Browse content similar to Battle Mountain: Graeme Obree's Story. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
This programme contains some strong language | 0:00:51 | 0:00:56 | |
If you're a tiger, among animals, | 0:01:26 | 0:01:29 | |
you might be a slightly ageing tiger, | 0:01:29 | 0:01:31 | |
slightly less trained-than-you-could-be tiger, | 0:01:31 | 0:01:33 | |
but you're still a tiger. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
The thing is, the stopwatch doesn't care what age you are. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
And the power meter doesn't care what age you are. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:45 | |
That speed trap doesn't care what age you are. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:47 | |
And I know I've got the ability for it. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:52 | |
That's how I won the World Pursuit Championships. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
It's a great wee retirement village here, eh? | 0:02:17 | 0:02:20 | |
This is great - seeing you all from so many different countries, | 0:02:26 | 0:02:30 | |
and travelling so far to be here to do this. It's really exciting. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:34 | |
We're just thrilled to have y'all here. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:36 | |
I hope y'all have a really good week, | 0:02:36 | 0:02:38 | |
and you all go as fast as you want to be going. | 0:02:38 | 0:02:40 | |
APPLAUSE AND CHEERING | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
Human-powered vehicle - it seems a niche part of the sport. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:55 | |
The rules are, it's human-powered. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
It can be arm-powered, leg-powered... | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
No stored energy. And this record involves basically top-end speed. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
I want to go and break the world land speed record | 0:03:17 | 0:03:19 | |
on a bike that I mainly build myself. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:22 | |
When you actually stop and think about doing 83mph | 0:03:26 | 0:03:30 | |
with your nose roughly 60cm from the ground, | 0:03:30 | 0:03:33 | |
with a bicycle wheel for steerage, | 0:03:33 | 0:03:36 | |
you think, that's quite exciting, that is - bring it on! | 0:03:36 | 0:03:39 | |
10cm out of there... | 0:03:45 | 0:03:48 | |
I want it to be less, but I'm working to what I know | 0:03:49 | 0:03:54 | |
I can achieve within the laws of engineering and physics right now. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:58 | |
Oh! That was inevitable! | 0:03:59 | 0:04:01 | |
These are matching forks for the front wheel. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:07 | |
But we wouldn't use this part, we'd use a standard braking mechanism. | 0:04:09 | 0:04:13 | |
So, might as well... | 0:04:13 | 0:04:15 | |
..cut the extra away. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:18 | |
Because mass really does matter on these machines. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:24 | |
Really, I became famous for building bikes and winning bike races. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
Most people remember Old Faithful. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:37 | |
There was a piece of washing machine in there. | 0:04:37 | 0:04:39 | |
And that's... People go, "Oh, yes, I remember now, | 0:04:39 | 0:04:41 | |
"the bit of washing machine bike | 0:04:41 | 0:04:43 | |
"and the guy that did the washing machine bike." | 0:04:43 | 0:04:44 | |
It's like, you can't get away from that. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:46 | |
I resented it for years - "I'm more than a washing machine bike!" | 0:04:46 | 0:04:49 | |
Aye, but you know what? That's what people click on to. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:51 | |
-MC: -Ladies and gentlemen, the only man it could be - the legend, | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
the world hour holder, the world pursuit champion, Graeme Obree! | 0:04:59 | 0:05:06 | |
Old Faithful's officially the most famous bike in the world. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:11 | |
Because there's me built that bike | 0:05:12 | 0:05:13 | |
and broke the world hour record on it, and then became world champion on it. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
Graeme has an ability to think outside the box, | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
and that's a term that gets used a lot these days, | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
But I think Graeme genuinely has this uncanny ability | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
to be able to look at a problem from a different perspective | 0:05:27 | 0:05:30 | |
and come up with a solution that nobody else would think of. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
And not only is he an engineering genius, | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
but he's a genius on the bike, too. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
But to me, seeing a Scottish rider with no backing, no support, | 0:05:40 | 0:05:45 | |
you know, doing it on his own, just with his own ideas | 0:05:45 | 0:05:47 | |
and his own hard work, yeah, that really inspired me at that time. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
-COMMENTATOR: -At the bell now, Boardman, the Olympic champion, | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
being beaten by Graeme Obree, | 0:05:54 | 0:05:55 | |
on his unusual bicycle that cost him about 100 British pounds to make. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:59 | |
He almost chipped on the bags there. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:01 | |
But on the line, Graeme Obree has done it, | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
he's beaten the world record! | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
4.22.668 for Graeme Obree! | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
And he has knocked out the Olympic champion, Chris Boardman! | 0:06:09 | 0:06:12 | |
Graeme Obree is running away with this World Championship. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:22 | |
The question is, what will the world record be? | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
Obree has got it! 4:20.894 - | 0:06:25 | 0:06:27 | |
a new world record for Graeme Obree! | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
Oh, steady on, Graeme! | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
Tremendous ride - and this is the new world pursuit champion, | 0:06:33 | 0:06:37 | |
and the record-holder. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
At the time I was just being beaten by this guy who was claiming to | 0:06:39 | 0:06:42 | |
build bikes out of washing machines and eat marmalade sandwiches | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
and get up and do the hour record. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:47 | |
And yeah, it was quite irritating, to say the least. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:50 | |
The Scotsman has been flying all the way round this circuit. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
He certainly will take his second world professional pursuit title. | 0:06:57 | 0:07:01 | |
On the line, it's going to go to Obree from Scotland in 4:24.182. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:05 | |
