Guy Martin makes a Mountain Bike

[mattc]

Because he can?

This is Guy Martin we are talking about. Suitability is a state of mind.......

Although he did appear to be wearing Lycra when he stripped down half way along the ride.

(I see he's on a hopefully record breaking jaunt round the UK coast line right now. Linky to Cycling Weakly)

Better than 240 miles a day, for 20 days

That's a tough target in winter.  Bloody daft time to tackle it. I'd like to see what sort of bike he's riding - and if he's wearing baggy shorts to try that.

FTFY

Much of Britain's coastline is "sub-optimal" for cycling long distances in a day and 240 miles is a long way even on optimal roads.

I'd be interested in Teethgrinder's view on it.

TG posted somefing on Facebook about this being higher mpd than his month record. It's also more than Amanda Coker is doing on a nearly pan-flat course (admittedly for 10 months!). I don't know the "official" route but I doubt it is very flat  - anyone have the details?

I will be sherioushly impressed if he does this, and wish him well.

You know what? He's like a modern Fred Dibnah. But on bikes 

[LEE]

He's nothing fucking like Fred Dibnah.

[Exit Stage Left]

He's actually more like John Noakes. That's why Top Gear would have liked him, because that was essentially Blue Peter for lads and dads.
Channel 4 are using him to up their appeal to older children. http://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/2016/08/channel-4-commits-5m-to-appeal-to-older-children/

[Mr Larrington]

I don't remember the exact details of the Guinness-specified rules regarding the route but it had to be a minimum of 3,675 miles.

[Exit Stage Left]

4,802, Guy reckons.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/guy-martin-sets-off-attempt-break-british-coast-cycling-record-303362

[mrcharly-YHT]

I've tried to find some way of tracking his progress, but can't see anything. Is it all being kept under wraps for the TV program?

That mileage per day is an incredible ask. I know Guy has shown himself to be pretty handy on a bike but he's nowhere near as fast as the likes of Mike Hall etc.

[Exit Stage Left]

The best result I can find for Mike Hall in the MTB 24 Hour race, the Strathpuffer, is 1st with 24 laps in 2011.

Guy Martin seems to have done 27 laps when he came second in 2015. He came 35th this year, but he did ride from home to get there.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I think a better comparison is the tour divide (multi-day event over distance)

Mike Hall 13 days 22hrs

Guy Martin 18 days 6 hours

[mattc]

4,802, Guy reckons.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/guy-martin-sets-off-attempt-break-british-coast-cycling-record-303362

That article implies that there is an official route - hence my question!

I've tried to find some way of tracking his progress, but can't see anything. Is it all being kept under wraps for the TV program?

I would imagine so. Plus they may not want the hassle of roadside groupies (and/or Oiks).


This is an eternal topic, but I don't think those race results are a good "speed" comparison. There are sooooo many other variables in long off-road events; even more so in a multi-week unsupported affair. Just a bit of rain can ruin your average speed relative to perfect conditions.

[LEE]

I said it was a tall order.

Seems like he's crocked his achilles.

(Not an uncommon injury for long-distance cyclists).

[mrcharly-YHT]

I said it was a tall order.

Seems like he's crocked his achilles.

(Not an uncommon injury for long-distance cyclists).

Ah - I've just found the news on twitter and his website.

Seems that happened early on and he tried to push through but was well off pace with a bit more than 800miles in 4days and 8 hours before deciding his body was saying "No".

[madcow]

According to Radio Times, "Guy Martin -Cycling Home for Christmas" should be on C4 tonight but the latest listings don't feature it.
Has the prog. been pulled cos Guy has retired a bit earlier than predicted?

[trekker12]

Couldn't stay away from two wheels and an engine for long

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/northern-ireland/38661790

I like the fact he gets most of a page and one of the greatest riders to ever to race the TT gets one paragraph as a footnote. Nothing beats having a 'celebrity' on the team!

[pcolbeck]

I like the fact he gets most of a page and one of the greatest riders to ever to race the TT gets one paragraph as a footnote. Nothing beats having a 'celebrity' on the team!

Even one that dislikes being a celebrity (except for the fact it lets him do interesting stuff and meet interesting people) who enters some events under an assumed name so as to avoid the press etc.

[Mr Larrington]

I wonder what his new team-mate reckons to Mr Martin's comment of a few years back, along the lines of "John McGuinness could do with a couple of passes through a bacon slicer".

[firedfromthecircus]

I wonder what his new team-mate reckons to Mr Martin's comment of a few years back, along the lines of "John McGuinness could do with a couple of passes through a bacon slicer".

I think he'd probably laugh and have a witty retort about Guy Martin needing a few passes through the IoM winners enclosure! 

[LEE]

I'd rather hoped Guy had quit the TT and other road events.

[trekker12]

There's something built into certain people that draws you back to such pursuits no matter how often you try to give it up.

[Mr Larrington]

And I've just heard that those beastly Australians are planning to have a crack at the 24-hour tandem record.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

That is a soft-ish record.

[Zipperhead]

I wonder what his new team-mate reckons to Mr Martin's comment of a few years back, along the lines of "John McGuinness could do with a couple of passes through a bacon slicer".

Sadly it doesn't get mentioned in this, but worth watching anyway

https://youtu.be/v140eKgAlgU

[Mr Larrington]

And I've just heard that those beastly Australians are planning to have a crack at the 24-hour tandem record.

And they have succeeded.  From memory coz ICBA to try to find the relevant post on Farcebok they did 1016 km, so 107 more than Guy and Jason.  Four-wheeled back-to-back job, steel frame, fairing mostly built from Corriboard, looks remarkably like the Dark Horse tandem from the 1980s.

Still some way down on the solo HPV 24 record though.

[Torslanda]

Channel 4, tonight, 20:00. Joins the Williams pit crew.

Should be interesting...

[mattc]

Channel 4, tonight, 20:00. Joins the Williams pit crew.

Should be interesting...

(click to show/hide)

Already spoilt by those of us who watched the race in question 

But I'm still looking forward to this - Guy Martin and F1 pretty much span the entire spectrum of approaches to automotive engineering. Could be fun. I say it could be fun!

[Sergeant Pluck]

Channel 4, tonight, 20:00. Joins the Williams pit crew.

Should be interesting...

It was most entertaining, although it would have benefitted from some high speed camera input to get a really good look at the process. Suspect that was related to the need to be sparing with any details valuable to other teams. Also confirmed my suspicion that the engineering and race logistics are more interesting than the racing itself (for me, anyway).

After all that prep, at one stage the team almost took out the wrong set of tyres (not Guy Martin’s fault).