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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox cyclist
{{Infobox cyclist
| name = Ken Webb
| name = Ken Webb
| image =
| image =
| fullname =
| fullname =
| nickname =
| nickname =
| birth_date = circa 1929
| birth_date = circa 1929
| death_date =
| birth_place = England
| height =
| death_date =
| weight =
| height =
| birth_place = English
| weight =
| currentteam = Retired
| currentteam = Retired
| discipline = Road - Endurance rider
| discipline = Road - Endurance rider
| role = Rider
| role = Rider
| ridertype = All-rounder
| ridertype = All-rounder
| amateuryears =
| amateuryears1 =
| amateurteams =
| amateurteam1 =
| proyears =
| proyears1 =
| proteams =
| proteam1 =
| majorwins = Claimant of 'World Endurance record for a single year' <br />- {{convert|80647|mi|km}} in 1972<br /> Claimant of World record for 100,000 miles<br /> in 448 days throughout 1972-1973
| majorwins = {{unbulleted list|Claimant of 'World Endurance record for a single year'<br>- {{convert|80647|mi|km}} in 1972|Claimant of World record for {{convert|100,000|mi|km}}<br>in 448 days throughout 1972-1973}}
| updated = Nov 23, 2009
}}
}}
⚫
'''Ken Webb''' is an English cyclist who at 42 claimed the world record for distance cycled in a year.{{r|Cyc 19 Aug 72}} He calculated that on 7 August 1972{{r|Cyc 19 Aug 72}}{{r|Times 11 Aug 72}} he passed the {{convert|75,065|mi|km}} set by another Briton, [[Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912)|Tommy Godwin]], and that he finished the year with {{convert|80,647|mi|km}}. He rode on to claim the record for {{convert|100,000|mi|km}} in 448 days. Both records appeared in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' but were later removed.

⚫
'''Ken Webb''' is an English cyclist who at 42 claimed the world record for distance cycled in a year.{{r|Cyc 19 Aug 72}} He calculated he passed the 75,065 miles set by another Briton, [[Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912)|Tommy Godwin]] on 7 August 1972{{r|Cyc 19 Aug 72}}{{r|Times 11 Aug 72}} and that he finished the year with 80,647. He rode on to claim the record for 100,000 miles in 448 days. Both records appeared in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' but were later removed.


==World endurance record for distance cycled in a single year==
==World endurance record for distance cycled in a single year==
In 1911 the weekly magazine, ''[[Cycling Weekly|Cycling]]'' began a competition for the greatest distance cycled in a single year. The first holder was Marcel Planes of [[France]], with {{convert|34666|mi|km}}. The distance was untouched for more than 20 years. Then followed a succession of claims in the 1930s, including two by an Australian professional, [[Ossie Nicholson]], one by a one-armed vegetarian named [[Walter Greaves (cyclist)|Walter Greaves]] and another by [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s chauffeur, [[René Menzies]]. In 1939 the distance leapt from 65,127 miles by an Englishman, Bernard Bennett, to 75,065 established by [[Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912)|Tommy Godwin]].
In 1911 the weekly magazine, ''[[Cycling Weekly|Cycling]]'' began a competition for the greatest distance cycled in a single year. The first holder was Marcel Planes of [[France]], with {{convert|34666|mi|km}}. The distance was untouched for more than 20 years. Then followed a succession of claims in the 1930s, including two by an Australian professional, [[Ossie Nicholson]], one by a one-armed vegetarian named [[Walter Greaves (cyclist)|Walter Greaves]] and another by [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s chauffeur, [[René Menzies]]. In 1939 the distance leapt from {{convert|65,127|mi|km}} by an Englishman, Bernard Bennett, to {{convert|75,065|mi|km}} established by [[Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912)|Tommy Godwin]]. In 2016, under the supervision of the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association (UMCA), Kurt Searvogel (US) broke Tommy Godwin's record by riding 76,076 miles in one year. On 14 May 2017 Amanda Coker broke Searvogel's UMCA and Guinness World record when she finished her year with 86,573.2 miles (139,326.34 km).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/468637-greatest-distance-cycled-in-a-year-umca|title=Greatest distance cycled in a year (UMCA)|work=Guinness World Records|access-date=2017-07-02|language=en-GB}}</ref>


