| An inspiring/motivating story as told to me today 17:14 - Jul 11 with 676 views | bluelagos |
Not far from home, I stopped for a much needed breather / chance to cool down from the heat, my cycling buddy George asked me if I knew who the greatest ever female cyclist was?
Not being able to give a sensible / informed answer, George told me about a female British cyclist called Beryl Burton, born in the 1930s. As a child she nearly died and took up cycling as a way to get healthier and evidently was pretty good.
George explained how she regularly cycled against male counterparts and won. She won titles galore for years - world titles and UK ones. She lived up north and would cycle to London for a race, win, stop the night and cycle home again.
He also told me how this was before there was money in cycling (she remained an amateur) and how her hubby would often put up a tent for her to sleep in after races as they couldn't afford hotels.
She even set a 12 hour time trial record that no man could beat for 2 years.
She died at 58 when on a social ride.
After laughing inappropriately at George's final line, I promised to read up on her. She really was quite the hero.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Burton [Post edited 11 Jul 2022 17:27]
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| An inspiring/motivating story as told to me today on 17:21 - Jul 11 with 620 views | Darth_Koont |
Great stuff!
A phenomenal athlete by the sounds of it.
I like the licorice allsorts anecdote. As well as her refusing to shake her daughter’s hand after she beat her. |  |
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| An inspiring/motivating story as told to me today on 17:27 - Jul 11 with 607 views | bluelagos |
| An inspiring/motivating story as told to me today on 17:21 - Jul 11 by Darth_Koont |
Great stuff!
A phenomenal athlete by the sounds of it.
I like the licorice allsorts anecdote. As well as her refusing to shake her daughter’s hand after she beat her. |
She sounds like one of those rare people who totally dominated at their chosen sport, for years and years too.
And most of us have never even heard of her. I guess the fact that cycling has never had the profile in the UK compared to much of Europe in part explains that, but even so. | |
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| An inspiring/motivating story as told to me today on 18:17 - Jul 11 with 528 views | Basuco |
She set the women's 12 hour time trial record in the same event as the men's competition record was set! They started one minute apart in that event, which makes it even more incredible achievement! She was a truly fantastic athlete. |  | | |
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