iding as fast as possible against the clock seems to be as natural as turning the pedals for most bike riders. Even those who have no interest in racing will often find themselves hopefully checking a watch, or perhaps their average speed, at the end of a ride. No surprise then, that this particular branch of the sport has existed almost as long as cycling itself.
Riders were setting place-to-place records back in the late 1800s, and times for what we still know as standard distances such as 50 and 100 miles.
It wasn’t until 1922 that the first incarnation of what we now know as Cycling Time Trials (CTT) came into existence. The Road Racing Council was designed to bring a degree of uniformity to the sport and so the sport as we still know it today was born. We look through a century of racing against the clock, and the moments that have helped make the sport the one that remains, for many people, the way into bike racing.
Frank Southall’s ‘50’
EASTER MONDAY, 1930
On Easter Monday, 1930, Frank Southall whistled through the finish of the Charlotteville CC 50 in 2:08.04, to become the first ever leader of Britain’s new Best All-Rounder competition.
The Norwood Paragon rider vanquished his chief rival George Jenkins, who punctured with four miles to ride but would almost certainly not have bettered Southall. ‘F.W.’ was a star rider, and his time was the third fastest in history at that time. His win was certainly no surprise, but his BAR table topping position was historical.
The competition had been launched a few weeks earlier by this very magazine, then simply called Cycling.
“Now all embracing competition has announced, unquestionably, who is the best all rounder of the year, and awarded him the laurels appropriate to his performance,” said the launch editorial. “ has decided to fill this gap.”