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 34: Line 34:
| 1932 || [[Arthur Humbles]] || {{GBR2}} || {{convert|36007|mi}}
| 1932 || [[Arthur Humbles]] || {{GBR2}} || {{convert|36007|mi}}
|-
|-
| 1933 || Ossie Nicholson || {{AUS}} || {{convert|43966|mi}}
| 1933 || [[Ossie Nicholson]] || {{AUS}} || {{convert|43966|mi}}
|-
|-
| 1936 || [[Walter Greaves (cyclist)|Walter Greaves]] || {{GBR2}} || {{convert|45383|mi}}
| 1936 || [[Walter Greaves (cyclist)|Walter Greaves]] || {{GBR2}} || {{convert|45383|mi}}
Line 42: Line 42:
| 1937 || [[René Menzies]] || {{FRA}} || {{convert|61561|mi}}
| 1937 || [[René Menzies]] || {{FRA}} || {{convert|61561|mi}}
|-
|-
| 1937 || Ossie Nicholson || {{AUS}} || {{convert|62657|mi}}
| 1937 || [[Ossie Nicholson]] || {{AUS}} || {{convert|62657|mi}}
|-
|-
| 1939 || Bernard Bennett || {{ENG}} || {{convert|65127|mi}}
| 1939 || Bernard Bennett || {{ENG}} || {{convert|65127|mi}}
|-
|-
| 1939 || [[Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912)|Tommy Godwin]] || {{ENG}} || {{convert|75065|mi}}
| 1939 || [[Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912)|Tommy Godwin]] || {{ENG}} || {{convert|75065|mi}}
|-
|2017
|Amanda Coker
|{{USA}}
|86,573.2 miles (139,326.34 km) <ref>{{Cite news|url=http://guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/468637-greatest-distance-cycled-in-a-year-umca|title=Greatest distance cycled in a year (UMCA)|work=Guinness World Records|access-date=2017-04-21|language=en-GB}}</ref>
|}
|}


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Ken Webb, from [[Gossops Green]], [[Sussex]], intended to attempt the record when he retired after a working life that included 12 years with the [[Fleet Air Arm]]. Unemployment as a project engineer{{r|Times 11 Aug 72}} at 42 advanced his plans. He set off from [[Fleet Street]], London, then the heart of the British newspaper industry, at noon on 1 September 1971.
Ken Webb, from [[Gossops Green]], [[Sussex]], intended to attempt the record when he retired after a working life that included 12 years with the [[Fleet Air Arm]]. Unemployment as a project engineer{{r|Times 11 Aug 72}} at 42 advanced his plans. He set off from [[Fleet Street]], London, then the heart of the British newspaper industry, at noon on 1 September 1971.


Webb had little support from sponsors. By 10 November he had run out of money and took a job at [[Gatwick Airport]], near his home. He spoke of working there, riding 220 miles a day after work and sleeping two or three hours a night. He averaged better than 223 miles a day,{{r|Cyc Sept 72}} sent witnessed postcards to ''Cycling'''s office to log his progress and used a different odometer each month to support the distance shown on the cards.
Webb had little support from sponsors. By 10 November he had run out of money and took a job at [[Gatwick Airport]], near his home. He spoke of working there, riding {{convert|220|mi|km}} a day after work and sleeping two or three hours a night. He averaged better than {{convert|223|mi|km}} a day,{{r|Cyc Sept 72}} sent witnessed postcards to ''Cycling'''s office to log his progress and used a different odometer each month to support the distance shown on the cards.


Webb rode one day with Keith Bingham, a reporter from ''Cycling''. Bingham quoted Webb as saying: "People ask how it is that I account for a greater mileage between places than the road signs indicate. I tell them that I don't always ride straight from one place to the other, that sometimes I make detours - as you've seen this morning, Keith, when we went a few miles out of our way looking for the right road to Maldon. And what they don't seem to realise either is that when I arrive anywhere I might not seek anyone to sign a card until I've refreshed myself in a café, which is sometimes 30 minutes after stopping."
Webb rode one day with Keith Bingham, a reporter from ''Cycling''. Bingham quoted Webb as saying: "People ask how it is that I account for a greater mileage between places than the road signs indicate. I tell them that I don't always ride straight from one place to the other, that sometimes I make detours - as you've seen this morning, Keith, when we went a few miles out of our way looking for the right road to Maldon. And what they don't seem to realise either is that when I arrive anywhere I might not seek anyone to sign a card until I've refreshed myself in a café, which is sometimes 30 minutes after stopping."