And look at the man from Scotland - the crowd really do love him. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:08 | |
I mean, personally speaking, I want to do 100 mile an hour. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:27 | |
I want to be the first man to do 100mph on this thing. | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
I'm thinking, I want... You know, I don't want to aim... | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
You know, they reckon, if you aim for the stars, you get to the moon. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
I want to aim for the bloody stars and actually get to the stars. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:40 | |
Because I'm thinking, it was humanly, | 0:07:40 | 0:07:42 | |
scientifically possible to do 100mph. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
That's where your knee goes. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:45 | |
So, that's going like that. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:50 | |
Personally, I'm choosing to lie forwards on it as a prone bike, | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
because the shoulders are the widest part. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:54 | |
If you want something aerodynamic, you want the widest part | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
near the front and then tail off, for aerodynamic reasons. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:01 | |
That'll actually tail off down there, | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
as you get towards the bottom. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:05 | |
And secondly, the amount of force you can achieve on that is phenomenal. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:09 | |
For those two reasons, I want to build a prone bike. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
There! | 0:08:13 | 0:08:15 | |
That one, eh? | 0:08:15 | 0:08:16 | |
I was having an interesting conversation with somebody the other day, | 0:08:22 | 0:08:25 | |
talking about, how did you conceptualise the whole thing? | 0:08:25 | 0:08:27 | |
Mm-hm. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
I thought, well, this has got no rules and regulations. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:31 | |
The rules are - go and innovate a bike. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
Design it yourself and ride as fast as you can. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
I was out on my bike having a run. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:39 | |
I met two guys from the Loudoun Road Club. | 0:08:39 | 0:08:42 | |
They invited me along to the club, | 0:08:42 | 0:08:43 | |
and then there was one fella on the rollers, | 0:08:43 | 0:08:45 | |
and it turned out it was Graeme. And there was a pillar of steam | 0:08:45 | 0:08:48 | |
coming off him like a sort of chimney. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
So it was like this, you know, | 0:08:50 | 0:08:51 | |
social-industrial type of image of Graeme training. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:55 | |
So, Graeme, what was that originally? | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
That was a piece of that old bike. | 0:08:58 | 0:08:59 | |
The one that they were tipping out? | 0:08:59 | 0:09:01 | |
The washing machine, it's untouched so far, Graeme, eh? | 0:09:01 | 0:09:05 | |
Yeah, so far. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:06 | |
-I think this fridge is going to get it next. -I'm moving onto fridges. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
I need aluminium from a fridge to fill in these wheels. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
Because these spokes will drag into the wind. | 0:09:13 | 0:09:15 | |
And I know you want it to be fridges, so's it looks cool. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:18 | |
Boom-boom! Look cool! | 0:09:18 | 0:09:19 | |
Yeah! | 0:09:19 | 0:09:21 | |
Graeme came up to me and mentioned "World land speed record". | 0:09:21 | 0:09:25 | |
And I remember it, because my words were, "That's a dancer of an idea." | 0:09:25 | 0:09:29 | |
Because it's pure Graeme. | 0:09:29 | 0:09:31 | |
It's like the laws of physics, driven by an athlete. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:34 | |
I said I've not spent any money. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:36 | |
I'm actually wrong. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:37 | |
I spent six quid at the charity shop for these. | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
Look, look at them rollers! | 0:09:41 | 0:09:42 | |
Basically, I'm on pedals, pushing back like that. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:46 | |
Which powers that gear there, turns it, like a steam train, | 0:09:48 | 0:09:53 | |
which turns that gear, which turns the back wheel to go, "Boff!", | 0:09:53 | 0:09:56 | |
-flying up that road, Chick! -Brilliant, son! -That's the plan! | 0:09:56 | 0:09:59 | |
When I was about four years old, moved to Newmilns in the valley, | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
which was like a town of about 4,000 people. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
But we came in as outsiders. It's very much one of those places, | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
unless your grandpa's buried in the graveyard, you're an outsider. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
Like, for ever. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:21 | |
We were called "the filth" because we were police. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:26 | |
That's how it was in those days. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
So, because I was a policeman's son, | 0:10:31 | 0:10:33 | |
me and my brother always got picked on. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:35 | |
Most of the time I would sneak out of the village, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
and get into the countryside, and I would go, | 0:10:42 | 0:10:44 | |
and I would hide in the forest. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:45 | |
Because that seemed a credible alternative | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
to going and trying and find pals. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:52 | |
But I just got on my bike as an escape mechanism, | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
as this magic carpet that just sails through the atmosphere, | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
and over hills and far away. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:06 | |
I need to squish to find out how narrow my shoulders can get. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:23 | |
Without... You see, that doesn't affect your breathing. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
I can't imagine them going any less than 40 centimetres. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
I bet you they do, I bet you they go to 35. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
Not comfortably, anyway. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:33 | |
I need to squish behind something. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:35 | |
The boys have never, in real life, | 0:11:35 | 0:11:37 | |
seen their old man doing an actual event. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
They've heard all the stories. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
They love the whole, "Oh, your dad's..." | 0:11:41 | 0:11:43 | |
But they were too young to go anywhere. | 0:11:43 | 0:11:45 | |
