Richard William Ewart Poole was the first man to cycle from Land's End to John o' Groats, the length of mainland Britain, in less than two days.
A meeting with another enthusiast, a model-maker and weekend cycling journalist called Bernard Thompson, led to a plan in 1965 to try for the longest place-to-place record in Britain: Land's End to John o' Groats.
Cyclists had been trying the ride since at least July 1880, when H Blackwell and C A Harman of the Canonbury Bicycle Club rode from Cornwall to Caithness in 13 days.
Dick Poole set off from Land's End at 9:45 am on Wednesday, 16 June 1965[4][5] He was 31, married with a daughter,[5] and worked full-time as an accountant.
The pain of cuts on his hip from the fall cost him a further six minutes by Bristol, where Reg Randall helped direct his challenger through traffic.
"I was in the state you'd expect after the end-to-end", Poole said, "but they were saying I'd barely have to do it at club run speed[7] So I agreed and I had a rest and I set off again.
He rode on 8oz tubulars[11] He had handlebar controls for his gears, Mafac Racer brakes, Campagnolo hubs and a Stronglight chainset.
He is now a coach at Reading track west of London[12] and is President and Treasurer of the Farnborough and Camberley Cycling Club.
Along with Aleck Hunter, he was instrumental in forming the British Triathlon Association after the first U.K. Triathlon had been organised in 1982 by health club owner and former Olympic pentathlete Mike Ellis along with David Wall, Peter Metalli and Maurice Hoare at a disused gravel pit at Kirton's Farm, Pingewood, Reading in 1982.