Re: [CR]Top 5 Cyclists sought!

Hi, Kim---

I won't try to come up with a "top five" in the racing game, because others know it better than I do, and it's just so difficult to quantify, especially across the generational timelines. (Though I'm curious to see who people name). Also, we're biased toward the moderns (Anquetil, Coppi, Merckx, et. al.), as so many of the tremendous Turn-of-the-Century riders on the "big wheel," and even the pre-War riders, have not stayed in the public mind. But here are a couple of riders that should appear on any comprehensive list---

For sheer dominance in time trialing (and perhaps overall dominance of the sport) it would be well neigh impossible to beat Beryl Burton, who was the British Best All Rounder from '59 to '83, an amazing 25 consecutive years! Plus she won many other honors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Burton

For endurance in long distance and "cyclotouring" exploits I would point out the efforts of Rene Menzies, a man who year after year for decades rode more than 60,000 miles annually (yeah, that's 165 miles per day) and did so well into his 60s! He's no doubt logged in more miles on a bicycle than anyone in history. Nobody really speaks of him today, though. Others such as Tommy Goodwin 1939(75,065)and Ken Webb 1972 (80,647, record contested), cycled farther in one year, but nobody I know rode more miles for longer than did Rene Menzies. (As a vintage steel sidenote, at various times he was sponsored by and rode Hercules and Jack Taylor bicycles.)

Looking forward to seeing other CR folks' contributions.

Cheers,

Peter Jourdain
Whitewater, Wisconsin USA