So, here's a second bite at the cherry | 0:11:45 | 0:11:47 | |
of doing a really exciting thing. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:48 | |
So basically, this is basically the Obree position, | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
the first one set from the... 2.0? | 0:11:51 | 0:11:53 | |
Yeah! The one that people said, "You can't ride like that." | 0:11:53 | 0:11:56 | |
-But there's no rules against you doing it in this one, though? -No! | 0:11:56 | 0:12:00 | |
Take two! | 0:12:00 | 0:12:01 | |
Oh, that feels good, actually. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:04 | |
-More? -A bit more. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:06 | |
Keep the cabinet straight to the wall | 0:12:06 | 0:12:07 | |
so that we can measure directly, exactly what it is. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
I think that's about it, that's it. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:13 | |
-Oh, that's good. -Right, measure that. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:14 | |
It's that gap there - right there. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:18 | |
34! Ya dancer! | 0:12:21 | 0:12:22 | |
Right, so, what I've got, you see, my shoulders are actually that wide. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
-Yep. -Right. Which is so much more than that. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
But if I squish them in... | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
Ah, I see! | 0:12:37 | 0:12:39 | |
-I see! -Squish them in, right? | 0:12:39 | 0:12:41 | |
That supports my body weight and squishes the shoulders in, | 0:12:41 | 0:12:43 | |
so that at the front, it's narrower. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:46 | |
And that part there, that steel part... | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
If it's a choice between fibreglass, carbon or steel, | 0:12:49 | 0:12:52 | |
I think I'd rather have a piece of steel beside my shoulder. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
And it turned out... | 0:12:54 | 0:12:56 | |
..would you believe, | 0:12:58 | 0:13:00 | |
there was a nice bit of stainless steel | 0:13:00 | 0:13:01 | |
-just nestling under my kitchen cupboards? Look at that. -Frying pan. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
We've invented a frying pan that you can get side access, | 0:13:05 | 0:13:07 | |
and you can bang your sausages from each end, like that. | 0:13:07 | 0:13:10 | |
Look, I've invented something! | 0:13:10 | 0:13:11 | |
Remember the pair of roller blades I had? That's what's left of it. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
Basically, I want to put this on here right now, | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
as it will be in the real world... | 0:13:31 | 0:13:33 | |
..for the sake of measurement. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:36 | |
Stick your knee in it. | 0:13:40 | 0:13:41 | |
So, that's obsessively where I want it. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:50 | |
There. High tea. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:54 | |
You know, it's nice just to enjoy the countryside | 0:13:57 | 0:14:00 | |
without just gasping out. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
We're very lucky in Scotland, on these tiny, wee roads. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:12 | |
I always train on these wee roads. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:16 | |
No traffic bothering you. | 0:14:16 | 0:14:17 | |
I became seriously depressed, to the point of actually believing | 0:14:32 | 0:14:35 | |
that everybody would be better off if I was dead. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:38 | |
I thought I was doing the world a favour. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:41 | |
It was obviously a clear case of mental illness. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:46 | |
And the funny thing is, | 0:14:50 | 0:14:52 | |
the gap between deciding, OK, I WILL kill myself, | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
to the point of killing myself... | 0:14:55 | 0:14:56 | |
..was the calmest, most serene period of my life. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
I took 116 aspirins. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:16 | |
And because that wasn't working I then cut the seat belt out of a car | 0:15:17 | 0:15:21 | |
because I could use that to hang myself on the tree over there. | 0:15:21 | 0:15:26 | |
At which point the police came and they realised that | 0:15:26 | 0:15:30 | |
this guy seriously was suicidal. | 0:15:30 | 0:15:32 | |
So, that got me into a mental institution... | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
..which is quite a shock to the system. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:44 | |
There was a second suicide attempt. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:49 | |
I might have actually been dead already. | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
I'm very fortunate to be here. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:56 | |
You don't talk to many people that have been dead, do you? | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
I think once you've been dead, | 0:16:02 | 0:16:04 | |
then you have to appreciate being alive more. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:07 | |
This is one of my favourite places. This is just passing the Black Loch. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:17 | |
You can't tell me... | 0:16:22 | 0:16:24 | |
HE GASPS | 0:16:24 | 0:16:25 | |
..going to the gym is ever better than this. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:27 | |
The real world. | 0:16:29 | 0:16:30 | |
That's what's so lovely about bikes. | 0:16:30 | 0:16:33 | |
It's a real sport in the real world. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:35 | |
Over that hill and you see that view | 0:16:37 | 0:16:39 | |
and you think, "Wow. Is there a better thing to do | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
"on a sunny day than this?" | 0:16:42 | 0:16:45 | |
Then you get to whiz downhill. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:46 | |
Perfect. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:14 | |
I realise I'm being a bit ambitious. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
But to go to aim at the record, | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
it's basically through that finish of a track race, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:31 | |
if it's like 45 seconds, you want to be up to speed. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:35 | |
And have you had it up at that? | 0:17:35 | 0:17:36 | |
No. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:37 | |
What we're doing is making a start on taking some key points | 0:17:55 | 0:18:00 | |
and datums of Graeme on it, | 0:18:00 | 0:18:03 | |
so getting the boards below his back to the side | 0:18:03 | 0:18:06 | |
so we can start taking points and, | 0:18:06 | 0:18:08 | |
within keeping with the project so far, | 0:18:08 | 0:18:10 | |
just using kind of honest and readily available materials | 0:18:10 | 0:18:13 | |
like cardboard, tape, things of that nature. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
That's the seat. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
I think Graeme's very much got an idea in mind of what he wants, | 0:18:23 | 0:18:27 | |
so it's really trying to achieve that and also make it | 0:18:27 | 0:18:29 | |
