31:
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needing several hours' rest. To the great stupefaction of the spectators, not one of the riders took advantage of what had been provided. The eventual winner, G.P. Mills, stopped for several moments at best. He had a plan: he let
Holbein eat peacefully at the control because he knew that a real champion, Lewis Stroud, was waiting to show him the way out of town and that, with him as a precious, fast and durable pacer he could build up the lead he needed to win the race.
182:. Riders choose their own route but the distance then, before ferries shortened it, was about 900 miles. The first record was set by James Lennox of Dumfries, who took six days and 16 hours in 1885 while being paced by tandems. One of the pacers was George Paterson, who also rode a penny-farthing. He would pace Lennox from Carlisle to Lockerbie. The following year, Mills, who was 18, broke the record twice, once on a large-wheeled
315:
his hotel. The time of 26h 36m 25s was truly remarkable when one considers the appalling road conditions, poor weather, and the delays, and all the other hardships encountered. The
British victory was complete. Monty Holbein (27h 52m 15s) came in second, with Edge, nearly three hours away, third, and Bates fourth.
300:
Everything had been prepared to receive the riders properly : full meals, baths, hot showers, nothing was forgotten, and there were good beds to welcome our heroes, because there was no doubt among the excellent people of Angoulème that it was impossible to ride 127km on a bicycle without immediately
422:
for international heavy touring cars in a 30 hp
Beeston Humber. An undated news cutting says he also beat a motorcycling record. It says: "Mr G.P. Mills on his Raleigh motorcycle completed his run from Land's End to John o'Groats on Saturday forenoon and established a new record. He started on
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could be employed as pacers. When Mills won, the
Bicycle Union realised he was the works manager at a bicycle factory and decided he should be asked "whether he paid the whole of his expenses in the above-mentioned race." Only when he could prove that he had would the Bicycle Union concede that he
314:
Although the judges, the officials, and the large crowd had been waiting impatiently for three hours before the winner's weary, mud-caked figure was seen coming along the boulevard de la Porte
Maillot, his reception was "wildly enthusiastic", as one writer put it, and he was escorted in triumph to
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1884, five years after it was formed. He was a founding member of the North Road Club in London. At his death on 8 November 1945, he was one of only two founding members still alive. The other was E. P. Moorehouse. With Mills dead and
Moorehouse ill, the club cancelled presentations to mark their
309:
after 215 miles and more than 12 hours on the road. He rested for five minutes, ate raw meat "and a specially prepared stimulant", and set off an hour ahead of the other
British riders. "By now," said Head, "the Frenchmen were hopelessly out of the running." He wrote:
213:
Mills' penny-farthing record stood until July 2019, when it was beaten by
Richard Thoday in 4 days 11hrs and 52 mins. Mills was helped by other members of the Anfield Bicycle Club, who organised accommodation and food, and enrolled other cyclists to guide him.
329:– had strict views about amateurism and had demanded its French equivalent ensure that all taking part met its own amateur ideals. Only then would the NCU allow Mills and other British amateurs to take part, although it accepted that professionals such as
222:
In the summer Mills broke the Land's End-John o'Groats record, he also won the North Road 24-hour time-trial on a penny-farthing with 288 miles, set records on a bicycle for 50 miles and 24 hours (259 miles) and set a tandem-tricycle record for 50 miles.
208:
The sensation was not that he was merely one of a sequence of record breakers, but that he knocked more than a day off each of the previous bests, in a sort of double event, riding virtually without sleep, certainly no more than a wayside
427:
was the timekeeper. Mr J. Silver previously held the record, having done the distance in 64h 29m, and Mr E.H. Arnott in 65h 45m. He has not only beaten the motor cycle record, but is also nearly two hours ahead of best motor car time."
281:– there were a Pole and a Swiss. The British riders had woollen jerseys and leggings and their bicycles had footrests on the forks to profit from descents. The French were less organised and had trousers strapped closed at the ankle.
292:
was reached and the
Englishmen stopped to gulp down bowls of hot soup. When they restarted, Mills began to make all the running, drawing steadily away from his companions until, arriving at Ruffeo, he was half an hour in the lead."
288:, but neither was hurt. The English group moved to the front when the field began to straggle after the first hour. They led by a mile at dawn after averaging 14 mph. The historian Victor M. Head write: "At 10.30
170:, holding the world record time on six occasions between 1886 and 1895. He was a member of the Anfield and North Road cycling clubs. He later won races and broke records as a car racer and motorcycle rider.
