As incredible as it sounds, the British and

Commonwealth bicycle speed record was set

in 1986 at 110 mph. The record had remained

unbeaten for 27 years. I wasn’t only to be

pedalling as fast as I could – I had a target to

aim for. Once I realised that others had ridden

at over 100 mph, nobody was going to stop me

having a go as well.

It was, of course, more complicated than just

hopping on a bike and pedalling like mad. I

had a lot to learn about the effects that high

speeds have on bicycles and their riders. For

a start, it would not be possible for me just to

jump on my Cotic and go for it. I could pedal

like the clappers till the cows came home and

I still wouldn’t hit 100 mph. It is a lot different

to riding a motorbike where you generally have

as much power as you need on tap. The gearing

on the cycle for the speed attempt would be

so high that the pedals would be impossible

for me to turn if I tried to start off under my

own muscle power. Neither could I, or any

other rider, cope with pedalling against the

air resistance I would experience when I was

doing over ‘the ton’. I was going to have to learn

about slipstreaming and motor pacing. How

brilliant do you think all that sounded? I could

hardly wait.

Reaching more than 100 mph on a pushbike

was going to take a lot of hard work, but I’ve

never been shy of that. It wasn’t going to be

easy but that’s all part of the fun. After all,

if it was easy everybody would be doing it,

wouldn’t they?

Right: I didn’t want the

down draught from the TV

crew’s chopper anywhere

near me when I was

pedalling at 100 mph!

Below: A glimpse of the
very special bicycle we
built for the challenge.

14    Britain’s Fastest Bike