aerodynamically efficient at the same time. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
It's amazing to have a clear plastic and you're going inside this thing. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:37 | |
If I was an air molecule, I'd think, | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
"Oh, straight past that," wouldn't you? | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
-That is impressive, isn't it? -Just in here now, I'll do a bit. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:48 | |
It's quite funny - looking at you and looking at this, you think, "Oh, that's too small". | 0:18:48 | 0:18:52 | |
I think folk would think, "Is that for a kid or something?" | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
MOBILE RINGS | 0:19:00 | 0:19:02 | |
Hello? | 0:19:02 | 0:19:03 | |
Yeah. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:05 | |
I think I will be available. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:08 | |
Who is it speaking, sorry? | 0:19:08 | 0:19:09 | |
It's 5 Live did you say? | 0:19:09 | 0:19:12 | |
We're talking about Lance Armstrong. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
He's not going to fight the drug allegations any more. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:18 | |
Graeme Obree, one of the UK's best cyclists of all time, | 0:19:18 | 0:19:20 | |
two world records, 1993, 1994. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:24 | |
Graeme, where do you stand on this? | 0:19:24 | 0:19:25 | |
Do you think he's done the right thing there? | 0:19:25 | 0:19:27 | |
Well, I think it's very interesting. | 0:19:27 | 0:19:29 | |
What actually transpired is Lance has actually decided | 0:19:29 | 0:19:33 | |
to cool down the whole process of investigation. | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
Lance isn't the only person involved in this. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
Now, the governing body of the sport itself oversaw the entire era | 0:19:40 | 0:19:44 | |
and as has been spoken about already, it was a very grubby era. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:47 | |
Now, as a rider myself, I can tell you that drug-taking was endemic. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:52 | |
In 1995, I was offered a contract to ride the Tour de France with | 0:19:52 | 0:19:56 | |
a Tour de France team and it explained that almost, | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
I'm saying almost, every rider in the Tour de France will take... | 0:19:59 | 0:20:04 | |
It was reported, and it was all arranged and I said, | 0:20:04 | 0:20:07 | |
"It's not happening." And that was the end of my career. No more. The entire sport closed ranks. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
That was the end of my entire cycling career, basically. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:13 | |
Graeme, you talked about the mental health issues that you suffered as a result. What does it do to you? | 0:20:13 | 0:20:20 | |
I did suffer serious depression, | 0:20:20 | 0:20:21 | |
but with other personal issues, obviously, | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
but that was one factor that didn't help my situation. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:25 | |
Phil, would you resent it if your career and your income and | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
everything and that was just taken away by other people's actions? | 0:20:37 | 0:20:40 | |
The resentment was lack of truth and here is truth. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
After 17 years of enforced silence, | 0:20:44 | 0:20:48 | |
and they said that I was fired for unprofessionalism... | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
..and I had no way of defending myself. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:54 | |
I couldn't say, "Well, here is the truth," | 0:20:54 | 0:20:56 | |
because I would get sued out of my house. | 0:20:56 | 0:20:58 | |
That's how it was in the '90s. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
The balance between being cynical | 0:21:08 | 0:21:09 | |
and about telling the truth about the past | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
and not tarnishing the present | 0:21:12 | 0:21:13 | |
and the enthusiasm of young people. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:15 | |
Tomato and selfish paste. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:39 | |
What's selfish paste?! | 0:21:39 | 0:21:40 | |
Selfish paste! | 0:21:40 | 0:21:41 | |
See when you go walking or something like that and you make a sandwich? | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
"Oh, blag us a sandwich." | 0:21:44 | 0:21:45 | |
And you go, "Oh, there's mustard in it." | 0:21:45 | 0:21:47 | |
And you go, "Oh, all right, I'll no' bother." | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
The classic, the best thing is, for safety, you put mustard and, er | 0:21:50 | 0:21:56 | |
Marmite both in, so there's mustard and Marmite in it. | 0:21:56 | 0:22:00 | |
Chances are you're going to eliminate most of the people | 0:22:00 | 0:22:03 | |
that would blag your sandwich. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:05 | |
That's why I call it selfish paste. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:07 | |
The problem is, I'm struggling to see just level. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:13 | |
So why don't we lose the hat? | 0:22:13 | 0:22:14 | |
We knew, straight off, the shell wasn't good. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:18 | |
It didnae fit him properly. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
His head didn't fit in. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
Oh, that's grand. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:24 | |
It's right on your head there, OK? | 0:22:24 | 0:22:26 | |
-What we'll do is we'll just tape it at that shape there, OK? -Aye. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:30 | |
Beastie to ground control! | 0:22:36 | 0:22:38 | |
'What makes you strong can also make you weak. | 0:23:37 | 0:23:39 | |
'Like, the thing that makes me strong is my fear, | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
'my obsessive behaviour, | 0:23:46 | 0:23:47 | |
'my need to have an achievement, so that I can feel good about it. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:51 | |
'Now, that's slightly unbalanced. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:58 | |
'An unsatisfied person who is seeking satisfaction | 0:23:58 | 0:24:02 | |
'through bigger and bigger results. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:05 | |
'The average person who is happy and content in their life | 0:24:09 | 0:24:13 | |
'are NOT going up at the seafront at seven o'clock on a Sunday morning | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
'in the pouring rain. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:18 | |
'Now, they're not strong people | 0:24:19 | 0:24:21 | |
'that are going to win the world championship, | 0:24:21 | 0:24:23 | |
'but they're not going to go and kill themselves. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:27 | |
'They're stable, satisfied, contented people. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:30 | |
'Now, I truly believe that the level you reach in anything | 0:24:32 | 0:24:36 | |
'is your level of satisfaction. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
'And my level of satisfaction was the fastest human being in the best | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
