The Road Records Association (RRA) is a British

cycle racing Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...

organisation which supervises

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

on the road but not in conventional races. It is one of the oldest cycle sport organisations in the world, formed in 1888.

Remit

Records are established by riders performing

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

s covering set distances (e.g. 25, 50 or 100 miles), prescribed periods of time (12 or 24 hours), or between places (e.g.

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and back,

Land's End to John o' Groats Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days; the record ...

). Riders can compete on single

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

s or

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes, ...

s and

tandem bicycle A tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle (occasionally a tricycle) designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement (fore to aft, not side by side), not the number of riders. Patents relat ...

s or tandem tricycles, with records accepted for men, women and, in the tandem categories, mixed teams. Records for set distances can be established on straight-out courses which may incorporate significant downhills and strong tail-winds. This contrasts with records established in conventional time trials, where the start and finish points are required to be within a short distance of each other to neutralise the impact of gradients and weather.

Early history

From 1890, the National Cyclists' Union (an association established to organise and regulate UK

bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

) had banned all cycle racing on public roads. However, certain exceptions were made - first record-breaking and then time trials.

Arthur James Wilson Arthur James Wilson (''Faed'' Wilson) (1858–1945) was an English cyclist, cycling administrator, activist and journalist. He became deaf at age 12 after contracting scarlet fever and ''Faed'' was a self-applied anagram of 'deaf'. He was a member ...

, president of the North Road Cycling Club, convened a meeting in 1888 at which the Road Records Association was founded with the object of certifying the claims of male cyclists on the road, and setting standards for the timing and authentication of records. The Women's Road Record Association (WRRA) was formed in 1934, and merged with the RRA in 1989.

Frederick Thomas Bidlake Frederick Thomas Bidlake (13 March 1867 – 17 September 1933) was an English racing cyclist of the late 19th century, who became one of the most notable administrators of British road bicycle racing during the early 20th century. The annual Bid ...

was a record-breaker in the 1880s, and later in demand as a timekeeper. He was a member of the RRA committee for many years, and president from 1924 until his death in 1933.

Records

The RRA recognises records for:

Regional Groups

Autonomous groups of the RRA focus on record-breaking within their own respective parts of the country. * Eastern Counties RRA - Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk * Midland RRA - West Midlands, Warwichshire, Hereford & worcester, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Derbyshire, Avon * Northern RRA - Northumberland, Westmorland, Durham, Cumberland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Flint, Denbighshire and parts of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire * North & West Home Counties RRA - Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk west of the Great Ouse, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire south of the river Trent, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Surrey * RRA of Scotland - all Scottish roads * Southern RRA - South-East England (mostly south of the Thames, east of the London-Southampton route) * Welsh RRA - all Welsh roads * Western Counties RRA - Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Avon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire east of the Severn, west Hampshire

Remit

Early history

Records

Regional Groups

External links