One of the true innovators in the sport of cycling in the modern era, former world hour record holder and double world pursuit champion Graham Obree may be headed for his 50th birthday but as this video interview shows, he’s lost none of his passion for the bike.
The flying Scotsman has been back in the news of late at the age of 48 years, this time competing at the World Human Powered Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain in Nevada.
He set out to break the world human powered speed record of 82.819mph, which dated back to 2009 and was held by Sam Whittington from Canada.
However, Obree was forced to re-appraise his goal after his specially built bike threw up some design flaws that meant it was not going to get the world standard.
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Instead he decided to go for the 11-year-old British record of 67.5mph.
While that too eluded him, he did break the world record for riding in a prone position – clocking 56.62mph.
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He told the Scottish Daily Record newspaper that while his initial target was not achieved he was still delighted to achieve the prone record; a position where the rider lies on his front with his chin just centimetres above the front wheel.
"I don’t feel a sense of failure,” he said.
“I came away with a world record and it has been a privilege to be taken into the heart of this community of cyclists.”
“I had this idea my bike would be competitive way beyond the level of previous prones and I could put a good punt on and reach great speeds. It turned out not to be the case, but you never know until you try.”
The "Beastie" bike that Graham Obree used to break the land speed record for riding in a prone - face down - position.
The slightly more conventional "bike" he used to try and break the world and then British land speed record; this time seated/lying on his back.
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