How a Washing Machine Broke Cycling's Hour Record

Graeme Obree broke cycling's Hour Record on a bike he built in his kitchen, with bearings from a washing machine. Then the sport banned the way he sat on it. He found out one hour before a world championship. So he invented a second position, and they banned that one too. This is the story of a broke amateur from Ayrshire against cycling's rule book: Hamar 1993, the rivalry with Chris Boardman, the "Superman" position, the 1997 rule change that wiped both men from the record book, the years of depression, the Beastie at Battle Mountain, and the Formula One wind tunnel that finally measured the position they banned. Chapters 0:00 A bike built in a kitchen 0:25 Hamar, 1993: the Hour Record 2:07 Old Faithful: the tuck, the bearings 3:35 Who built this, and why 4:53 Six days: Boardman 5:41 Moser copies him 6:19 Banned one hour before the start 8:13 The Superman position 8:47 Banned again 9:58 The Flying Scotsman 10:30 The darkest years 11:33 The Beastie and Battle Mountain 12:32 The UCI relents 12:58 The wind tunnel verdict Credits and sources Music "Beauty Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Documents: Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, inductee page "Graeme Obree" (screenshot, https://sshf.sportscotland.org.uk/ind... the National Museum of Scotland's Old Faithful (https://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalo.... Maps: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).