He finished the year record £134 in debt after cashing his life insurance policies, using his redundancy payments and using his pension fund.{{r|Cyc 19 Aug 72}} He completed his 100,000-mile ride outside [[Buckingham Palace]] after 448 days.{{r|Crawley 76}} He knew throughout his ride that he had doubters. He was followed at times by cyclists checking his riding and ''Cycling'' received calls asking what he had claimed.{{r|Letter}} His distances appeared in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' but vanished from later editions.
He finished the year record £134 in debt after cashing his life insurance policies, using his redundancy payments and using his pension fund.{{r|Cyc 19 Aug 72}} He completed his {{convert|100,000|mi|km|adj=on}} ride outside [[Buckingham Palace]] after 448 days.{{r|Crawley 76}} He knew throughout his ride that he had doubters. He was followed at times by cyclists checking his riding and ''Cycling'' received calls asking what he had claimed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} His distances appeared in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' but vanished from later editions.


==After the ride==
==After the ride==
Webb insisted that he had ridden the distance, that he sent thousands of check cards to ''Cycling'', and that his 13 odometers had been sealed by their maker and returned for checking. He said he wrote to the editor of the ''Guinness Book of Records'' to ask why his name had been deleted but that he got no reply. He said:
Webb insisted that he had ridden the distance, that he sent thousands of check cards to ''Cycling'', and that his 13 odometers had been sealed by their maker and returned for checking. He said he wrote to the editor of the ''Guinness Book of Records'' to ask why his name had been deleted but that he got no reply. He said:


{{cquote|Around the [[Stoke-on-Trent]] area, with Tommy Godwin's friends, there was a lot of ill-feeling that he [Godwin] had lost his record. And there was talk going around that I was on drugs, that when I went to bed for a few hours, someone else was clocking up the miles. I was warned by Tommy Godwin and René Menzies that people did this in their day. They would actually spend a week going round following me. (Ken Webb, 1992.){{r|Letter}} }}
{{cquote|Around the [[Stoke-on-Trent]] area, with Tommy Godwin's friends, there was a lot of ill-feeling that he [Godwin] had lost his record. And there was talk going around that I was on drugs, that when I went to bed for a few hours, someone else was clocking up the miles. I was warned by Tommy Godwin and René Menzies that people did this in their day. They would actually spend a week going round following me. (Ken Webb, 1992.){{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} }}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="Crawley 76">Crawley and District Observer, 26 March 1976</ref>
<ref name="Crawley 76">''Crawley and District Observer'', 26 March 1976</ref>
<ref name="Cyc 19 Aug 72">Cycling, UK, 19 August 1972</ref>
<ref name="Cyc 19 Aug 72">''Cycling'', UK, 19 August 1972</ref>
<ref name="Cyc Sept 72">Cycling, UK, September 1972</ref>
<ref name="Cyc Sept 72">''Cycling'', UK, September 1972</ref>
<ref name="Letter">Letter, Ken Webb, 1990</ref>
<ref name="Times 11 Aug 72">''The Times'', London, 11 August 1972 p.14</ref>
<ref name="Times 11 Aug 72">The Times, London, 11 August 1972 p.14</ref>


}}
}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Webb, Ken
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = English racing cyclist
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1929
| PLACE OF BIRTH = English
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Ken}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Ken}}
[[Category:English cyclists]]
[[Category:English male cyclists]]
[[Category:British male cyclists]]
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Crawley]]

Latest revision as of 04:25, 8 October 2024

Ken Webb
Personal information
Borncirca 1929
England
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad - Endurance rider
RoleRider
Rider typeAll-rounder
Major wins
  • Claimant of 'World Endurance record for a single year'
    - 80,647 miles (129,789 km) in 1972
  • Claimant of World record for 100,000 miles (160,000 km)
    in 448 days throughout 1972-1973

Ken Webb is an English cyclist who at 42 claimed the world record for distance cycled in a year.[1] He calculated that on 7 August 1972[1][2] he passed the 75,065 miles (120,805 km) set by another Briton, Tommy Godwin, and that he finished the year with 80,647 miles (129,789 km). He rode on to claim the record for 100,000 miles (160,000 km) in 448 days. Both records appeared in the Guinness Book of Records but were later removed.

