While David Duffield may have clowned around, intentionally or not, during his 40-year career as a broadcast commentator, his many record-breaking achievements as a cyclist in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s deserve to be taken more seriously.
True to form, Duffer’s weapon of choice was that most eccentric of cycles, the trike. Hurtling across fast-changing landscapes on his sturdy Higgins three-wheeler, Duffers successfully laid claim to multiple long-distance records, including a 1959 50-mile time of one hour, 57 minutes, and 4 seconds, a 1971 London to Cardiff time of 7 hours, 20 minutes, and 38 seconds and a 1960 End-to-End time of 2 days, 10 hours, 58 minutes and 29 seconds. All on a trike weighing 16.1kg/35.5lbs.
