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British Best All-Rounder

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The British Best All-Rounder (BBAR) competition, organised by Cycling Time Trials, is an annual British cycle-racing competition. It ranks riders by their average speeds in individual time trials , over 50 and 100 miles and 12 hours for men and 25, 50 and 100 miles for women. There are similar competitions for under-18s and teams of three. Qualifying races have to be ridden between April and September. Certificates are awarded to men better with 22mph (35.5kmh) or faster and women averaging 20mph (32.25kmh) or more. The junior speeds are 23mph and 21mph ( 37 and 33.9kmh). Competitions modelled on the BBAR are organised within UK regions, and for over- 40s.

History

The BBAR was announced by the magazine Cycling on April 4, 1930. It offered an annual trophy valued at £26 and a shield to be held for a year by the winning team. Time-trialling had been the staple of British cycling since the National Cyclists' Union (NCU) had banned massed racing on the road in 1888 as a reaction to police objections it feared would threaten all cyclists. [1] The NCU wanted clubs to promote races only on tracks, or velodromes, but they were too distant and local groups began organising not the massed races that the NCU banned but individual competitions against the clock, called time-trials. British cyclists came to see time-trialling as the purest form of competition, free as it was of the tactics of massed racing. But there was no reliable way of seeing who was the best all-rounder, over all distances and across a season, because difficulties with travel meant not all riders could take part. The BBAR overcame the problems by allowing riders to compete where they chose and then register their performances. The time-trialling historian, Bernard Thompson, said: "It was probably the best thing that has ever happened to British time-trial sport, even to this day."[2]

The first winner

The first winner was the south Londoner, Frank Southall, riding for the Norwood Paragon club. He averaged 21.141mph and won again the following three years. After his fourth consecutive win, 7,000 cyclists watched at the Royal Albert Hall in London as Southall signed the Golden Book of Cycling during the BBAR prize-giving concert. [3]

Change of ownership

The BBAR competition was suspended during the war. It restarted in 1944, promoted not by Cycling but by the time-trial administrative body, the Road Time Trials Council (RTTC), now known as Cycling Time Trials. British cycling was by then in a civil war, with the NCU's ban on massed racing having been thwarted by a new organisation, the British League of Racing Cyclists (BLRC). Both the RTTC and Cycling had campaigned against the BLRC, still convinced massed racing threatened the sport as a whole. But the editor of Cycling, H. H. "Harry" England was so upset that the RTTC had taken over the BBAR that he changed sides and began reporting BLRC races. [4]

After the war

The 1944 BBAR recognised that few riders had been able to train as they had and averaged speeds over 25, 50 and 100 miles. Twelve-hour races would also have been hard to organise because, said Bernard Thompson, "Signposts had been taken down during the war and it is doubtful that a sufficient number of marshals and feeders could have been mustered in those austere times." [5] This shortened BBAR was won by Albert Derbyshire with 23.549mph. In 1945 the competition returned to its full distance.

Tom Barlow

Calculations of riders' averages were made from 1945 to 1976 by a Manchester enthusiast, Tom Barlow. Bernard Thompson related: "All Tom's calculations were done the hard way; there were no pocket calculators in his lifetime and it is doubtful that he would have changed his tried and trusted methods, his tables of average speeds combined with his outsized slide-rule... about three feet long."[6]

Barlow died aged 90 in 1982.

Winners

2006 K Dawson, Agisko-Dart RT 27.454 2005 M Hutchinson, API-Metrow 27.203 2004 K Dawson, Planet X 27.541 2003 K Dawson, Life Repair CRT 28.26 2002 K Dawson, Compensation Group RT 27.793 2001 K Dawson, Pete Read Racing-Caygill Frames 27.631 2000 M Hutchinson, Bio RT 27.558 1999 K Dawson, Pete Read Racing 27.15 1998 K Dawson, Team Ambrosia 27.33 1997 K Dawson, G S Strada 27.92 1996 A Wilkinson, Port Sunlight Wheelers 28.236 1995 G Butler, Norwood Paragon CC 27.148 1994 G Butler, Racing Team Italia 26.874 1993 K Dawson, GS Strada 27.062 1992 K Dawson, G S Strada 26.777 1991 G Longland, Antelope Racing Team 26.94 1990 G Dighton, Manchester Wheelers' Club 26.216 1989 I Cammish, Manchester Wheelers' Club 26.412 1988 I Cammish, Manchester Wheelers' Club 26.369 1987 I Cammish, Manchester Wheelers' Club 26.094 1986 G Longland, Antelope Racing Team 26.771 1985 I Cammish, G S Strada 26.234 1984 I Cammish, G S Strada 26.013 1983 I Cammish, G S Strada 27.355 1982 I Cammish, G S Strada 26 1981 I Cammish, G S Strada 26.341 1980 I Cammish, Edgware RC 26.174 1979 P Griffiths, G S Strada 26.149 1978 J Woodburn, Sydenham Wheelers 26.067 1977 P Carbutt, GS Strada 25.566 1976 P Griffiths, GS Strada 25.97 1975 P Griffiths, City of Stoke ACCS 25.418 1974 P Griffiths, City of Stoke ACCS 25.093 1973 R Lewis, Coventry CC 25.022 1972 R Porter, Hounslow & District Wheelers 24.914 1971 P W Griffiths, Gloucester City CC 25.109 1970 J Watson, Clifton CC 25.958 1969 A Taylor, Oldbury & District CC 25.67 1968 M Roach, Hounslow & District Wheelers 25.428 1967 M McNamara, Rockingham CC 24.953 1966 A Metcalfe, Leeds St Christophers CCC 24.797 1965 K Stacey, Seamons CC 24.309 1964 P Hill, Askern CC 24.645 1963 P Hill, Askem CC 24.041 1962 R Golden, Camberley Wheelers 24.652 1961 B Kirby, Army CU 24.04 1960 B Wiltcher, Zeus RC 24.526 1959 B Wiltcher, Zeus RC 24.045 1958 O Blower, Leicestershire RC 24.363 1957 R Booty, Army CU 24.126 1956 R Booty, Ericsson Wheelers CC 24.334 1955 R Booty, Ericsson Wheelers CC 23.956 1954 V Gibbons, Brentwood RC 23.811 1953 V Gibbons, Brentwood RC 23.578 1952 K Joy, Medway Wheelers 23.83 1951 K Joy, Medway Wheelers 23.414 1950 K Joy, Medway Wheelers 23.33 1949 K Joy, Medway Wheelers 22.808 1948 P Beardsmore, Medway Wheelers 22.584 1947 A Derbyshire, Calleva RC 22.744 1946 A Derbyshire, Calleva RC 22.843 1945 I Allison, Musselburgh RC 22.479 944 A Derbyshire, Calleva RC 23.549

