The Flying Scotsman Story
"Without question, the finest athlete Scotland has ever produced"
Graeme Obree's story is an inspirational one - a talented and driven amateur racing cyclist who, in the early 1990s, decided to try to break the toughest record in the books - cycling against the clock for an hour to see how far you could get.
The previous "hour" record had been held for 9 years by the Italian Francesco Moser, but Obree's rival Chris Boardman announced plans to tackle the hour, yet Graeme had decided to try it first, just a week before Boardman's attempt. Graeme and his few assistants flew to Hamar in Norway, and he just failed in his first attempt to break the record. Everyone assumed that was that, including the officials who were there to measure the attempt.
Graeme had the track booked for 24 hours, and said he would go again in the morning. This time round, he used his own home-built bike (dubbed "Old Faithful") and smashed the record, earning himself a place in the history books.
Over the next few years, he went on to break the record again (since Boardman took it off him only a week later), won the pursuit World Championships twice & set a number of other track world records, all the time innovating both the design of his own bikes and the riding positions for which he became well known in the field. He was constantly struggling with rule changes by the cycling establishment, which continued to make rule changes to outlaw his styles, known as "the tuck" and the "Superman position".
The film & book of Graeme's story are out now. He still rides at an amateur level (and is still quick - 10 mile TTs in around 20 minutes), and occasionally promotes cycling and other related activities in his native west of Scotland. Both accounts deal with the cycling and his achievements, but also the bipolar disorder (leading to manic depression) which has driven him and afflicted him in equal measure.
Graeme does work as a
public speaker from time to time.