If you weren’t watching Guy Martin on Speed on Channel 4 last night, in which the motorcyclist switched to a push bike and attempted to beat Dave Le Grys’s 27-year-old motor-paced British record of 110mph on a bicycle, you missed a treat – some are calling it the best piece of TV they’ve seen over the Festive season. Happily, thanks to the catch-up service 4oD, you can watch it here.
Le Grys himself was on hand to help guide Martin through his record attempt and among others to provide assistance are double Olympic gold medallist, Laura Trott, and Rourke Framesets.
The Stoke-on-Trent based firm built the bike, complete with crossover chainset, on which the affable and ever so slightly manic Martin attempts to break the record at Pendine Sands in South Wales. While drafting a truck. As you do.
We won’t give too much away – and we’d ask people to refrain from comments that may spoil others’ enjoyment until they have had a chance to watch it – but Martin, veteran of 13 Isle of Man TT podiums reckons it’s the scariest thing he’s ever done.
Seeing him unclip involuntarily while doing around 80mph, you can understand why.
Sit back and enjoy.
26 thoughts on “Missed Guy Martin’s 110mph+ record attempt on TV last night? You can watch it on catch-up service 4oD”
Superb tele. Full of
Superb tele. Full of no-nonsense types basically going “you’re mad. How can I help?”
cracking viewing. Guy’s got a
cracking viewing. Guy’s got a fred dibnah/Evil Kenivel thing going on…nice to see them making the frame and using Hope equipment. And he didn’t like the turbo set laura set him! 😀
And I always thought Cav was
And I always thought Cav was the fastest man on two wheels especially from the Isle of Man
the olympic track cyclist who
the olympic track cyclist who helped him was a star too. Interesting insight into what serious training means.
4oD can’t help if you don’t
4oD can’t help if you don’t live in Britain. It’s not on YouTube yet, either. Pisser.
Classic ‘bloke’ TV. Made Top
Classic ‘bloke’ TV. Made Top Gear seem boring.
awesome television programme
awesome television programme from a great character
if any of you have not seen it yet, I’d highly recommend watching the film
“Closer to the Edge” about the Isle of Man TT
completely bonkers motorbike action, especially Guy Martin’s fireball ‘get off’ and Conor Cummins’ “how did he survive?” crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y07yt87lhEA
Best TV over the Christmas
Best TV over the Christmas break. Think Fred Dibnah meets Eval Knieval meets Wacky Racers! Felt venue change to Pendine added a lot to difficulty factor. Top effort.
+1 from me and kudos to Guy
+1 from me and kudos to Guy Martin for having a crack and getting the program made. I did like the fact that his kitchen not only had a pushbike in it but also a motorbike or two – it made my man cave look positively look under equipped !
One for the ‘Strava Boys?’
One for the ‘Strava Boys?’
It was good, but also raised
It was good, but also raised interesting debate with a few mates.
What about if someone with a more than ‘average’ fitness (Thats what the sports lab said), and a high lactate threshold like Tony Martin say, had a go?
glynr36 wrote:It was good,
We had the same discussion, reckoning that that Guy’s ‘high-speed experience’ and above average (motor and push) bike handling skills must count for more than might be initially thought. This got us wondering if any British pro riders might have it in them, and which would be most suited. Surely one of the track come road riders?
Ian Stannard perhaps? And Dani King for the women’s record?
Surely we can make this happen with an ePetition or using Kickstarter these days. 🙂
ped wrote:glynr36 wrote:It
I recon plenty of pros could do it, BUT if it goes wrong you could find yourself out of work pretty quick. Think about Cav being banned from the track.
mrmo wrote:I recon plenty of
Fair point. Revised plan then, we need recently retired pros without perhaps understandably over-protective teams and sponsors.
How about Charly Wegelius and Nicole Cooke?
Laura Trott was cool
Laura Trott was cool
I loved it. Thought Guy was a
I loved it. Thought Guy was a real star, and the people he got to help him – despite their well justified doubts – were brilliant. It was a true team effort, led by a real, unassuming but genuine and proper bloke. Magic!
You can stick your carbon
You can stick your carbon fibre up your ar5e – steel from Birmingham will always deliver the goods.
Especially if it has Rourke written on it.
Couldn’t get passed all the
Couldn’t get passed all the adverts.
Brilliant bit of telly, well
Brilliant bit of telly, well done.
but a question was raised after watching it, should it be allowed as the screen used on the back of the truck was actually creating a vortex and pulling him along rather than giving him a piece of “dead” air in which to cycle.
Proper bloke TV. I look
Proper bloke TV. I look forward to the rest of the series.
The only way you’ll get “dead air” is to put the cyclist under a giant inverted golfish bowl and drag it along the ground. Now there’s a thought… 😕
Chris Hoy the obvious
Chris Hoy the obvious candidate
Some Fella wrote:Chris Hoy
His keirin skills would no doubt be useful, and his outright speed undeniable, but I wonder if he’d have the staying power.
I was surprised with the
I was surprised with the aggressive steering angle the bike had. If it were “chopped out” it would be more stable at speed. Look at drag-racing motorbikes for example…
For those who prefer to watch
For those who prefer to watch the old fashioned way :
Tonight – Freeview channel 47, 4seven, at 7pm
The aerodynamic design should
The aerodynamic design should have included a bleed to blow down and aside for sand thrown up by wheels and air pressure being forced under the truck.
Side & top spoilers might also have been able to create a ‘virtual’ extension of the still air box, as if it was a real enclosed body.
Having driven along the beach
Having driven along the beach at Pendine at about 50mph, I can confirm that this is nothing like being on tarmac from a stability point of view. You can feel irregular soft spots in the sand and this must add significantly to the danger/difficulty factor. I personally wouldn’t want to drive any vehicle along there at anything approaching that speed ! Massive respect !!