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Matt Richardson rides 32km in an hour - on a Raleigh ChopperMatt Richardson on Raleigh Chopper (picture Chopper vs The Hour blog)

Matt Richardson rides 32km in an hour - on a Raleigh Chopper

Forget Wiggins, this is the 60-minute ride kids who grew up in the 70s have been waiting for
by Simon_MacMichael
Sat, May 23, 2015 18:57
14

Never mind Sir Bradley Wiggins aiming for Alex Dowsett’s UCI Hour record in London next month – if you’ve ever ridden a Raleigh Chopper, here’s the one you’ve been waiting for, with Matt Richardson riding 31.9km on the iconic bike yesterday afternoon.

The lawyer from Henley-on-Thames, who turned 49 on Thursday, completed 70 laps of the 460m track at Reading’s Palmer Park Stadium on an unmodified 1969 Mk 1 version of the bike.

Hitting 32kph on a Chopper for a minute or two is an impressive enough achievement, but to do it for 60 minutes … well, chapeau!

And impressively, that’s not far short of two thirds of the 52.937km Dowsett rode in Manchester last month to break Rohan Dennis's record.

Richardson's ride was in aid of the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research – his father died of cancer in 1999 – and he told the BBC afterwards, "Its all about raising money."

Reflecting in his ride, he said: "I was in so much pain. I could barely see and every muscle in my body was screaming at me to stop.

"When I felt I couldn't keep going, I thought about the suffering my father endured with cancer but also how loudly he would have roared me on."

He added: "In one sense it's an enormous joke and poking fun as I do think people have got a little bit hung up on getting the latest carbon versions [of bikes]."

It's not the first time Richardson's exploits on the bike have got him into the news. Last year, he rode the Chopper up Mont Ventoux, passing dozens of cyclists on road bikes more suited for the task on his way.

Here’s some tweets about his effort yesterday.

Raleigh Chopper
Palmer Park
Matt Richardson
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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14 comments

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alansmurphy | 7 years ago
0 likes

I'm thinking of doing the Manchester 100 mile for Christie's on a chopper - any advice?

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alansmurphy | 7 years ago
0 likes

I'm thinking of doing the Manchester 100 mile for Christie's on a chopper - any advice?

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seventiescyclist | 9 years ago
1 like

Thank you to all who sponsored. It's not too late to help beat blood cancer here:
https://leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk/CHOPPER-Vs-The-HOUR-FIREFLIES

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
0 likes

I've a mark 2 in bits here and reckon it's possible to get the seat that high.

There wouldn't be a lot of engagement though, if you need it really high you just need a longer seat post riveted on and the sissy bar tabs brazed on higher up and re chromed.

If you're a giant,you can do this to the original raleigh high back accessory sissy bar.

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seventiescyclist replied to Flying Scot | 9 years ago
0 likes

It's a 1969 Mk1 which was sold without springs on the seat stays / sissy bar. The seat is at its absolute maximum. Read more here if you'd like to. Thank you for your interest!
http://raleigh-chopper-the-hour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-mark-1-tall-f...

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sanderville | 9 years ago
0 likes

Either he's a dwarf or that seat is definitely not unmodified. Not that I want to take anything away from the performance.

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seventiescyclist replied to sanderville | 9 years ago
0 likes

Hi! It's a 1969 Mk1 "tall frame" which was sold without springs on the seat stays / sissy bar. The seat is at its absolute maximum height. Read more here if you'd like to. Thank you for your interest!
http://raleigh-chopper-the-hour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-mark-1-tall-f...

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Beatnik69 | 9 years ago
0 likes

I think I'm doing well if I can do 20mph on my road bike! Chapeau! 41

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sea_biscuit | 9 years ago
0 likes

chapeau.

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sidesaddle | 9 years ago
1 like

32km - meh.
But 20 miles, now THAT'S an achievement.

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pants | 9 years ago
0 likes

amazing! it's like the article said, just getting to that speed is an achievement on a chopper.

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Housecathst | 9 years ago
0 likes

That's, amazing, I hope I'd be able to do that on my road bike, but I'm not sure.

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
0 likes

Excellence.

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ChrisB200SX | 9 years ago
0 likes

Damn, forgot to pop down to watch this, I'll blame my man-flu, almost cycled past the track on the way home while it was going on. I could match that on my road bike, bloody good going for a veteran on an old kid's bike!

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