Women

The women's BBAR followed the expansion of racing after the war. It was dominated by Beryl Burton, who won 25 times from 1959 to 1983 inclusive. The only other person to have won the competition more than twice is June Pitchford, who won three times in a row from 1984. 2006 J Shaw, GS Strada 26.005 2005 R Eyles, Beacon RCC 25.228 2004 C Gandy, San Fairy Ann CC 24.806 2003 R Dorrington, Pete Read Racing 25.421 2002 K Steele, Caygill Frames RT 25.364 2001 K Steele, Pete Read Racing - Caygill Frames 25.29 2000 L Milne, G S Strada 25.946 1999 J Reames, Swaledale CC 26.072 1998 M Johnson, Letchworth Velo Club 25.417 1997 J Reames, Swaledale CC 27.025 1996 J Derham, Twickenham CC 26.697 1995 A Plant, Swaledale CC 25.169 1994 Y McGregor, Swaledale CC 26.094 1993 L Lamont, Antelope Racing Team 25.684 1992 S Wright, Chelmer CC 25.612 1991 A Jones, Liverpool Mercury RC 25.766 1990 E Ward ,Scarborough Paragon CC 25.268 1989 S Wright, Chelmer CC 25.259 1988 M Allen Barnsley RC 25.298 1987 M Allen, Barnsley RC 25.687 1986 J Pitchford, Stourbridgc CC 24.962 1985 J Pitchford, Stourbridge CC 25.321 1984 J Pitchford, Stourbridge CC 25.463 1983 B Burton, Morley CC 25.118 1982 B Burton, Morley CC 25.206 1981 B Burton, Morley CC 25.219 1980 B Burton, Morley CC 25.733 1979 B Burton, Morley CC 25.228 1978 B Burton, Morley CC 25.565 1977 B Burton, Morley CC 25.069 1976 B Burton, Morley CC 26.665 1975 B Burton, Morley CC 26.047 1974 B Burton, Morley CC 25.302 1973 B Burton, Morley CC 26.267 1972 B Burton, Morley CC 26.112 1971 B Burton, Morley CC 25.463 1970 B Burton, Morley CC 25.729 1969 B Burton, Morley CC 25.849 1968 B Burton, Morley CC 25.942 1967 B Burton, Morley CC 25.696 1966 B Burton, Morley CC 24.812 1965 B Burton, Morley CC 24.439 1964 B Burton, Morley CC 24.716 1963 B Burton, Morley CC 24.138 1962 B Burton, Morley CC 24.036 1961 B Burton, Morley CC 23.656 1960 B Burton, Morley CC 23.714 1959 B Burton, Morley CC 23.724 1958 M Robinson, Manx Viking Wheelers 23.193 1957 I Miles, Scala Wheelers 22.849 1956 I Miles, Scala Wheelers 22.761 1955 F Dawson, TeessideRC 22.632 1954 F Dawson, Teesside RC 22.399 1953 J Harris, Apollo CC 22.436 1952 C Brown, S Shields Victoria CC 22.289 1951 E Horton, Coventry CC 22.38 1950 E Sheridan, Coventry CC 22.134 1949 E Sheridan, Coventry CC 21.827 1948 S Rimmington, Meersbrook CC 21.756

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Individual time trial.

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  1. ^ Ride and Be Damned, Chas Messenger
  2. ^ "Alpaca to Skinsuit", Bernard Thompson, Geerings of Ashford
  3. ^ "Alpaca to Skinsuit", Bernard Thompson, Geerings of Ashford
  4. ^ Ride and Be Damned, Chas Messenger
  5. ^ "Alpaca to Skinsuit", Bernard Thompson, Geerings of Ashford
  6. ^ "Alpaca to Skinsuit", Bernard Thompson, Geerings of Ashford
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