'possible events in the world, ultimately what I reached. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:52 | |
'And it wasn't quite satisfying, | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
'but there's no higher level to go to, | 0:24:58 | 0:25:01 | |
'so, at that point, you don't have another step on the ladder. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:07 | |
HE BREATHES HEAVILY | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
'How do you feel good about yourself? | 0:25:09 | 0:25:11 | |
'Then you move onto obsessional behaviour like substance abuse | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
'to try and escape the fact that you need to feel better. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
'But someone who is more content in their life with who they are... | 0:25:28 | 0:25:31 | |
'..don't need to push themselves like that.' | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
HE COUGHS | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
Oh! Sport's good for you! You know that?! | 0:25:45 | 0:25:48 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:25:48 | 0:25:49 | |
It's January and we're in Puerto De Santiago in Tenerife. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:57 | |
At Machrihanish airport I was kind of like that | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
and I could see green and green | 0:26:02 | 0:26:04 | |
and, under those conditions, I wasn't willing to put a punt on. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:09 | |
I wanted to know that I could steer it even with the wind blowing, | 0:26:09 | 0:26:12 | |
but when I did stop and fall over, that clear material, | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
there was a crack on it. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:18 | |
Now, if that's going to protect you | 0:26:18 | 0:26:19 | |
sliding up a road at 80mph, I don't think it will. | 0:26:19 | 0:26:21 | |
'It's an awful lot of commitment to go to Nevada | 0:26:31 | 0:26:33 | |
'and, also, your reputation is at stake. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:36 | |
'So, I've eliminated the factors that are perhaps unpredictable | 0:26:44 | 0:26:49 | |
'which is basically other people. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:51 | |
'Like, I'm now taking charge of this.' | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
I decided that breathing was quite an important issue | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
so I've manufactured | 0:27:24 | 0:27:25 | |
a combination of snorkel and sink drainage unit. | 0:27:25 | 0:27:30 | |
So, I feel good about all that. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:38 | |
I took...a pill that my doctor prescribed. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:46 | |
I was struggling with personal issues | 0:27:46 | 0:27:48 | |
and struggling with the late nights and dust and everything. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:51 | |
I took this antidepressant and I thought it was | 0:27:51 | 0:27:53 | |
something that could help see me through, that he'd prescribed. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:57 | |
And it would be good for me. | 0:27:57 | 0:27:59 | |
So, the next morning I woke up and suffered a priapism. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:03 | |
The doctor said, "Right, that's an emergency, | 0:28:04 | 0:28:08 | |
I'm getting you right down to the hospital." | 0:28:08 | 0:28:10 | |
At that point they go, | 0:28:10 | 0:28:11 | |
"We need to give you a proper spinal tap," but that didn't work, and | 0:28:11 | 0:28:17 | |
they actually got a cardiac surgeon to perform vascular surgery. | 0:28:17 | 0:28:24 | |
You can see... | 0:28:24 | 0:28:25 | |
..they've actually had to take a vein out of my leg... | 0:28:26 | 0:28:30 | |
..and they've used that to form a blood supply and a blood outlet, | 0:28:32 | 0:28:36 | |
different route, and there's more scarring like that in other parts. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:40 | |
About ten hours on the operating table. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:42 | |
But the bottom line is, it means I can't think about riding a bike. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:46 | |
The guy says three weeks. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:48 | |
A bit of a setback. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:49 | |
But you know what? | 0:28:49 | 0:28:51 | |
It's not a setback | 0:28:51 | 0:28:52 | |
until the last minute you're not making the start line. | 0:28:52 | 0:28:55 | |
I've been given the all-clear by the surgeon to go and ride. | 0:29:09 | 0:29:13 | |
We'll give it a big haematoma and infection thing. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
That is what that kind of sweat is, the antibiotics. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:18 | |
Er, but I can ride, and I will be able to ride and train. | 0:29:19 | 0:29:24 | |
That's what they've said, "Green light, go ahead." | 0:29:25 | 0:29:28 | |
HE WHISTLES | 0:29:31 | 0:29:32 | |
Now that's proper running smooth. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:38 | |
Finger touch. | 0:29:38 | 0:29:39 | |
'I'm putting my reputation on the line a wee bit. That's the fear. | 0:29:55 | 0:29:57 | |
'And other people have punted good money to get me out there, | 0:29:59 | 0:30:02 | |
'that have believed in me from pretty much the start | 0:30:02 | 0:30:05 | |
'and it's as much the fear of letting them down as anything else.' | 0:30:05 | 0:30:08 | |
-Chic, can I take this helmet off? -Aye, course you can, yeah. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:12 | |
Right, chocks away, chaps! | 0:30:13 | 0:30:14 | |
Are you ready? | 0:30:17 | 0:30:18 | |
-Oh! -Argh! -You all right? | 0:30:21 | 0:30:25 | |
Uh-huh. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:26 | |
What happened there? | 0:30:26 | 0:30:28 | |
There was nothing to grab onto. | 0:30:28 | 0:30:29 | |
You should have been the other side. | 0:30:29 | 0:30:31 | |
-Are you OK? -Uh-huh. | 0:30:31 | 0:30:34 | |
So that is the fundamental problem we've got. | 0:30:34 | 0:30:36 | |
What? | 0:30:36 | 0:30:37 | |
All I can do is keep a straight line | 0:30:37 | 0:30:39 | |
and you keep me upright or not, and I have no control over that. | 0:30:39 | 0:30:44 | |
OK, so let's go up the runway without the lid on. | 0:30:44 | 0:30:47 | |
Let's see what kind of pace I can get it up to. | 0:30:47 | 0:30:49 | |
Right, OK. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:50 | |
'Well, it's here and test, or America. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:01 | |
'I have to concentrate on looking at where I'm going | 0:31:03 | 0:31:06 | |
'through this really strained, bifocal, rumbly vision. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:09 | |
'You can kind of see this white line and a general hazy kind of focus, | 0:31:10 | 0:31:14 | |
'but only in the middle. | 0:31:14 | 0:31:15 | |
'And then you've got a real rumble on it as well. | 0:31:15 | 0:31:17 | |
'There's a really twitchy response. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:21 | |
'I have to just use my forearms to steer it. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:24 | |
'I need to concentrate on the pedalling. | 0:31:24 | 0:31:26 | |
'It feels more like an effort | 0:31:32 | 0:31:34 | |
'in some sort of big deep-sea diving suit | 0:31:34 | 0:31:36 | |
'once you've got the breathing apparatus | 0:31:36 | 0:31:38 | |
'and you're really enclosed in it. | 0:31:38 | 0:31:40 | |
