Dave Barter said:I have been trying to research the story of Tommy Godwin. Tommy held
the record (and I think he still does) for the most miles cycled in a
single year which I believe to be 75,065.
I am trying to find out as much as I can about the man as it is a
fasinating story and needs telling, but so far I have drawn a blank.
Note, this is not the Tommy Godwin who is president of Birmingham CC.
Can anybody out there help me with anything, old clippings,
anecdotes, whatever. I believe that an obitury may have been
published in Cycling Weekly some years back, so a copy of that would
be great.
The problem is that this is not an official record. AFAIAA there is not
a body, at least in the UK, that recognises it. This is why informetion
is so sparse. You will probably have to dive into newspaper and
magazine archives. I would certainly be interested in anything you come
up with. Are you thinking of writing a book?
In the 1930's there was a lot of public interest in ultra long distance
cycling. The record holders were household names in their day but have
now faded into obscurity. When I started in cycling my first club,
Century R.C., were very proud that the Australian record breaker Hubert
Opperman, a career diplomat, was their president and still took an
active interest in the Club.
I remember reading an article in Cycling about the year record. It may
even have been the obituary you are looking for. This would have been
some time in the 1960's so I may have got the personalities wrong but
if I've recalled it correctly a previous record holder, the (one-armed
amazingly) Walter Greaves, had made a guest appearance at a track event
where he had been invited to ride a few token laps in front of the
crowd. Godwin was present and noted that Greaves had had difficulty
crossing the footbridge as his muscles had become so tuned to cycling
that he could barely walk. Apparently Greaves did eventually regain a
normal walk but it took a year or two.
Godwin therefore determined that when he attacked the record, no matter
how tired he was at the end of his ride, he would walk the last mile
home. This apparently saved him from the condition that had afflicted
Greaves. As I say it must be 35 years since I read that article, so I
may have got the names in the story wrong, but that is the essence of
it and it may give you an angle to help your search.
--
Dave...