World endurance record for distance cycled in a single year

[edit]

In 1911 the weekly magazine, Cycling began a competition for the greatest distance cycled in a single year. The first holder was Marcel Planes of France, with 34,666 miles (55,790 km). The distance was untouched for more than 20 years. Then followed a succession of claims in the 1930s, including two by an Australian professional, Ossie Nicholson, one by a one-armed vegetarian named Walter Greaves and another by Charles de Gaulle's chauffeur, René Menzies. In 1939 the distance leapt from 65,127 miles (104,812 km) by an Englishman, Bernard Bennett, to 75,065 miles (120,805 km) established by Tommy Godwin. In 2016, under the supervision of the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association (UMCA), Kurt Searvogel (US) broke Tommy Godwin's record by riding 76,076 miles in one year. On 14 May 2017 Amanda Coker broke Searvogel's UMCA and Guinness World record when she finished her year with 86,573.2 miles (139,326.34 km).[3]

Year Record holder Country Distance
1911 Marcel Planes  France 34,666 miles (55,790 km)
1932 Arthur Humbles  Great Britain 36,007 miles (57,948 km)
1933 Ossie Nicholson  Australia 43,966 miles (70,756 km)
1936 Walter Greaves  Great Britain 45,383 miles (73,037 km)
1937 Bernard Bennett  England 45,801 miles (73,710 km)
1937 René Menzies  France 61,561 miles (99,073 km)
1937 Ossie Nicholson  Australia 62,657 miles (100,837 km)
1939 Bernard Bennett  England 65,127 miles (104,812 km)
1939 Tommy Godwin  England 75,065 miles (120,805 km)
2017 Amanda Coker  United States 86,573.2 miles (139,326.34 km) [4]

The ride

[edit]

Ken Webb, from Gossops Green, Sussex, intended to attempt the record when he retired after a working life that included 12 years with the Fleet Air Arm. Unemployment as a project engineer[2] at 42 advanced his plans. He set off from Fleet Street, London, then the heart of the British newspaper industry, at noon on 1 September 1971.

Webb had little support from sponsors. By 10 November he had run out of money and took a job at Gatwick Airport, near his home. He spoke of working there, riding 220 miles (350 km) a day after work and sleeping two or three hours a night. He averaged better than 223 miles (359 km) a day,[5] sent witnessed postcards to Cycling's office to log his progress and used a different odometer each month to support the distance shown on the cards.

Webb rode one day with Keith Bingham, a reporter from Cycling. Bingham quoted Webb as saying: "People ask how it is that I account for a greater mileage between places than the road signs indicate. I tell them that I don't always ride straight from one place to the other, that sometimes I make detours - as you've seen this morning, Keith, when we went a few miles out of our way looking for the right road to Maldon. And what they don't seem to realise either is that when I arrive anywhere I might not seek anyone to sign a card until I've refreshed myself in a café, which is sometimes 30 minutes after stopping."

He finished the year record £134 in debt after cashing his life insurance policies, using his redundancy payments and using his pension fund.[1] He completed his 100,000-mile (160,000 km) ride outside Buckingham Palace after 448 days.[6] He knew throughout his ride that he had doubters. He was followed at times by cyclists checking his riding and Cycling received calls asking what he had claimed.[citation needed] His distances appeared in the Guinness Book of Records but vanished from later editions.

After the ride

[edit]

Webb insisted that he had ridden the distance, that he sent thousands of check cards to Cycling, and that his 13 odometers had been sealed by their maker and returned for checking. He said he wrote to the editor of the Guinness Book of Records to ask why his name had been deleted but that he got no reply. He said:

Around the Stoke-on-Trent area, with Tommy Godwin's friends, there was a lot of ill-feeling that he [Godwin] had lost his record. And there was talk going around that I was on drugs, that when I went to bed for a few hours, someone else was clocking up the miles. I was warned by Tommy Godwin and René Menzies that people did this in their day. They would actually spend a week going round following me. (Ken Webb, 1992.)[citation needed]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Cycling, UK, 19 August 1972
  2. ^ a b The Times, London, 11 August 1972 p.14
  3. ^ "Greatest distance cycled in a year (UMCA)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Greatest distance cycled in a year (UMCA)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  5. ^ Cycling, UK, September 1972
  6. ^ Crawley and District Observer, 26 March 1976
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