Ray Booty
Ray Booty was the Bradley Wiggins of the 1950s, a pre-eminent British time-trial cyclist, famous above all for becoming the first rider to complete a 100-mile event in under four hours: the equivalent, it has often been said, of Roger Bannister's four-minute mile. Unlike today's generation of celebrated British cyclists, however, Booty, who has died at the age of 79, retained his amateur status, spending his working life as an electronics engineer and using the daily ride to and from work as part of his training regime.
He made a distinctive figure in the saddle of the fixed-wheel Raleigh Record Ace which he used for both competition and commuting. "The Boot" was a powerful man, standing 6ft 3in, weighing 14st, and wearing a pair of thick-rimmed spectacles on and off the bike.
His great 100-mile ride came in the Bath Road Classic on a hot August bank holiday Monday in 1956. Using an 84-inch gear, and with cold porridge in his drinks bottle, he finished a circuit taking in Pangbourne, Shillingford and Abingdon in 3hr 58min 28sec, more than 11 minutes ahead of the second-placed finisher, Stan Brittain, and the rest of a formidable field. The only drink available as he finished, exhausted and parched, was a bottle of sour milk, but he drank it anyway. A month later, using a three-speed hub gear at the behest of Raleigh, whose managers were always conscious of a marketing opportunity, he set a new record for a "straight out" 100 miles in a time of 3hr 28min 40sec, which stood for 34 years.
He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, the son of a Ministry of Transport vehicle examiner. The family moved to Peterborough and then, when Ray was 15, to Stapleford, a suburb of Nottingham. On leaving school the following year, he joined Ericsson's, the electronics firm, whose headquarters were in Nottingham, and studied for his higher national diploma. A neighbour got him interested in riding a bike seriously, and it was in the colours of Ericsson Wheelers Cycling Club that he rode to his great time-trial victories.
During the decades in which road racing was outlawed in Britain, time trialling grew in popularity and became the spine of the sport at local and national level. Until recent years, however, there was little glamour attached to a discipline in which competitors set off at ungodly hours of a Sunday morning at one-minute intervals to ride on courses that often included windswept dual carriageways. To many, however, the race against the clock represents the purest form of road cycling, and Booty was its master.
He won the national 100m championship every year between 1955 and 1959, and was the 12-hour champion from 1954 to 1958. His consistency and prowess over the longer time trials earned him the coveted title of British Best All Rounder in 1955, 1956 and 1957.
Many believed that he had the talent to compete as a road cyclist with the continental greats of the time, and that only a lack of ambition held him back. In 1958, while doing his national service in the army, he won the British Empire and Commonwealth Games road race in Cardiff, using his power and endurance to overcome filthy conditions. It was the last of his great achievements, although he continued to ride in club events into the 1970s.
After leaving Ericsson's, he was employed by Westinghouse and then by Rolls-Royce in Derby, for whom his work on submarine equipment involved travel to the US and was subject to the Official Secrets Act.
In 1975, on a skiing holiday in Sauze d'Oulx, Italy, he met Shelagh Manning, a divorcee as devoted to outdoor pursuits as himself. They moved into a house in Allestree, outside Derby, and were together for 37 years. Skiing and walking were among their recreations, while Ray loved to work in his garden and listen to jazz. He retired from Rolls-Royce shortly before his 60th birthday, but was still riding until pancreatic cancer was diagnosed in January this year. From his hospital bed he watched Wiggins's victory in the Tour de France with great enjoyment.
He and Shelagh were married in June. She survives him, along with a brother and sister. His red 25-inch Raleigh, specially made for him in Nottingham and still in its original colour and with its original equipment, is now owned by a collector.
• Raymond Charles Booty, cyclist and electronics engineer, born 3 September 1932; died 25 August 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/sep/17/ray-booty
He made a distinctive figure in the saddle of the fixed-wheel Raleigh Record Ace which he used for both competition and commuting. "The Boot" was a powerful man, standing 6ft 3in, weighing 14st, and wearing a pair of thick-rimmed spectacles on and off the bike.
His great 100-mile ride came in the Bath Road Classic on a hot August bank holiday Monday in 1956. Using an 84-inch gear, and with cold porridge in his drinks bottle, he finished a circuit taking in Pangbourne, Shillingford and Abingdon in 3hr 58min 28sec, more than 11 minutes ahead of the second-placed finisher, Stan Brittain, and the rest of a formidable field. The only drink available as he finished, exhausted and parched, was a bottle of sour milk, but he drank it anyway. A month later, using a three-speed hub gear at the behest of Raleigh, whose managers were always conscious of a marketing opportunity, he set a new record for a "straight out" 100 miles in a time of 3hr 28min 40sec, which stood for 34 years.
He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, the son of a Ministry of Transport vehicle examiner. The family moved to Peterborough and then, when Ray was 15, to Stapleford, a suburb of Nottingham. On leaving school the following year, he joined Ericsson's, the electronics firm, whose headquarters were in Nottingham, and studied for his higher national diploma. A neighbour got him interested in riding a bike seriously, and it was in the colours of Ericsson Wheelers Cycling Club that he rode to his great time-trial victories.
During the decades in which road racing was outlawed in Britain, time trialling grew in popularity and became the spine of the sport at local and national level. Until recent years, however, there was little glamour attached to a discipline in which competitors set off at ungodly hours of a Sunday morning at one-minute intervals to ride on courses that often included windswept dual carriageways. To many, however, the race against the clock represents the purest form of road cycling, and Booty was its master.
He won the national 100m championship every year between 1955 and 1959, and was the 12-hour champion from 1954 to 1958. His consistency and prowess over the longer time trials earned him the coveted title of British Best All Rounder in 1955, 1956 and 1957.
Many believed that he had the talent to compete as a road cyclist with the continental greats of the time, and that only a lack of ambition held him back. In 1958, while doing his national service in the army, he won the British Empire and Commonwealth Games road race in Cardiff, using his power and endurance to overcome filthy conditions. It was the last of his great achievements, although he continued to ride in club events into the 1970s.
After leaving Ericsson's, he was employed by Westinghouse and then by Rolls-Royce in Derby, for whom his work on submarine equipment involved travel to the US and was subject to the Official Secrets Act.
In 1975, on a skiing holiday in Sauze d'Oulx, Italy, he met Shelagh Manning, a divorcee as devoted to outdoor pursuits as himself. They moved into a house in Allestree, outside Derby, and were together for 37 years. Skiing and walking were among their recreations, while Ray loved to work in his garden and listen to jazz. He retired from Rolls-Royce shortly before his 60th birthday, but was still riding until pancreatic cancer was diagnosed in January this year. From his hospital bed he watched Wiggins's victory in the Tour de France with great enjoyment.
He and Shelagh were married in June. She survives him, along with a brother and sister. His red 25-inch Raleigh, specially made for him in Nottingham and still in its original colour and with its original equipment, is now owned by a collector.
• Raymond Charles Booty, cyclist and electronics engineer, born 3 September 1932; died 25 August 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/sep/17/ray-booty
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