'And the feeling that you're going to choke later | 0:31:40 | 0:31:42 | |
'when you bite into it to hold it, and you're actually breathing | 0:31:42 | 0:31:45 | |
'and it's closing up the hole slightly. | 0:31:45 | 0:31:47 | |
'That's a panic. | 0:31:47 | 0:31:48 | |
'When you get to 1km to go in the States, I need to feel the burn. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:53 | |
'Once I pass that speed trap, I need to have the confidence that | 0:31:56 | 0:31:59 | |
'I can breathe enough later to guide this vehicle in to get caught.' | 0:31:59 | 0:32:03 | |
-25? -Aye. -It must have been more than that. | 0:32:12 | 0:32:15 | |
You got up to 40, seriously. | 0:32:15 | 0:32:17 | |
-For goodness' sake. -You're just turning everything over. | 0:32:19 | 0:32:22 | |
You've just got forward through the glass there. | 0:32:22 | 0:32:24 | |
It's satisfying, but it's slightly not satisfying as well. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:29 | |
Because I want to go, "Aye, I've done 60 or 65 or something." | 0:32:29 | 0:32:33 | |
And I've not. | 0:32:33 | 0:32:34 | |
Prestwick was a traumatic experience. | 0:32:45 | 0:32:47 | |
Now, somebody did suggest, | 0:32:51 | 0:32:53 | |
are you really going to go to America after that performance? | 0:32:53 | 0:32:56 | |
25mph, How are you possibly going to get on any decent pace? | 0:32:56 | 0:32:58 | |
So, but at the end of that it is... No. You can't just give up. | 0:33:00 | 0:33:04 | |
I think, "What can I do about it?" | 0:33:06 | 0:33:08 | |
GRINDER BUZZES | 0:33:08 | 0:33:09 | |
The post-disaster Prestwick discussion, | 0:33:14 | 0:33:16 | |
I was getting quite heated at points | 0:33:16 | 0:33:19 | |
and I suggested we just step back. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:22 | |
I've known Graeme since he was a young guy. | 0:33:22 | 0:33:24 | |
I don't understand depression... | 0:33:28 | 0:33:30 | |
..but I sort of know when to take the foot off the gas a wee bit | 0:33:31 | 0:33:34 | |
with him, because he'll normally come round. | 0:33:34 | 0:33:37 | |
They wouldn't touch that for a minute. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:54 | |
Oh! | 0:33:57 | 0:33:59 | |
I've not allowed any spare space at all | 0:33:59 | 0:34:01 | |
because you have to be obsessional at that level | 0:34:01 | 0:34:04 | |
if you want to break world records. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:06 | |
With the lid on, it's pushing my pelvis slightly down | 0:34:06 | 0:34:09 | |
and my knees are slightly hitting the metalwork. | 0:34:09 | 0:34:11 | |
It's going to have to be raised up. | 0:34:12 | 0:34:15 | |
This is going to be taken off altogether, | 0:34:15 | 0:34:17 | |
this top piece, altogether. | 0:34:17 | 0:34:19 | |
It's geared up to be, you can do 100mph. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:22 | |
It's clear if, I'm doing 35mph as it is, | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
I'm not going to do 100mph. | 0:34:25 | 0:34:27 | |
I can tell you that right now. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:30 | |
We've got to gear down to a more pragmatic gear. | 0:34:31 | 0:34:34 | |
In fact, dropping the gear about 25%... | 0:34:37 | 0:34:39 | |
..but not giving up on the fact that you could possibly get on the | 0:34:40 | 0:34:43 | |
world-record pace. It's not an impossible gear to do that with. | 0:34:43 | 0:34:46 | |
It's now the 10th of August. | 0:34:46 | 0:34:47 | |
This has to be in a crate in Aberdeen, | 0:34:47 | 0:34:49 | |
which is 200 miles from here... | 0:34:49 | 0:34:51 | |
..to be shipped out on the 23rd, | 0:34:53 | 0:34:55 | |
so it's got to leave on the 22nd. | 0:34:55 | 0:34:58 | |
Eh, that's 12 days. | 0:34:58 | 0:34:59 | |
SAWING | 0:34:59 | 0:35:00 | |
Ah, come on. | 0:35:11 | 0:35:12 | |
There. | 0:35:22 | 0:35:24 | |
It's not as I would want it, but it's OK. | 0:35:25 | 0:35:28 | |
'The guys at Prestwick Airport, | 0:35:52 | 0:35:54 | |
'they have a facility to paint The Beastie with a finish that we're | 0:35:54 | 0:35:57 | |
'looking for. I never thought we'd get anywhere near it. | 0:35:57 | 0:36:00 | |
'But I'm a wee bit on edge. | 0:36:01 | 0:36:03 | |
'I now know for certain were going to be there. | 0:36:03 | 0:36:06 | |
'We've got Graeme directed and focused on where he needs to get to, | 0:36:06 | 0:36:10 | |
'but I don't know how fast The Beastie is going to go.' | 0:36:10 | 0:36:13 | |
If his power potential is, like, where he can get it to, | 0:36:13 | 0:36:18 | |
THAT will go fast. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:20 | |
Still slightly jet-lagged, but what I want to do now at this stage | 0:36:30 | 0:36:34 | |
is actually get some real quite fast pedalling in. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:37 | |
Because if we're going to be going at a high cadence | 0:36:37 | 0:36:40 | |
then I want to get my legs into suppleness for that, | 0:36:40 | 0:36:42 | |
which I used to have all through my life. | 0:36:42 | 0:36:44 | |
I see a road going up the hill. | 0:36:48 | 0:36:49 | |
You can see the climb from here. It snakes up over the hill there. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:52 | |
That's the best run. It's quieter roads as well. | 0:36:53 | 0:36:55 | |
I'm glad we went and stayed in Elko rather than making the decision | 0:37:03 | 0:37:07 | |
to go into Battle Mountain. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:09 | |
Part of the decision about that was to isolate Graeme. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:12 | |
He could be on his own and just get on with training... | 0:37:14 | 0:37:18 | |
..and acclimatise. | 0:37:19 | 0:37:21 | |
HE GULPS BREATHS | 0:38:15 | 0:38:16 | |
OK, the road is now closed | 0:38:22 | 0:38:23 | |
and we are rolling sweet, we are now rolling sweet. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:26 | |
RADIO CRACKLES | 0:38:47 | 0:38:48 | |
Catch to start. Do you read me, over? | 0:38:48 | 0:38:51 | |
I was standing minding my own business on the start line | 0:39:10 | 0:39:12 | |
and was approached and he said, | 0:39:12 | 0:39:14 | |
"Listen, put that notepad down. I need you to launch me." | 0:39:14 | 0:39:17 | |
And I look and said, "What?!" | 0:39:17 | 0:39:20 | |
You know? I've looked at this machine that he's built for the past two years in absolute awe. | 0:39:20 | 0:39:25 | |
I have been afraid to even lay a hand on it and Graeme Obree | 0:39:25 | 0:39:29 | |
was saying, "Launch the bloody thing!" | 0:39:29 | 0:39:31 | |
OK, stand by, stand by. | 0:39:31 | 0:39:33 | |
Roger, start copies. | 0:39:33 | 0:39:36 | |
On you go, Gary. | 0:39:36 | 0:39:37 | |
Right, OK, take it away. | 0:39:37 | 0:39:40 | |
Have you got it, Graeme? | 0:39:42 | 0:39:43 | |
Our first launch wasn't successful. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:49 | |
The bike fell over. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:51 | |
I felt really awful. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:53 | |
Have you launched Graeme yet, over? | 0:39:54 | 0:39:56 | |
Negative. We tried to. Graeme fell. | 0:39:56 | 0:39:59 | |
Again, Gary, take it again, on you go. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:01 | |
Are you OK, G? | 0:40:01 | 0:40:02 | |
Well done, Gary. | 0:40:08 | 0:40:09 | |
'He is under way.' | 0:40:09 | 0:40:10 | |
Well done, mate. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:11 | |
-'How far underway?' -On you go. | 0:40:11 | 0:40:13 | |
OK, Roger that. | 0:40:13 | 0:40:16 | |
The Beastie is so erratic. It looks so unstable. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:30 | |
