Edith Atkins (2 February 1920 – 28 August 1999) was a

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cyclin ...

and a prolific breaker of long-distance recordsPENSIONER KILLED IN A45 TRAGEDY WAS A RECORD-BREAKING VETERAN
''Coventry Evening Telegraph'', 31 August 1999, Summers, Kathryn. Retrieved 22 September 2008 in the 1950s. She completed 12 different record-breaking journeys. The records included

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it i ...

to John o' Groats; Land's End to London; Holyhead to London; London to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

, London to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

; and London to

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of ...

. On 12 July 1953 she covered in 24 hours, breaking the London to York; 12-hour, and London to Edinburgh records along the way. Two weeks later she also broke Land's End to John o' Groats. She died aged 79 when she was hit by a motorist while pushing her bicycle across a pedestrian road crossing.

Early life

Edie Atkins, born Sharman, in

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshir ...

, Staffordshire, England, was less than tall. Her light build led her to take up

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

as a child and she excelled to champion level.Obituary, ''The Independent'', London, August 1999 Her first bicycle was one won by her mother in a

whist drive Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...

. She took up cycling seriously when Roland (Ron) Atkins lent her a bicycle for a weekend ride and she discovered her ability. She moved from the Coventry Meteor Road Club to join Coventry Road Club in 1938 and the couple married two years later, Ron having acknowledged that she could ride faster than him. World War II ended thoughts of racing. One of their two children, John Atkins, was an international cyclo-cross rider and national champion.

Racing career

Atkins began racing in 1946, riding for Coventry Road Club. She competed at many RTTC championship events, helping it win the team prize in the races of 1949 and 1950 as well as the championship in 1950. There was rivalry between her and another rider from the city, Eileen Sheridan. Sheridan was supported as a professional record-breaker by the Hercules bicycle company but Atkins remained an amateur, remortgaging her house to pay for her cycling. In 1952 she broke the

Women's Road Records Association The Road Records Association (RRA) is a British road bicycle racing, cycle racing organisation which supervises Cycling records, records on the road but not in conventional races. It is one of the oldest cycle sport organisations in the world, ...

Land's End to London record, completing 287 miles in 17h 13m 31s. In 1953 Atkins broke several more records including Holyhead to London, 264¼ miles in 13h 31m 57s. In her London to York ride, she broke the record in 9h 56m 20s before continuing north. After 12 hours she had ridden 234¾ miles. She reached Edinburgh in 21h 37m after , going on to ride in 24 hours. She took three records in the same ride and was the first woman to go beyond in 24 hours. Six days later she rode from Edinburgh to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

and back, 88 miles in 4h 38m 56s. Atkins set the first women's amateur record for Land's End to John o' Groats, eight days after her Edinburgh-Glasgow-Edinburgh record. She beat the professional record by 4h 48m. Atkins was entered in the ''

Golden Book of Cycling The ''Golden Book of Cycling'' was created in 1932 by ''Cycling'', a British cycling magazine, to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administrato ...

'' on 12 August 1953. 1957 saw more records broken.

Retirement and death

Atkins remained an enthusiastic cyclist after her record-breaking years. She rode more than 40 races at the age of 76 and rode a week. She died in August 1999, aged 79, while crossing the A45 with her bicycle at

Ryton-on-Dunsmore Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Rugby, Warwickshire, situated 5.5 miles (8.8 km) southeast of Coventry and 7.5 miles (12.1 km) west of Rugby, England. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,672 in the pari ...

, near Coventry.

Palmarès

;1952 :25 September – Land's End to London, 287 miles – 17h.13m.31s. ;1953 :31 May – Holyhead to London, 264 miles – 13h.31m.53s :12 July – London to York, 196 miles – 9h.56m.20s :12 July – 12 hours* – 234.75 miles :13 July – London to Edinburgh, 385 miles – 21h.37m.00s :13 July – 24 hours* – 422.00 miles :19 July – Edinburgh to Glasgow and back, 88 miles – 4h.38m.56s :27–29 July – Land's End to John o' Groats, 871 miles – 2d.18h.4m. ;1957 :14 July – London to Gt Yarmouth, 125 miles – 6h.01m.46s :8 August – London to Bath and back, 211 miles – 11h.11m.34s :8 September – Liverpool to Edinburgh, 211 miles – 11h.02m.40s :13 October – Edinburgh to York, 196 miles – 10h.40m.24s

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Edith 1920 births 1999 deaths Pedestrian road incident deaths Ultra-distance cyclists Sportspeople from Bilston Sportspeople from Coventry Road incident deaths in England English female cyclists