockers on the slope of Les Forges in the Belgian Ardennes. (Picture above.) He is placed number 58 in the Cycling Hall of Fame Top 100

Addendum 2/18/16

(Above picture.) Stan Ockers bike a Girardengo, hangs in a pub in his home town of Borgerhout, Antwerp. 

                        

Charly Gaul: The Angel of the Mountains

With this year’s Tour de France less than a week away and one of the favorites being Andy Schleck from Luxembourg, I am reminded of Charly Gaul (Pronounced Gowl.) a former TDF winner from that same country.

Luxembourg is a tiny land-locked nation bordered by France, Germany, and Belgium; just under 1,000 square miles (2,586 sq. km.) with a population of 500,000 people.

Charly Gaul is still regarded as one of the greatest climbers of all time, his frail innocent look, and his ability to go up mountains with apparent ease earned him the title, “l’Angelo della Montagna.” (The Angel of the Mountains.)

He won the Tour de France in 1958, and the Giro d’Italia twice in 1956, and again in 1959.

He was also an accomplished time-trialist winning all three time-trials in the 1958 TDF beating one of the greatest ever against the clock, Jacques Anquetil.

His other Tour de France successes were 3^rdplace in 1955 and 1961; he also won the TDF King of the Mountains Jersey 1955 and 1956. And as well as winning the Giro d’Italia twice Gaul was 3^rd in that race in 1958 and 1960. He won the Giro King of the mountains in 1956 and 1959.

Charly Gaul’s climbing secret was no secret at all really; he rode a very low gear and pedaled at an extremely high cadence.

He would simply decimate the opposition by his relentless pace, infrequently climbing out of the saddle he would do so with an air of apparent ease.

Another great rider of that time, Raphaël Géminiani once said Charly Gaul was, "A murderous climber, always the same sustained rhythm, a little machine with a lower gear than the rest, turning his legs at a speed that would break your heart, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock."

He was especially good during cold, wet weather. In the heat he would often suffer and sometimes lose out to lesser climbers.

With his boyish good looks and “Giant killer” style, Gaul was loved by fans of cycle racing, but by his fellow riders, not so much. For a man who had the nick name “Angel” it seems he possibly had certain demons.  

He spoke to very few people, and never seemed happy; even his own team members said he would not discuss team tactics with them or share his prize money.

When he retired in 1962 he became a recluse, living alone in a cabin in a forest.

Gaul  emerged from isolation in 1983 when he was honored on the 25^th Anniversary of his Tour de France win.

Many were surprised to see him as a shadow of his former self, a some-what curious figure with scruffy beard and a large paunch.

Charly Gaul died in 2005 of a lung infection two days before his 73^rd birthday. VeloNews said: "Gaul raced in a different era, and his like will never be seen again."

                         

Peter Post: 1933 - 2011

With the sad news that Peter Post had died on Friday in Amsterdam at the age of 77, cycling has lost one of the greatest personalities and talents the sport has ever known, both on and off the bike.

Born in Amsterdam in November 1933, his childhood years were spent in Nazi occupied Holland.

He turned professional in 1956 for Legendary Amsterdam bicycle makers RIH Sport.

By the time his pro career ended in 1972, he had ridden for some of the most famous teams in the history of cycle racing. They included Flandria, Faema, Solo-Superia and Willem 11.

As a road rider Post won the Paris-Roubaix in 1964 and there were podium places in Paris-Brussels, GP E3, Fleche-Wallonne, Rund um Koln and Dwars door Vlaanderen.

Peter Post on the right, with teammate Rik Van Looy.  

On the track Post is best remembered as a six day rider; his 65 wins beat the previous record held by Belgian rider Rik Van Steebergen, and stood as a world record for a number of years. Today he is placed fourth in the all time rankings behind Patrick Sercu with 88, Rene Pijnen with 74 and Danny Clark 72 wins.

(Picture left.) Peter Post on the right with Fritz Pfenninger as European Madison Champions.

To get a true grasp of Post’s standing as a Six-Day rider one has to understand that during their careers, Sercu competed in a total 223 Six Day events, Pijnen 233, and Clark rode in 235.

