Beryl Burton facts for kids
Burton in 1967
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 May 1937 Halton, Leeds, England |
| Died | 5 May 1996 (aged 58) Yorkshire, England |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Road and track |
| Role | Rider |
Beryl Burton, OBE (born May 12, 1937 – died May 5, 1996) was an amazing English racing cyclist. She was known for being one of the best women cyclists ever. Beryl won over 90 national championships and seven world titles. She also set many national records. In 1967, she even set a world record for a 12-hour time-trial that was better than the men's record for two years!
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Who was Beryl Burton?
Beryl Charnock was born in Halton, Leeds, England. She lived in Morley, West Yorkshire her whole life. She raced for Morley Cycling Club and later for Knaresborough CC.
How did Beryl get into cycling?
Beryl started cycling because of her husband, Charlie Burton. They got married in 1955. Charlie said that Beryl wasn't very good at first. They sometimes had to push her to help her along.
But Beryl quickly got better. By her second year, she could ride with the boys. In her third year, she was leading them all! In 1956, she decided to try time trialling, which is a type of race against the clock.
Beryl's amazing cycling career
In 1957, Beryl won her first national medal. It was a silver medal in the 100-mile individual time trial championship. Soon after, she started competing in races all over the world.
Winning world championships
Beryl won the women's world road race championship twice. She won in 1960 and again in 1967. She also came in second place in 1961.
On the track, Beryl was a master of the individual pursuit. This is a race where two riders start on opposite sides of the track and try to catch each other. She won many world championship medals in this event.
She was world champion five times (1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, and 1966). She also won silver medals three times (1961, 1964, and 1968). Plus, she earned bronze medals in 1967, 1970, and 1973.
Dominating races in the UK
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In time trial (TT) races in the UK, Beryl was almost impossible to beat. She won the Road Time Trials Council's British Best All-Rounder Competition for 25 years in a row! This was from 1959 to 1983.
Overall, she won 72 national individual time trial titles. She won four at 10 miles, 26 at 25 miles, 24 at 50 miles, and 18 at 100 miles. Her last national time trial titles were in 1986.
She also won 24 more national titles in road racing and on the track. This included 12 road race championships and 12 pursuit titles.
Breaking records
In 1963, Beryl was the first woman to finish a 25-mile time trial in under an hour. She also went under two hours for the 50-mile TT and under four hours for 100 miles.
In 1967, she set an amazing 12-hour time trial record. She rode 277.25 miles! This was even further than the men's record at the time. Her record was not beaten by a man until 1969. While setting this record, she passed Mike McNamara. He was on his way to setting the men's record. It is said that she offered him a liquorice allsort sweet as she rode past him!
Beryl set about 50 new national records at different distances. Her records for 10, 25, and 50 miles each lasted for 20 years. Her 100-mile record lasted for 28 years. Her 12-hour record stood for an incredible 50 years until 2017. Because she was so good, she was invited to compete in the Grand Prix des Nations in 1967. This was very rare for a woman.
In 1982, Beryl and her daughter Denise set a British record for women riding a tandem bicycle (a bike for two people). They rode 10 miles in 21 minutes and 25 seconds.
Awards and recognition
Beryl's amazing achievements were recognized with special awards. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1964. Then, she became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1968. These are high honors in the UK.
Beryl also won UK cycling's top award, the Bidlake Memorial Prize, three times. She won it in 1959, 1960, and 1967.
Beryl's life outside of racing
Even though she was offered money from sponsors, Beryl always remained an amateur cyclist. This means she didn't get paid to race. For much of her life, she worked on a farm in the Rhubarb Triangle.
Her daughter, Denise Burton, was also a very good cyclist. Denise won a bronze medal in the 1975 world individual pursuit championship. Both Beryl and Denise were chosen to represent Great Britain in the 1972 world championship. In 1973, Beryl won the national road title, with Denise coming in second. Three years later, Denise won, and Beryl came in second.
Beryl passed away from heart failure while out on a bike ride. She was delivering invitations for her 59th birthday party. Her daughter believed that Beryl's strong competitive spirit might have worn her body out.
Beryl's lasting impact
There is a special memorial garden called Beryl Burton Gardens in her hometown of Morley. It has a large mural. The Morley Cycling Club also donated a trophy in her honor. It's called the Beryl Burton trophy.
The Beryl Burton Cycle Way is a path that lets cyclists travel between Harrogate and Knaresborough. It's 2.8 kilometers long and avoids a busy road.
In 2009, Beryl was added to the British Cycling Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was one of the first two people to be added to the Rouleur Hall of Fame, along with another famous cyclist, Eddy Merckx.
A bike workshop in Oxford called Broken Spoke has a "Beryl's Night." It's a free monthly event for women and all trans and non-binary people to learn about bikes.
Golden Book of Cycling
Beryl's achievements were first celebrated in 1960 when Cycling Weekly gave her a page in the Golden Book of Cycling. This book honors great cyclists. By 1991, her career was so amazing that she was given a second page in the 'Golden Book'. This was a very special honor!
A play about Beryl
On November 27, 2012, a radio play called Beryl: A Love Story on Two Wheels was broadcast by BBC Radio 4. It was written by and starred Maxine Peake. This play was later made into a stage play called Beryl. It was shown in theaters in 2014 and 2015.
A book about Beryl
A book about Beryl's life, called Beryl: In search of Britain's greatest athlete, was published in 2022. It was written by Jeremy Wilson. This book won an award for the best sports book of the year.
A song about Beryl
The English folk music duo O'Hooley & Tidow created a song about Beryl. It is simply titled "Beryl."
A bike-sharing app
The trading name of a cycle hire service called Beryl is partly named after her.
Images for kids
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Beryl burtons time trial location in 2022.jpg
A place where Beryl Burton might have done a time trial in 2022.
See also
In Spanish: Beryl Burton para niños
