{"id":766266,"date":"2026-09-10T15:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/766266\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T15:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:16:16","slug":"eileen-sheridans-record-breaking-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/766266\/","title":{"rendered":"Eileen Sheridan’s record breaking bike"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wider public consciousness, Beryl Burton<\/a> cuts a lonely figure in the pantheon of great cyclists of the 20th Century; other riders who would wear that crown \u2013 Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali et al. \u2013 are all male. This is a distortion, fuelled at best by misguided cultural conditioning, at worst, by misogyny.<\/p>\n

Burton was exceptional, but she wasn\u2019t the exception. Many women cyclists deserve recognition, few more than Eileen Sheridan<\/a>. At 4ft 11in, the \u2018mighty atom\u2019, as she was affectionately known, dominated women’s cycling during the 1940s and early \u201950s, winning multiple national championships and breaking all 21 of the Women’s Road Records Association records.<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 4<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

A Chater-Lea chainset was a common component for the best road bikes of the era<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

A minimal number of gears were available for a major rides<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

Tape on the seat stays is believed to be protecting the tubes from bags, used for long-distance record breaking rides<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Among her numerous achievements, always ridden with her signature smile, setting a national record of 237.6 miles during the 1949 Yorkshire Cycling Federation 12-hour race, along with a 1954 LEJOG record of 2 days, 11 hours, 7 minutes, showcase her talent. Nevertheless, a Path\u00e9 newsreel belittled her accomplishments with: \u2018No wonder she wins races, she has to, to get back in time to catch up with the housework.\u2019<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromCycling Weekly<\/p>\n

\u201cEileen was incredible,\u201d says the current owner of her Mercian, Richard Hoddinott, of The Velo Pages. \u201cAmazing riders, like Marguerite Wilson and Lillian Dredge, preceded her, but it was Eileen who kicked the door wide open for women\u2019s cycling, silencing all the naysayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 3<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

Sheridan’s gear shifter was placed on the top tube, as her pump was on the down tube, as you can see from the mount<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

A saddle slammed as low as it can go for a small rider who achieved big things<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

The bike is so historic, the current owner refuses to change a single thing on it<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

This 1950 Mercian was the last machine she raced, alternating between a fixed-gear and a Sturmey-Archer hub as appropriate, before signing as a pro for Hercules Cycles in 1951. The bike clearly meant a lot to her (the \u2018ES\u2019 detailing on the stays is a delight) as she kept it, neutralising the livery due to sponsorship responsibilities. It was repurposed, with Dynamo lighting and a four-speed Simplex setup, so she could enjoy her first love \u2013 the simple pleasure of club runs.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

This remarkable lady passed away in February 2023, at the age of 99.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the wider public consciousness, Beryl Burton cuts a lonely figure in the pantheon of great cyclists of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-766266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}