I'm just shitting myself. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:32 | |
I just hope to God Graeme can get over that line | 0:40:54 | 0:40:57 | |
and hopefully he gets a bit of speed as well. | 0:40:57 | 0:41:00 | |
Keep coming, keep coming. | 0:41:25 | 0:41:26 | |
-Well done. -Good job! | 0:41:34 | 0:41:36 | |
You did 50mph. | 0:41:36 | 0:41:39 | |
Yeah, that'll do for now. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:41 | |
He got it over the line. We had qualified. | 0:41:41 | 0:41:43 | |
Good work, you've qualified. | 0:41:43 | 0:41:44 | |
We can play with the big boys. | 0:41:44 | 0:41:47 | |
RADIO CHATTER OBSCURES SPEECH | 0:41:50 | 0:41:52 | |
And I didn't race it then because it seemed unstable. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
OK, coming in. | 0:41:55 | 0:41:57 | |
'This is Dave Larrington, following them down.' | 0:41:58 | 0:42:00 | |
This is the first run, though. How do you assess it? | 0:42:00 | 0:42:02 | |
I think it was a success because I brought it down the road. | 0:42:02 | 0:42:05 | |
I wasnae going to race it because it was too unstable, | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
but my God, hold it to this line | 0:42:07 | 0:42:08 | |
and then I can decide about gearing later on. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:10 | |
Yeah, yeah. | 0:42:10 | 0:42:12 | |
-But that's it for now. -Good, good. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:17 | |
The first run was Graeme in Beastie at 47.67 miles an hour. | 0:42:17 | 0:42:23 | |
We had Sebastiaan in VeloX 3 at 78.21. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:32 | |
I've got to try and get a punt on, | 0:42:40 | 0:42:41 | |
-a real punt on, without the bike going all over the place. -Yeah, yeah. | 0:42:41 | 0:42:45 | |
That's what I've got to try and do to get to that speed. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:48 | |
That's my understanding of it at the moment. If were going to get to | 0:42:48 | 0:42:51 | |
those speeds, that's what we've got to tackle. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:53 | |
We'll get it out and get that gear on tomorrow. | 0:42:53 | 0:42:56 | |
So, Graeme managed to get a slot in the runs, | 0:43:07 | 0:43:10 | |
but he was just on the periphery. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:12 | |
It's like a sort of handicap system. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:16 | |
So if you go really fast on your first run, | 0:43:16 | 0:43:18 | |
you're guaranteed a slot. | 0:43:18 | 0:43:19 | |
The first run wasn't good enough to guarantee | 0:43:23 | 0:43:25 | |
that we know Graeme's going to get a run all week | 0:43:25 | 0:43:28 | |
and that's a problem, because if you don't get a run, | 0:43:28 | 0:43:31 | |
you don't improve your time. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:33 | |
So he needed to go out and do faster times. | 0:43:34 | 0:43:36 | |
Is that the gear you had to change? | 0:43:40 | 0:43:42 | |
Yes. This one? The 17 has come off and the 12 has gone on. | 0:43:42 | 0:43:48 | |
We've not got a ride tonight. | 0:43:50 | 0:43:51 | |
-Oh, right. -So we can relax. | 0:43:51 | 0:43:53 | |
Obviously I've not qualified. | 0:43:54 | 0:43:56 | |
We've not qualified, so I'm going to | 0:43:56 | 0:43:58 | |
put us in for the two rides tomorrow morning, | 0:43:58 | 0:44:00 | |
one in the two-and-a-half and one in the five. | 0:44:00 | 0:44:02 | |
OK? Let's do both of them tomorrow morning. | 0:44:02 | 0:44:05 | |
-It means that we'll be up there all morning, OK? -Right. | 0:44:05 | 0:44:09 | |
Some of the teams are really complex | 0:44:18 | 0:44:20 | |
in their and nurture and care of the vehicles. | 0:44:20 | 0:44:23 | |
Look at Graeme in isolation, | 0:44:26 | 0:44:28 | |
trying his best and doing bloody good with it. | 0:44:28 | 0:44:30 | |
And then the Dutch guys, they're at the forefront of aerodynamics. | 0:44:33 | 0:44:38 | |
It's cost an absolute fortune to put together a team. | 0:44:38 | 0:44:42 | |
They're a step change ahead of where The Beastie was | 0:44:44 | 0:44:48 | |
and a number of other riders. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:50 | |
So once we knew what the speed potential was for The Beastie, | 0:44:58 | 0:45:01 | |
once we knew it wasn't going to be 75mph, | 0:45:01 | 0:45:03 | |
there was a discussion at that point in time about the prone record | 0:45:03 | 0:45:07 | |
and the prone record was 54mph. | 0:45:07 | 0:45:09 | |
Once we saw that, we knew that Graeme was close to it. | 0:45:09 | 0:45:12 | |
So it was a matter of Graeme going out with that target in mind. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:17 | |
Take a bit of spring, right? You hear me? | 0:45:22 | 0:45:25 | |
Let's not... | 0:45:27 | 0:45:28 | |
Oh, it's away! Ha-ha! | 0:45:30 | 0:45:33 | |
Graeme, that was childish. | 0:45:33 | 0:45:35 | |
TRAIN HORN SOUNDS | 0:45:35 | 0:45:36 | |
It's Thursday, so we had two days. | 0:45:51 | 0:45:53 | |
Bloody good conditions. | 0:45:54 | 0:45:55 | |
So, in my head, today's the day. | 0:45:57 | 0:45:59 | |
Right. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:03 | |
'When you're ready, over.' | 0:46:03 | 0:46:05 | |
Gary done a brilliant launch and off Graeme went | 0:46:19 | 0:46:22 | |
and I was, like, highly optimistic. | 0:46:22 | 0:46:23 | |
There is a fighting element to it and it's just the discomfort. | 0:46:43 | 0:46:47 | |
If you have to raise it to 56mph, that becomes very uncomfortable. | 0:46:47 | 0:46:51 | |
If you lose that air tube, | 0:46:51 | 0:46:52 | |
then you could actually suffocate and faint in there. | 0:46:52 | 0:46:55 | |
You can actually end up hitting the rocks. | 0:46:57 | 0:46:59 | |
And you WILL break your neck. | 0:46:59 | 0:47:01 | |
I was totally gasped out, 500 metres to go, | 0:47:11 | 0:47:14 | |
to the point I can hardly see where I'm going. | 0:47:14 | 0:47:16 | |
You're hitting the 500-metre mark | 0:47:19 | 0:47:22 | |
knowing that you are actually totally nailing this, | 0:47:22 | 0:47:25 | |
because I absolutely have to. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:27 | |
It's like, "Must is a good master". | 0:47:27 | 0:47:29 | |
You MUST break that record, for emotional survival. | 0:47:31 | 0:47:34 | |
That outweighs the sense of fear of suffocation. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:39 | |
GASPING | 0:47:49 | 0:47:50 | |
OK. I have him. We have him. | 0:47:50 | 0:47:52 | |
Good job. | 0:47:53 | 0:47:55 | |
You were pushing 60 there. | 0:47:55 | 0:47:57 | |
-Yeah. -Well done, Graeme. | 0:47:57 | 0:47:58 | |
When they let me out... I'm going "Let me out, let me out!" | 0:47:58 | 0:48:01 | |
I panicked in the last minute. | 0:48:01 | 0:48:02 | |
-Yeah, you're bleeding. -Couldn't breathe. | 0:48:02 | 0:48:05 | |
-Where? -Just up from here. | 0:48:05 | 0:48:07 | |
What did I, did I make the 56? | 0:48:09 | 0:48:12 | |
Erm, we think so. | 0:48:12 | 0:48:14 | |
We think you did about 55, 56. | 0:48:14 | 0:48:17 | |
Excellent. Good job, guys. Good job. | 0:48:18 | 0:48:20 | |
Good job. Certainly over 55 coming out of the speed trap. | 0:48:20 | 0:48:23 | |
I slowed down at the speed trap. I was panicking. | 0:48:25 | 0:48:27 | |
"Let me out, I just want out." | 0:48:27 | 0:48:28 | |
52.5. | 0:48:36 | 0:48:39 | |
Fuck. | 0:48:39 | 0:48:40 | |
You got a hat. | 0:48:40 | 0:48:43 | |
Got your 50mph hat. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:45 | |
-That's great. -Yeah? | 0:48:45 | 0:48:46 | |
Roger that, thank you. | 0:48:47 | 0:48:49 | |
-So keep stepping it up a little bit. -Right, we need to go again. | 0:48:49 | 0:48:52 | |
'This was the drop. | 0:49:21 | 0:49:23 | |
