Racing Is Life - The Beryl Burton Story [DVD]

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It’s already charmed audiences at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and you can now catch it at the Rose Theatre in Kingston before it goes on a national tour.

Beryl Burton with her daughter Denise in 1963 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) ‘She just kept going and going’ Beryl Burton never competed at the Olympics, as Women’s Cycling was introduced at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, too late in Burton’s career; she was 47.Wilson’s book, along with a play written by Maxine Peake in 2012 and William Fotheringham’s 2019 biography, aims to relocate Burton from the relative wilderness to a place among the greatest British athletes of all time.

She believed that due to her family ancestry of Aryan cyclists, she had an unusually powerful heart and set of lungs. I spoke to a journalist called Sue Mott who interviewed Beryl in the early 80s … and she said that she had never met a sportsperson who was so driven and focused as Beryl even having known those sorts of people as well [like Steve Redgrave and Andy Murray],” he says. The sense that aerodynamics have been a complete game-changer in modern time trialling is repeatedly confirmed by anyone with experience across the eras.‘It’s another leg,’ said Dr Jamie Pringle, who worked as the head of science and technical development at the Boardman Performance Centre. Chris Boardman himself agrees and, having been head ‘secret squirrel’ for British Cycling between 2004 and 2012, became an authority on aerodynamics. ‘We found that expenditure to go the same speed can differ enormously,’ he said. ‘It’s mostly about body position. Efficiency has changed because of knowledge and technology.’ Burton is considered by many as the ‘best ever female cyclist’. She raced for Morley Cycling Club and later on Knaresborough CC. Despite being arguably the greatest woman cyclist ever, Beryl Burton, remains little known outside of Yorkshire and the cycling fraternity.We all know Maxine Peake is one of our country’s best stage actresses, but can she write? Absolutely. It's a blast ... A really good yarn and four wildly talented actors. What's not to like?” – Camden New Journal