247:
said: "He was a pioneer long-distance record breaker, and had the distinction of competing in three 24-hour events in one week, and between the years 1885 and 1895 broke no fewer than 19 national records."
398:, Nottingham, in 1896. There he introduced automation and, in Raleigh's words, "other American practices." He moved in 1910 to west London to join the motor manufacturer
754:
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359:. He was a captain in the Bedfordshire regiment. He left for France in December 1915 and by 1917 had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He was awarded the
240:
miles on a tandem with R. Tingley in the same year. In 1888 he improved the 100-mile tricycle record with 6h 58m 54s and the 50-mile record with 2h 53m 42s.
423:
his long and trying journey at eight on
Thursday morning, and arrived at his destination at 11am on Saturday, after being 50h 46m 30s on the road. Mr
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960:
950:
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bicycle and once on a tricycle. He rode the bicycle in five days, 1 hour 45 minutes, the tricycle in 5 days 10 hours, an improvement of
419:
560:
There is disagreement about the penny-farthing record. Mills insisted he had ridden 273 miles but the record was recorded at 268.5
30:
925:
355:
Mills joined the army in 1889 and retired in 1906 as a major. He volunteered again in 1914 and in March 1915 was stationed at
322:
The first Frenchman – Jiel-Laval – was fifth, five and a half hours behind Mills. Riders were still coming in two days later.
269:
The race started at 5 am in the Place du Pont Bastide in Bordeaux. There were 38 riders. As well as the British – Mills,
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He became director of the small arms and machine gun department of the Ministry of Munitions after 1918. He joined the
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George Mills won the inaugural Bordeaux–Paris race in 1891. He was invited by the organisers, the newspaper
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The record from one end of Britain to the other is the longest place-to-place challenge recognised by the
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707:"Wielrennen in Engeland: Jolly good fun for the upper class! « dagelijks iets degelijks"
402:. It was from there that he joined the army. He worked for the Aster Engineering Company in
920:
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was happy for amateurs to win up to 200 francs, or what a manual worker earned in 16 months
464:
262:
because of his reputation in an age when long-distance racing was the fashion. A race from
736:
http://www.sportgeschiedenis.nl/2008/11/21/verdwenen-koersen-bordeaux---parijs-deel-1.aspx
8:
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in the south-west to the capital in Paris would be the longest annual event in France.
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Mills fell on bad roads after 10 km when he touched with the French favourite,
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80:
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The early years of the Anfield Bicycle Club,www.anfieldbc.co.uk/history.html
467:, London, followed by a funeral at Shirley parish church, Shirley, Croydon.
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employed him to run operations at its new factory when it opened in
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revolver while training to fend off dogs. He shot five of them.
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In 1887, he won the North Road 24-hour on a tricycle. He rode
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The rapid departure surprised the organisers. A report said:
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Wielrennen in Engeland: jolly good fun for the upper class!
154:(8 January 1867 – 8 November 1945) was the dominant English
792:
McGurn, James (1987) On Your Bicycle, John Murray (UK) p108
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The NCU insisted that amateurs won no prizes in money; the
599:
865:
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im040630CTR-Mills1.jpg
542:
Journal, Fellowship of Cycling Old-Timers, vol 167, p29
730:
728:
895:Along the Great North and Other Roads. A.B. Smith.
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132:Land's End-John o' Groats record 6 times 1886–1895
382:Mills moved several times for work. He worked at
956:Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment officers
907:
158:of his generation, and winner of the inaugural
734:Verdwenen koersen: Bordeaux – Parijs (deel 1)
484:
482:
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134:North Road 24-hour time-trial (penny-farthing)
946:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
413:
477:
436:Mills was an excellent shot, and carried a
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342:Mills joined the Anfield Bicycle Club, in
319:The crowd at the finish was put at 7,000.
29:
347:achievements and their long association.
