I couldn’t allow W Hodding Carter to have it all his own (American) way when it comes to insane sporting attempts at greatness. So this week, I am reviewing an old favourite of mine: The Hour (affiliate links: UK
Hutch and his reckless attempt
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What is the Hour?
It’s the story of how a club rider set out to beat one of cycling’s most prestigous records, the furthest distance travelled on a velodrome track in one hour. It’s conveniently known as “the Hour”, so it’s hard to forget. So if you felt inspired by the Tour de France to dive into cycling’s rich and fascinating heritage, this could be a good place to start.
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Come off it, not another cycling book?
Yes, I know it’s another cycling book. But if you are interested in the process of training and the mental strain that comes with preparing for a big competition or event then, for analysing the pressure that the athlete comes under, this book is hard to beat.
It’s also incredibly well written, funny and insightful.
The book falls into several discrete parts (which overlap somewhat):
- Autobiography - the early part of the book discusses very briefly Hutchinson’s early life before discussing in more detail the path that took him out of academia and into professional cycling. There’s a great little story about how he spent a year riding around Cambridgeshire and then rocked up to the National Time Trials and came second. They delayed the medal ceremony for half and hour because they were convinced they’d made a mistake in timing him.
- Time trialing career – the next section covers Hutchinson’s time trialing career and discusses what he feels were the key factors in his success. Success is probably a mild word as he completely dominated the UK time trialing scene for some years. Interestingly, he chalks a great deal up to genetics and much of the rest up to time spent in the saddle. Not very sexy from a sports scientist’s point of view but very telling.
- Training for the Hour – the big section in the middle of the book deals with training for the Hour, sourcing the bike and researching how different wheels, forks and riding positions helped to reduce the effort in maintaining the record-breaking speed.
- Boardman and Obree – there is quite a lot of cycling history in the book and not just about Boardman and Obree. Hutchinson goes into detail about the greats who raced the Hour, including the great Eddie Merckx, the magnificient Indurain and the well-prepared Moser. However, as a Brit, he does dwell on the remarkable story of Obree and Boardman, who duelled fiercely for the crown in the early-to-mid 1990s.
- The Hour – the final section of the book tells the frantic story of getting man and bike to the velodrome (and past the scrutinising eyes of the officials) in time for the event. It’s a nerve-wracking, nail-biting section and it’s made worse by the fact that you know how it’s going to end (or you should if you know anything about cycling sport). The most fascinating part is the way Hutchinson unpicks the psychological importance of each step and each decision he made, showing how he had already beaten himself before he even got on the bike. He was ready to fail, he just hadn’t got around to doing it yet. My swimming coach always used to say to me that I had already beaten myself before I drove to a meet. I never really understood what that meant until I read this book. If people say that sort of thing to you, then read it and find out.
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What else is interesting?
Well, it’s interesting to put this book alongside a couple of others that I’ve reviewed that contain the theme of sports as therapy for men at various points in their lives and for various reasons.
- In Wrecking Machine, the lawyer Alex Wade uses white-collar boxing to help extract himself from a rut of alcoholism, smoking and self-destructive behaviour.
- In The Escape Artist, Guardian journalist Matt Seaton finds that cycling competitively scratches an itch but he can’t bring himself to admit it. Instead, he sees it as “escapism” from the realities of life. However, it clearly helps him get through a very hard phase in his life.
- In Record Breaker, former Royal Marine Paddy Doyle finds that he needs a focus to channel all of his energy to prevent himself from going wild.
- In Off the Deep End, Hodding Carter attempts to qualify for the Olympics at short distance swimming despite being on the cusp of entering his fourth decade. In the process, he stablilises his life and finds new enjoyment in getting out of bed in the morning.
I don’t think that this completely sits alongside them. I mean, it clearly has a lot in common with Off the Deep End and early in the book it is clear that the decision to do the Hour is rooted in having no other challenges to face.
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And to summarise?
Hutchinson was clearly in need of something to do that stretched him and the Hour provided the subject. However, I don’t think he was so in need of a goal like the above protagonists. He had just reached the top of his little mountain of UK time trialing.
In any event, it’s a great book and incredibly witty, funny and well-written. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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