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1981 Isle of Man Mountain Time Trial

1981 Isle of Man Mountain Time Trial A pic of me coming out of Governors bridge with ½ a mile to go in the Isle of Man Mountain Time Trial. Another of those days when I was certainly "IN THE ZONE" big style. I was after the record this day.

I already held it, but I wanted to be the first rider to beat 1 ½ hours around the TT circuit. (I was in the end, but not today). I started really well and was 2 minutes up on the record at Ramsey, but on the climb up Snaefell there was a block gale head wind and the record began slipping away ... I then got cramp in my left calf and I ignored it, rode through it, and ripped the muscle. (IN THE ZONE OK). I think I dug deeper in this TT than in any I had ridden as I was still up on the record at the top of the climb.

On the descent it was all over though ... The head wind reduced me from a 60 mph. downhill to about 25-30 mph ... I crossed the line 15 seconds too slow for the record and was completely DEVASTATED ... You can see how hard I had dug into my reserves by looking at my face in the pic ... Although I was really upset, I had won the event by 7 minutes and second place went to one Laurent Fignon, who went on to win the Tour de France ... He still talks about the day this English man (Welsh actually) beat him by 7 minutes in 37 miles!

This was of little consolation at the time however as I was set on the record. I was also confronted by the "Dope Squad", who had tested me so many times that year. Being an ex-pro, I MUST have been on something ... They thought they "had" me this day as I had won by so much.

They took me to a cubicle, made me strip off completely and pee in front of them (very difficult) ... Of course I was negative ... I have NEVER EVER cheated in this sport in my life. What is the point ... I reasoned I was only cheating myself if I took anything ... So I didn't ... SIMPLE.

In hindsight, I guess this was one of the best rides I had done in a TT and certainly I had never dug so deep into my reserves. You can see from the pic I was approaching "EMPTY"!

Dave's Career in Pictures

Pictures spanning from the start of Dave's cycling career in 1969 to the present day ...



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