853:http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/G._P._Mills
814:North Road Club records, cited Journal,
490:"George Pilkington Mills - Graces Guide"
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566:
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325:The Bicycle Union – later renamed the
941:British Army personnel of World War I
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459:From 1938 until he died he lived at
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217:
200:hours. The journalist and official
162:cycle race. He frequently rode from
961:19th-century British Army personnel
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136:Tandem-tricycle record for 50 miles
13:
951:People educated at Whitgift School
14:
972:
685:La Fabuleuse Histoire de Cyclisme
664:La Fabuleuse Histoire de Cyclisme
643:La Fabuleuse Histoire de Cyclisme
586:La Fabuleuse Histoire de Cyclisme
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816:Fellowship of Cycling Old-Timers
803:Fellowship of Cycling Old-Timers
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406:after the war, then in 1924 at
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1:
781:Union Vélocipèdique de France
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662:Cited Chany, Pierre (1988),
7:
575:, UK, 21 November 1945, p10
361:Distinguished Service Order
95:Road racing & Endurance
10:
977:
533:, Mousehold Press (UK) p33
851:, UK, 4 June 1907, cited
829:"FindArticles.com - CBSi"
414:Car and motorcycle racing
374:in the second world war.
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463:, in Surrey. He died in
384:Beeston, Nottinghamshire
334:was not a professional.
279:Joah Edward Lionel Bates
202:Frederick Thomas Bidlake
180:Road Records Association
174:Land's End-John o'Groats
936:Ultra-distance cyclists
741:1 February 2016 at the
365:mentioned in dispatches
327:National Cyclists Union
147:George Pilkington Mills
46:George Pilkington Mills
23:George Pilkington Mills
755:"Sportgeschiedenis.nl"
683:Chany, Pierre (1988),
641:Chany, Pierre (1988),
632:, UK, 8 March 1950, p4
584:Chany, Pierre (1988),
529:Woodland, Les (2005),
520:, UK, 8 March 1950, p5
931:English male cyclists
408:Belsize Motor Company
465:Westminster Hospital
443:In 1929 he lived in
388:Humber Cycle company
38:Personal information
418:In 1907 he won the
275:Selwyn Francis Edge
25:
761:on 1 February 2016
687:, Nathan, France,
666:, Nathan, France,
645:, Nathan, France,
588:, Nathan, France,
451:, then in 1932 at
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338:Cycling club life
218:Other timed races
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709:. Archived from
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610:"Bordeaux-Paris"
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531:This Island Race
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351:Military service
243:His obituary in
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87:Team information
81:County of London
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70:8 November 1945
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400:Clément-Talbot
386:, home of the
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305:Mills reached
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252:Bordeaux–Paris
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184:penny-farthing
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168:John o' Groats
160:Bordeaux–Paris
156:racing cyclist
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74:(aged 78)
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54:8 January 1867
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43:Full name
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651:2-09-286430-0
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432:Personal life
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378:Civilian life
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367:three times.
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271:Monty Holbein
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118:North Road CC
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108:Amateur teams
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880:. Retrieved
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832:. Retrieved
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818:vol 167, p29
815:
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763:. Retrieved
759:the original
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715:. Retrieved
711:the original
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629:
625:
613:. Retrieved
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425:F.T. Bidlake
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259:VĂ©loce Sport
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177:
146:
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72:(1945-11-08)
18:
921:1945 deaths
916:1867 births
717:23 February
630:The Bicycle
573:The Bicycle
518:The Bicycle
457:Bournemouth
363:and he was
245:The Bicycle
77:Westminster
910:Categories
882:25 January
863:Displayed
834:25 January
765:25 January
615:25 January
471:References
445:Bathampton
372:Home Guard
357:Colchester
286:Jiel-Laval
164:Land's End
127:Major wins
113:Anfield CC
92:Discipline
57:Paddington
877:"History"
849:The Times
801:Journal,
344:Liverpool
290:Angoulème
61:Middlesex
739:Archived
264:Bordeaux
461:Shirley
453:Malvern
447:, near
420:TT Race
404:Wembley
392:Raleigh
235:⁄
195:⁄
899:
691:
670:
649:
592:
396:Lenton
204:said:
695:, p94
674:, p93
653:, p91
596:, p92
307:Tours
103:Rider
897:ISBN
884:2016
836:2016
767:2016
719:2011
689:ISBN
668:ISBN
647:ISBN
617:2016
590:ISBN
449:Bath
438:Colt
277:and
209:nod.
100:Role
67:Died
51:Born
228:298
166:to
151:DSO
912::
727:^
601:^
565:^
498:^
479:^
390:.
273:,
188:29
79:,
59:,
886:.
838:.
769:.
721:.
619:.
492:.
237:2
233:1
230:+
197:2
193:1
190:+
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
