A little bit about him and the new movie…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6748587.stm
I read a great article about him in Outside Magazine several years ago. I’m glad to see that he’s getting some accurate publicity. His story is amazing. His comments about doping are certainly timely.
I read a great article about him in Outside Magazine several years ago. I’m glad to see that he’s getting some accurate publicity. His story is amazing. His comments about doping are certainly timely.
I find his doping comments to be opportunistic (let’s be honest most of his career has been about getting publicity, he went after the hour record because he was writing a book and wanted a real ending), I also think they seem odd considering his sudden leap in results from zero to the hour record
You may be right. I didn’t say that his comments about doping were accurate, only that they are timely. The timeliness certainly could imply that they are opportunistic. And, I could be wrong about the publicity being accurate. It’s still a great story, though. I remember the Outside article saying that he would run himself so hard that he would cough blood, like a racehorse. I’ve put myself in painful situations before in races and training rides, but I’m sure that I’ve come nowhere near that level of suffering. Personally, I can’t wait to see the movie, as the Outside story definitely made an impression on me.
I find his doping comments to be opportunistic (let’s be honest most of his career has been about getting publicity, he went after the hour record because he was writing a book and wanted a real ending), I also think they seem odd considering his sudden leap in results from zero to the hour record
No, you are wrong on several counts there.
Obree’s comments are not “opportunistic”. He’s merely stating what has been going on in cycling for decades (Honchar!). In addition, he aimed to break the hour effectively to escape from the other stresses in his life. And he arranged for his hour record long before Boardman arranged his one; this fact is forgotten easily as Boardman went about his annoucement of his attempt in a haze of media attention, whereas Obree was forced to make his attempt more widely known due to Boardman’s arranged attempt and their rivalry at that time.
He wrote his autobiography after his career had ended, and after a terribly close suicide attempt. It was suggested to him to write a book, given his unusual cycling career and life. And we should be grateful that he did.
His sudden leap? There was none. As a youngster, he was fantastically talented - in fact he still is, when he races. He trained himself to break the hour. He could have ridden for a pro team and made an awful lot of money but he could not simply acquiesce to the druggy lifestyle that persisted in those ranks then (and now! Bloody Honchar!).
I find his doping comments to be opportunistic (let’s be honest most of his career has been about getting publicity, he went after the hour record because he was writing a book and wanted a real ending), I also think they seem odd considering his sudden leap in results from zero to the hour record
No, you are wrong on several counts there.
Obree’s comments are not “opportunistic”. He’s merely stating what has been going on in cycling for decades (Honchar!).** Odd that he does this in the context of saying he didn’t dope but everyone else did and you think he is just stating what’s been going on for decades and not simply trying to plump himself up.** In addition, he aimed to break the hour effectively to escape from the other stresses in his life.** I suggest you find an article from 1993 written by Samuel Abt entitled “A Different Ending.” In the second and third paragraphs he talks of being on the Dole and deciding to quit cycling but that jobs were scarce so he decided to make a comeback and write a book about it. A friend points out that he has no ending for the book so he comes up with the Hour mark as his goal for the season.** And he arranged for his hour record long before Boardman arranged his one; this fact is forgotten easily as Boardman went about his annoucement of his attempt in a haze of media attention, whereas Obree was forced to make his attempt more widely known due to Boardman’s arranged attempt and their rivalry at that time. Boardman has nothing to do with my comments.
He wrote his autobiography after his career had ended, and after a terribly close suicide attempt. It was suggested to him to write a book, given his unusual cycling career and life. And we should be grateful that he did. As I said he had decided to write a book about his comeback back in 1993.
His sudden leap? There was none. As a youngster, he was fantastically talented - in fact he still is, when he races. He trained himself to break the hour. He could have ridden for a pro team and made an awful lot of money but he could not simply acquiesce to the druggy lifestyle that persisted in those ranks then (and now! Bloody Honchar!).In the aforementioned article the only thing he talks about before the comeback is being fed up with cycling and having nothing from it. Certainly if he was able to break the hour record with no dope and was so fantastically talented he would have easily made a nice living from cycling instead of being on the dole.
What happened to the film? Very, very limited release is on DVD yet?