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In 1965, Dick Poole delivered a ground-breaking performance to take the bike record inside 2 days.

Here's a report of his ride, written by Frank Fischer, timekeeper/observer.   Photos by Bernard Thompson.

As is fairly well known, Dick's 1000 mile claim wasn't accepted by the RRA.  After measurement, it turned out that he had only covered 998.5 miles.  Somewhere there had been a miscalculation when comparing the route that Dick took (from Land's End to John o'Groats) with the route that had previously been measured for 1000 miles. 
There are two ways of approaching Bonar Bridge when you leave the Black Isle.  The direct route going via Aultnamain Inn, and a more circuitous option avoiding some climbs.
Dick took the shorter route, and his schedule made an allowance for this.   But it seems that the reduced distance wasn't correctly assessed.   Thus when Dick's helpers thought he was well over the 1000 mile point, he actually hadn't reached it.
A big disappointment, but (as Dick points out) the objective was the End to End, and that was definitely achieved.

Here are a few bit of post-ride memorabilia, starting with the infamous telegram from Mr Duffield.










And here's the schedule for the ride (with distances in Miles and Furlongs)




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