The Backpedal #1
What’s this then?
I have a big cycling library and a lot of spare time so I created a widget thing that plucks a random page from a random publication. I think the likelihood is that there’s something interesting to be found on any given page. So I’m going to pluck a random one and then write about what I find here.
Yes, yes, we get it, you’re an absurd nerd. But what is it? What did you land on?
It’s the autobiography of Chris Boardman called Triumphs & Turbulence published in 2016
Who is Chris Boardman?
Well then, Chris Boardman is the Commissioner of Active Travel England where he acts as an advocate for walking and cycling as means of transport.
Chris Boardman was a massively successful cyclist. He was the first ever World Time Trial Champion (in 1994, Jan Ullrich was 3rd aged 20!), he held the Hour Record multiple times, he was an Olympic gold medallist and he won the prologue time trial of the Tour de France three times. The first time he won the prologue was in 1994 when he set the record for the fastest ever prologue at the Tour, a record which still stands. He also became just the second ever British rider to wear the yellow jersey, after Tom Simpson and it would only be another few days until there was a third British yellow jersey wearer, Sean Yates.
Right so, what page have you landed on and why is it interesting?
Well I think this is quite interesting indeed. On page 251 of his autobiography he has not long retired as a rider and he is talking about the early days of British Cycling where he was part of the ‘Secret Squirrel Club’ who were tasked with finding all kinds of improvements that the British track team could make before the next Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. This was really the precursor to (the now rather pilloried concept of) marginal gains adopted by Team Sky. On this particular page, Boardman makes a joke about the lengths they might be willing to go to in order to improve performance
“On one occasion we were joined by Ed Clancy, our team pursuit anchorman. Installed in a pair of Chilworth’s leather chairs next to the fire, Dimitris and Rob looked at Ed’s road frame and speculated that if they broke his collarbones and re-set his shoulders in a more rounded form it would improve his aerodynamics no end. It was another conversation that went on for an uncomfortably long time - with Ed himself even joining in - before it was consigned to the unethical bin. But it was the starting point for a research programme on garments to help the riders train to maintain a more streamlined shape.”
What the fuck?
I know! And actually it’s not the first time I’ve read something along these lines in a cycling publication. Do you remember shortly after Lance Armstrong’s comeback in 2009, he broke his collarbone at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon? Well around that time Cycling News had an article which said this…
“Sources within the Armstrong camp explained that initial reports that the break was a single, clean fracture were true. But the seven-time Tour winner had been told he could shave seconds per kilometre off of his time trials if only his shoulders weren’t so broad. The American decided that, since he faced several weeks of recovery from the broken bone anyhow, he might as well go through with a plan which would shorten both clavicles and narrow the width of his upper body.”
Armstrong… of course. That guy would do anything!
Hold your horses. Look at the date on the quote. It was actually an April Fool’s joke. But I do remember it being believed by plenty of people on Twitter at the time because, as you say, that guy would do anything to win.
Even though this was a joke, it does throw open an ethical question in general of surgeries enhancing performance. For instance, laser eye surgery is something that is considered normal for anyone to get now. But why should that be considered any differently than the collarbone/shoulder improvements being joked about? I wrote an article on my old Irish Peloton blog about this very thing years ago, primarily about an operation some Baseball pitchers can have on their elbow in order to enhance their careers.
This actually is quite interesting… are you sure that page was random?
Like I said. Something interesting on every page. And if you want to know more about Chris Boardman and that book in particular, I actually interviewed him about his book back in 2016 when it was released. It was a cycling book show I used to do for the Velocast called The Reading Room (a niche within a niche within a niche).
And here it is…
Is that it then? Are you going to keep doing this?
Yeah, probably. But I thought I should end these things with a question (you know, engagement, clicks etc., - who needs a salary anyway?), so this is my question…
What is your first memory of Chris Boardman? Let me know in the comments.
