The Race Against Time

by Edward Charles Pickering

When Chris Boardman first raced against Graeme Obree, in a time trial in Newtonards, Northern Ireland, in 1990, it was the start of a rivalry that captivated the British public for a decade and brought cycling on to the front pages. Boardman was the establishment reserved, scientific, middle-class. Obree was the the Flying Scotsman, working-class, riding a home-made bike. Both were after one thing - to be the fastest man on two wheels.After Boardman had won Britain's first cycling gold medal for 72 years at the Barcelona Olympics (inspiring none other than Bradley Wiggins to get on a bike), attention turned to the world hour record, the blue riband event of track cycling. Between 1993 and 1996, the pair took it in turns to smash the record, with Boardman's team breaking the boundaries of technology and the loner Obree constantly reinventing ways of building and riding bikes while battling his many demons.The Race Against Time tells the story of how Britain first started to dominate cycling, but is also about the struggle between art and science, tradition and innovation, commercialism and individuality. It is the tale of two complex characters who redefined the sport and set in motion a new era in British cycling, the legacy of which we enjoy to this day.

Genres: Cycling

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 9, 2013

About the author

Edward Charles Pickering (July 19, 1846 – February 3, 1919) was an American astronomer and physicist as well as the older brother of William Henry Pickering.

Along with Carl Vogel, Pickering discovered the first spectroscopic binary stars. He wrote Elements of Physical Manipulations (2 vol., 1873–76).

Pickering attended Boston Latin School, and received his B.S. from Harvard in 1865. Soon after graduating from Harvard, Pickering taught physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later, he served as director of Harvard College Observatory from 1877 to his death in 1919, where he made great leaps forward in the gathering of stellar spectra through the use of photography.

At Harvard, he recruited many women to work for him, including Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, and Antonia Maury. These women, who came to be known as "Pickering's Harem" by the scientific community, made several important discoveries at HCO. Leavitt's discovery of the period-luminosity relationship for Cepheids, published by Pickering, would prove the foundation for the modern understanding of cosmological distances.

In 1876 he co-founded the Appalachian Mountain Club.

In 1882, Pickering developed a method to photograph the spectra of multiple stars simultaneously by putting a large prism in front of the photographic plate.

He also, along with Williamina Fleming designed a stellar classification system based on an alphabetic system for spectral classes that was first known as the Harvard Stellar Classification and became the basis for the Henry Draper Catalog.

Pickering is credited for making the Harvard College Observatory known and respected around the world, and it continues today to be a well-respected observatory and program.

Awards and honors:

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1867.
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1886 and 1901)
Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences (1888)
Bruce Medal (1908)

Named after him:

The crater Pickering on the Moon
The crater Pickering Mars.
Asteroid 784 Pickeringia
(all jointly named after him and his brother William Henry Pickering)

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purchased this on a bit of a whim with my only real connection to the topic being that I enjoy cycling. Nonetheless, for a topic that I wasn't overtly interested and/or excited about, it held my attention, was well-written, and a great character sketch of both of these remarkable athletes. In addition, a refreshing tale of good old-fashioned hard work and dedication in a sport that's taken a reputationol beating over the last decade.

[Terence Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Britains best cyclists

Having stood on the roads and watched these two
And been passed by Boardman for ten minutes
There is no doubt in my mind that these two are the greatest male British cyclists ever

[Phillip Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched but I thought there was a lot more about Boardman than Obree.

[Steven Pilling · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is disappointing

The choice of subjects is clever Boardman and Obree are perfect rivals, the subject whilst feeling very niche is expansive and the book looks at a time when British Cycling started to explode.

So why disappointing well Pickerings Prose is slow and sloppy, it takes time to get to the point it feels like a bad michael lewis

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes cycling books can be a bit boring but not this one. The well researched book gave some interesting insights into what made Obree & Boardman tick. Enjoyed it a lot and would recommend especially if you are a cyclist.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflecting on the influences of Obree and Boardman on modern day cycling. Obree and his positions truly have made a big influence on the world.
Reading this while the Tour de France is on was even more significant.

[Dan Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good account of the rise of Chris Boardman and Graeme Obree, centred on the Hour records. Well worth a read.