While Post’s 4th place in the all time rankings was achieved competing in 155 Six-Day races; which means he won 42% of the six day races he started.

Incidentally, Peter Post's first Six Day win came in 1957 in Chicago, when he parnered with Harm Smits; back when America still hosted Six Day events. 

He won most major European six day races at least once – Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Bremen, Brussels, Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Gent, Grenoble, London, Milan, Munster, Rotterdam and Zurich.

I was fortunate enough to see Peter Post in 1968 when he partnered with Patrick Sercu and won the London Six Day event at Wembly Stadium.

As a measure of his versatility, in Antwerp 1965, Post set the derny-paced hour record of 63.783 km, (39.63 miles.) beating Stan Ockers' record which had stood for nine years.

(Above left to right.) Patrick Sercu, Peter Post, Rik Van Looy. The fourth man is a Derny pacer.

In his day, Peter Post was one of the world’s best pursuit riders, he was a multiple Dutch champion and took bronze and silver in the world pro pursuit championships; he happened to be competing in a golden era of pursuiting against such greats as Bracke, Faggin and Porter.

When Post’s professional career ended in 1972 a new challenge awaited him. British bicycle manufacturer Raleigh launched a pro team in 1973; the team’s initial showing was less than spectacular. All this changed when Post was recruited to manage the team for 1974; and so began the story of perhaps one of the most successful teams in cycling history.

He dropped many of the British riders from the team, which didn’t set too well with the UK cycling establishment; after all Raleigh is a British company. The team was made up of mostly Dutch and Belgian riders; Peter Post was branded as anti-British.

Scotsman Billy Bilsland, one of the few Brits who survived the cut, once stated; “Post wasn’t anti-British, he was anti-failure!” Peter Post was a tough task master and would accept nothing less than a total commitment of effort from his riders.

The results speak for themselves. 1974: 55 wins; 1975: 55 wins; 1976: 71 wins; 1977: 68 wins; 1978: 94wins; 1979: 99 wins; 1980: 120 wins; 1981: 94 wins; 1982: 92 wins; 1983: 100 wins.

During this period the team won virtually every important one day race on the calendar - including the world professional road title with riders like Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann, Roy Schuiten and Dietrich Thurau- and the 1980 Tour de France, with Joop Zoetemelk. That year also saw the team win 11 stages in the Tour.

Due the team’s success, Raleigh’s brand recognition had reached its highest level by the early 1980s. The company decided it had achieved its intended goal, and eventually ended sponsorship. Post was always the shrewd businessman who could negotiate with companies to obtain the best deal for the team and its riders; he obtained sponsorship for his team from the Japanese electronics company Panasonic.

Post’s men continued to be a major force in the sport of professional cycling into the 1990s. Post retired in 1995 having changed forever the way cycling teams are presented and managed.

Results-wise he is the second most successful cycling manager in the history of the sport; only Guillaume Driessens bettered Post’s record, and his success could be largely attributed to the fact that Driessens was Eddy Merckx’s boss.

One of his contemporaries said; “Peter Post was hard on riders – but was hardest on himself.” Hard or not, there were riders who spent their whole careers with him; but there were also riders who never again performed at the level they achieved with Post after they left Raleigh having had ‘better’ offers from other teams.

Eric Vanderaerden who won the Tour of Flanders in 1985 and Paris-Roubaix in 1987 as a Panasonicman said, “Post was a great motivator, we might have had our doubts about the weather, the strength of the opposition . But during the course of a pre-race meal he had such an effect on us that we rose from the table thinking; “we are unbeatable!”

(Above.) Three generations of the worlds greatest six day stars. L to R Peter Post [Holland], Gus Killian [Germany] and Torchy Peden [Canada]. A total of 137 victories between them.

Peter Post during his lifetime was an outstanding road and trackman, and a six day super star. When that was over he became one of the world’s greatest in the role as Directeur Sportif.

Although a tough team manager, he no doubt had the respect of his riders because he had previously earned respect himself as a rider. It is always easier to take directions from someone who knows first hand exactly what you are experiencing.

