Cycling Extraordinaire: Graeme Obree

You're looking at a 100mph bike if Graeme Obree has anything to do with it. Do you think he can break the 100mph barrier? 

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Read on for Graeme Obree bio

Graeme Obree (born 11 September 1965, nicknamed "The Flying Scotsman") is aScottish racing cyclist who twice broke the world hour record, in July 1993 and April 1994, and was the individual pursuit world champion in 1993 and 1995. He was known for his unusual riding positions and for the "Old Faithful" bicycle he built which included parts from a washing machine. He joined a professional team in France but was fired before his first race. He suffers from bipolar disorder and has attempted suicide three times. His life and exploits have been dramatised in the film The Flying Scotsman. Obree created some of the most radical innovations in the history of bicycle design.

Obree was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in March 2010.

Biography

Origins

Obree was born in Nuneaton but has lived almost all his life in Scotland and considers himself Scottish. An individual time triallist, his first race was a 10-mile time trial to which he turned up wearing shorts, anorak and Doc Marten boots. He thought the start and finish were at the same place and stopped where he had started, 100 metres short of the end. He had started to change his clothes when officials told him to continue. He still finished in "about 30 minutes."

Obree suffers from bipolar disorder. He attempted suicide in his teens by gassing himself. He was saved by his father, who had returned early from work. In the 1990s he took an overdose of aspirin washed down by water from a puddle. He had personality problems, sniffed the gas he used to weld bicycles, and was being chased for £492 owed in college fees.

Source: Wikipedia