*** Welcome to piglix ***

Walter Greaves (cyclist)

Walter Greaves
Personal information
Full name Walter William Greaves
Born April–June 1907
 United Kingdom
Died 1987
Team information
Discipline Road - Endurance rider
Role Rider
Rider type All-rounder
Amateur team(s)
- Airedale CC
Major wins
World Endurance record for a single year
- 45,383 miles (73,037 km) in 1936

Walter William Greaves (April–June 1907 – 1987) was a British cyclist who set the world record for distance ridden in a year - despite having only one arm and falling off numerous times. Greaves rode 45,383 miles (73,037 km) in 1936.

Greaves was born in 1907, his birth was registered in the North Bierley district, Yorkshire. He lived with his mother in Newlands Place, Undercliffe, Bradford. He lost an arm in a road accident when he was 14. One account says his father owned a car with running boards. His father was driving after drinking and Greaves opened the door, stood on the running board ready to jump, but was hit by a tram. His arm was so damaged that it was amputated below the elbow. Other accounts said that he had hung the arm out of a train window.

He developed an interest in communism which did little to help him find work as an engineer. According to the historian John Naylor, Greaves was unemployed and according to some, almost destitute. Unemployment in Bradford was high but "his reputation as a lefty troublemaker made employers reluctant to take him on". Tim Teale, a Leeds cyclist who knew Greaves said "Walter tried to make you sign up for the young communists but nobody took much notice".

Greaves was an outspoken teetotaller, a practice which had a sequel when he broke the record.

In 1911 the weekly magazine Cycling began a competition for the highest number of 100 mile rides or "centuries" in a single year. The winner was Marcel Planes with 332 centuries in which he covered 34,366 miles (55,307 km). The inspiration for the competition was said to be the efforts of Harry Long, a commercial traveller who rode a bicycle on his rounds covering every part of England and Scotland and who covered 25,376 miles (40,839 km) in 1910. The world record for distance cycled in a year began in an era when bicycle companies competed to show their machines were the most reliable. The record has been officially established nine times. A tenth claim, by the English rider Ken Webb, was later disallowed.

The record that Greaves attempted had been set three years earlier by the Australian professional Ossie Nicholson. John Naylor said:

[Nicholson] completed his ride in fine Australian weather, on good roads, with the best equipment and even a back-up vehicle. Much of it was even done on a smooth track, using a special bike. He had a masseur, and a manager who did all the planning, booking and ordering. The contrast with Walter Greaves couldn't be more stark.


...
Wikipedia

...