'This is the point of pressure and stress that, until recent times, | 0:49:24 | 0:49:29 | |
'my psychologist, she would never have countenanced me | 0:49:29 | 0:49:31 | |
'being allowed to actually be in this cauldron of stress... | 0:49:31 | 0:49:35 | |
-BYSTANDERS: -Yeah! | 0:49:35 | 0:49:37 | |
'..for the last months, | 0:49:43 | 0:49:45 | |
'of knowing that that race is going to be substandard. | 0:49:45 | 0:49:47 | |
'Knowing we're coming to America with economic backing | 0:49:47 | 0:49:49 | |
'and people backing me up and people pressuring me, going, | 0:49:49 | 0:49:52 | |
'"Graeme, come on, you've really actually got to blast your guts out | 0:49:52 | 0:49:55 | |
'even though you're dog-tired." | 0:49:55 | 0:49:57 | |
'That's...five times in my life I've had to do that. | 0:50:02 | 0:50:05 | |
'Two hour records, two world championships and that. | 0:50:05 | 0:50:07 | |
'And people say, "You WILL beat that record. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:12 | |
"You're not committed enough." | 0:50:12 | 0:50:13 | |
'When I've known the bike just isn't good enough. Get a grip here. | 0:50:13 | 0:50:16 | |
'I'm coming over here to face embarrassment | 0:50:16 | 0:50:19 | |
'so I can then go home and hide.' | 0:50:19 | 0:50:20 | |
If we had a two-and-a-half mile course | 0:50:25 | 0:50:27 | |
that finished two miles up the road I feel I could probably do 58 or 60. | 0:50:27 | 0:50:31 | |
It's not. It's here. | 0:50:32 | 0:50:33 | |
There's something draggy about this straight. | 0:50:33 | 0:50:35 | |
Unless I've got a mental block about it, there's something draggy about it. | 0:50:35 | 0:50:38 | |
You actually lose speed in this last mile. | 0:50:38 | 0:50:40 | |
You recognise we need to go again. | 0:50:41 | 0:50:43 | |
There's a parallel to be drawn here in the...time you won the world record... | 0:50:43 | 0:50:50 | |
Final. | 0:50:50 | 0:50:51 | |
..in terms of, on the Saturday night... | 0:50:51 | 0:50:53 | |
..you hadn't done it, but you went back the next day | 0:50:55 | 0:50:57 | |
when other people thought that, you know... | 0:50:57 | 0:50:59 | |
You know, you've got that capacity to say, "Fuck it. I'm going to go again." | 0:50:59 | 0:51:02 | |
Oh, I've got to go again and do it right this time. | 0:51:02 | 0:51:04 | |
The pain of failure and the feeling of failure | 0:51:09 | 0:51:12 | |
between stopping the first record attempt | 0:51:12 | 0:51:15 | |
and saying, "I'm going again", | 0:51:15 | 0:51:16 | |
actually changed me as an athlete. | 0:51:16 | 0:51:19 | |
Changed me as a human being. | 0:51:20 | 0:51:22 | |
That was the moment where, see that 1% that you can't access, | 0:51:26 | 0:51:30 | |
of energy and drive, | 0:51:30 | 0:51:32 | |
the type of energy that gets your kids out a burning building, | 0:51:32 | 0:51:36 | |
that's the energy that's so painful to have not achieved | 0:51:36 | 0:51:41 | |
of that level that you needed to. | 0:51:41 | 0:51:44 | |
That's the point when you actually change as a human being. | 0:51:44 | 0:51:47 | |
In other words, I needed to fail to access that. | 0:51:49 | 0:51:53 | |
And the next day, | 0:51:58 | 0:52:01 | |
I was then able to access all of this. | 0:52:01 | 0:52:06 | |
Because I actually needed to win, | 0:52:06 | 0:52:08 | |
even if I was going to die. | 0:52:08 | 0:52:09 | |
I needed to justify my self-worth... | 0:52:12 | 0:52:14 | |
..as a human being. | 0:52:15 | 0:52:17 | |
I kept Graeme out the way as late as possible. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:45 | |
We got onto that start line with five minutes to spare. | 0:52:45 | 0:52:47 | |
We had been getting on really good with getting the lid on, | 0:52:53 | 0:52:56 | |
but that morning we couldn't get the lid on. | 0:52:56 | 0:52:58 | |
It was just a nightmare. | 0:52:58 | 0:52:59 | |
Gary did a brilliant start and Graeme got it away brilliant, | 0:53:31 | 0:53:34 | |
but it was windy | 0:53:34 | 0:53:36 | |
and I was, like, shitting myself. I was thinking, "We've blown it." | 0:53:36 | 0:53:39 | |
STEADY BREATHING | 0:53:49 | 0:53:50 | |
BREATHING QUICKENS | 0:54:10 | 0:54:12 | |
BREATHING ECHOES | 0:54:35 | 0:54:37 | |
He was fantastic and he did a 56.62mph into | 0:55:41 | 0:55:46 | |
3mph head wind, but with legal winds. | 0:55:46 | 0:55:50 | |
So we're very excited. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:52 | |
56.6mph, new world prone bike best. | 0:55:52 | 0:55:56 | |
There. | 0:55:57 | 0:55:58 | |
To come here and then to set a world record first time round, | 0:55:58 | 0:56:02 | |
that's pretty impressive. | 0:56:02 | 0:56:04 | |
Well done, Graeme. Well done. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:10 | |
All good. Mission accomplished. | 0:56:10 | 0:56:13 | |
Albeit it wasn't the mission we set out for, | 0:56:13 | 0:56:16 | |
but it was mission accomplished. | 0:56:16 | 0:56:18 | |
After my mental illness, | 0:56:24 | 0:56:25 | |
I shouldn't have allowed myself to have to dig that deep, | 0:56:25 | 0:56:28 | |
that emotional trauma of having to go again, | 0:56:28 | 0:56:30 | |
again, with my back against the wall. | 0:56:30 | 0:56:32 | |
I shouldn't have allowed myself to be in that position, | 0:56:32 | 0:56:35 | |
erm, emotionally. | 0:56:35 | 0:56:38 | |
As you know, there are near ideal conditions this morning, | 0:56:46 | 0:56:49 | |
so we have Graeme in Beastie, | 0:56:49 | 0:56:53 | |
56.62mph. | 0:56:53 | 0:56:56 | |
It was strange. Just the five minutes before I spoke to you here, | 0:57:07 | 0:57:10 | |
the timekeeper announced it is a new official world record | 0:57:10 | 0:57:13 | |
and that's a strange feeling. I've not heard that for 20 years. | 0:57:13 | 0:57:17 | |
It's a slow absorbance of, "Oh, my goodness, | 0:57:17 | 0:57:20 | |
"I've just broken a world record. Bona fide. Official." | 0:57:20 | 0:57:22 | |
So I'm still absorbing that, so that's nice. | 0:57:23 | 0:57:26 | |
Like, I've personally shot out for the stars and reached the moon. | 0:57:32 | 0:57:37 | |
And, OK, I had to lower the peg, | 0:57:37 | 0:57:39 | |
but I got to the point I did manage to do 56.6mph and take the record. | 0:57:39 | 0:57:43 | |
He's a maverick genius. He's got the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old kid. | 0:57:44 | 0:57:51 | |
But when it comes down to it, what 48-year-old | 0:57:51 | 0:57:54 | |
would squeeze themselves into a coffin on two wheels | 0:57:54 | 0:57:58 | |
and launch themselves across a highway in northern Nevada | 0:57:58 | 0:58:02 | |
at speeds touching 60mph in a machine that's made from saucepans | 0:58:02 | 0:58:09 | |
and second-hand roller-skates | 0:58:09 | 0:58:11 | |
that cost six and a half quid from a charity store in Saltcoats?! | 0:58:11 | 0:58:16 | |
It's mad, absolutely mad. And that's why we love him. | 0:58:16 | 0:58:20 | |
The sense of relief will fade and the sense of... | 0:58:28 | 0:58:31 | |
..of folk going, "Oh, wow! You broke a world record. Well done, big man!" | 0:58:33 | 0:58:36 | |
I guess tigers don't change their stripes, do they? | 0:58:41 | 0:58:43 | |
It's like, when their back's against the wall, it's like... | 0:58:43 | 0:58:46 | |
"Rrr! You're getting it!" | 0:58:46 | 0:58:47 | |
MUSIC: I Was The King by Alun Woodward | 0:58:51 | 0:58:53 | |
# I was the king | 0:58:53 | 0:58:55 | |
# I was crowned in the ring | 0:58:55 | 0:59:00 | |
# On a course where I flew | 0:59:00 | 0:59:03 | |
# I was brutal and true | 0:59:03 | 0:59:08 | |
# In the bright fjord night | 0:59:08 | 0:59:12 | |
# In Bordeaux fond and sly | 0:59:12 | 0:59:15 | |
# In the jungles I rule | 0:59:15 | 0:59:20 | |
# I was king, I was Rex Omnium # | 0:59:20 | 0:59:26 |