It's international women's day so here is a shout out to celebrate all our female club members.
Did you know that one of Britain's Greatest Cyclists was a woman? Some would even argue that she was the Greatest and instantly know that we can only be talking about Beryl Burton. According to Michael Hutchinson (also know as Dr Hutch, and a British Cycling Legend himself) Beryl was so good, there is no second place in this competition.
"She was cycling’s champion of champions, and her particular forte was time trialling. Her first Championship wins came in 1958 and her last in 1986. During that period she won a total of 72 RTTC Championships with four at 10 miles, 26 at 25 miles, 24 at 50 miles and 18 at 100 miles. Her total would surely have been closer to a 100 titles had the 10 mile Championship been inaugurated before the start of her reign rather than in 1978, closer to the end of it. With her tremendous ability over such a wide range of distances it was natural that she should win the Women’s BBAR, and she did so for an incredible 25 consecutive years from 1959 to 1983. It is therefore natural, with such a supreme record in our Championships, that the RTTC, in conjunction with Beryl’s long time club Morley CC, wishes to recognise and perpetuate her competitive spirit and achievements. The Beryl Burton Trophy is a Morley CC trophy which Beryl won on 20 occasions and has been kindly donated by the club for a special Champion of Champions competition for women of all ages. The conditions for winning the trophy reflect the commitment and loyalty to our Championships over all those years. It will require a similar loyalty to win this award and we are sure that the winner each year will be very proud of her own achievement in this prestigious competition." https://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/articles/view/27
Some of us had the pleasure of meeting Beryl's daughter Denise at the CTC National Awards Lunch earlier this year and have her sign "Beryl - In Search of Britain's Greatest Athlete", a newly published book, which will surely be inspirational to all men and women alike.
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