The Year: Reawakening the Legend of Cycling's Hardest Endurance Record (Hardback)

In 1939, British cyclist Tommy Godwin rode an unbelievable 75,065 miles in a single year — more than 200 miles a day, every day. Nearly eighty years later, nobody has come close. The Year dives into the wild, obsessive world behind this extraordinary record and the riders who chased it long before Godwin made history.

Dave Barter brings the whole saga back to life, tracing the roots of the “year record” — a challenge almost as old as the bicycle itself. He uncovers the stories of the riders who pushed themselves to the edge: American endurance machines like John H. George, who racked up hundreds of century rides in the 1800s; Harry Long, the British ad man whose huge annual mileages helped formalise the record; and Marcel Planes, whose 1911 tally stood untouched for over two decades.

Then come the unforgettable characters: Arthur Humbles, riding for work and survival; Walter Greaves, the one‑armed vegetarian communist; Billie Dovey, the “keep‑fit girl” who stunned the nation; and Bernard Bennett, left chasing Godwin’s disappearing wheel. Their lives, their grit and their sheer stubbornness are brought together through meticulous research, family insights and Barter’s own deep dive into the numbers.

This is the definitive story of cycling’s toughest challenge — a year‑long battle of legs, lungs, weather and willpower — and the extraordinary people who dared to take it on.