Peter Post’s nickname as a rider was “de Lange,” or “Big Man,” because he was tall for a cyclist. Last Friday 14th. January 2011, the world of cycling lost a Big Man indeed.

                       

The King: Alf Engers

Alfred Robert Engers, better known as Alf Engers was the first British Time Trialist to record a time under 50 minutes for the 25 mile distance. (40.23 Km.)

He did this phenomenal ride on August, 5th 1978, in a time of 49 minutes and 24 seconds. This meant that he averaged 30.36 mph (48.87 Kmph.) for the distance.

A measure of the greatness of this ride was that this record stood for 13 more years.

One also has to realize that this record was set in an era when there were no disc wheels, aero bars, skin-suits and aerodynamic helmets. Even to this day, there are only a handful of riders who can manage a sub fifty minute ride for 25 miles.

Alf Engers was no youngster when he set this record; he was 38 years old with a career that had spanned almost two decades.

In fact he had originally set a new competition record for 25 miles at aged 19 in 1959, with a time of 55 minutes, 11 seconds.

He was an interesting rider in that he not only trained and prepared himself physically for his rides, but before each event he would sit quietly and meditate, to prepare himself mentally for the task at hand.

By the 1970s Engers was a “Rock Star” in the British cycling community; he was known as “The King,” and like a Rock Star, his career was not without controversy.

He was constantly “at odds” with cycling officials, mostly those in the Road Time Trials Council, which was at that time the governing body of the sport.

In the early 1960s Alf briefly turned “Independent” which was a semi-professional class at the time, where riders could ride in both amateur and pro events. However, when Engers re-applied for amateur status in 1963 he was denied, again and again, and was not allowed to compete until 1968.

When one is “hated” by officials that govern a sport, it makes it difficult when that person is so good that he cannot really be ignored.

After his come back to the sport, Alf Engers answer was to break the 25 mile record, not once, but twice the following year in 1969.

Bringing the time down to 51 min. 59 sec., and later that year to 51:00.

This record stood until Alf himself broke it and put it out of reach in 1978.

Engers was constantly warned by officials throughout his career for his habit of riding down the center of the lane.

Whether he actually rode in the middle of the lane, or just a third of the way out from the edge, is not clear. This makes more sense to ride where the inside wheels of motor traffic run, where the road is smoothest, and cleanest, and there are less chances of a puncture.

In 1976 he was stopped by the police during a time trial event. He claimed he was on to a potential record breaking ride at the time. He was stopped for “riding dangerously,” and the RTTC suspended him for the rest of that season.

Even his sub 50 minuet record breaking ride in 1978, was marred in that the RTTC refused to ratify the record for several weeks, stating that Engers had once again, ridden dangerously by riding in the center of the lane. (See the “Cycling” headline on the left.)

To understand the mindset of officials running British time-trialing during that period, one only has to look at the history of bike racing in the UK. For so many years up until the 1960s the sport of time trialing was run like a secret society, publicity was shunned, and large crowds of spectators were discouraged from attending events.

Alf Engers, with his “Rock Star” persona brought large crowds whenever he rode, and that did not fit with the establishment that was the RTTC.

I never met Alf but from what I have heard, I can speculate that he most likely had a “Don’t give a shit,” attitude towards the officials, which probably didn’t help. But when one is “The King,” surely it is okay to have an attitude.

Engers was a trend setter, he was largely responsible for the 1970s craze of drilling holes in components to reduce weight, known as “Drillium.”

Another trend was “Fag Paper” clearances, where the wheel just barely cleared the frame tubes, on bikes built by Alec Bird, and Alan Shorter. (See the color “Cycling” picture near the top.)

Alf Engers set this record in spite of huge obstacles placed in the way of his career. He was banned from competing during most of the 1960s, and one has to realize these would have been his peak years as an athlete.

Most would have quit competitive cycling altogether under these circumstances. The fact that he didn’t shows the pure grit, determination, and character of the man. There is a reason they called him “The King.” 

Here is a recent two part interview with Alf Engers in which he talks about that era, and his record. Here is the link to Part I, and Part II.

Here is a link to a firsthand account of the actual record breaking ride, by Gordon Hayes