Against the clock
The Hour: as far as you can go in 60 minutes.
The oldest record on the track, and the simplest. Start from the block, ride alone for an hour, and the distance you cover is your result. Ride your own Hour by the UCI rules, on any velodrome, from your trainer.
Free on Ride Cave. The Hour is ridden alone and needs a smart trainer or power meter.
Sixty minutes. One number.How far can you go?
How it works
One hour, one distance.
Pick the Hour
Open a velodrome, choose Race, then Time trial, and pick The Hour from the Event list.
Start from the block
You wait in the starting block on the pursuit line. The 50 second start clock counts you down, and the block lets go on the final tone.
Ride for 60 minutes
Time left counts down from 60:00 beside your distance. The bell rings for your last lap once your time left is under your average lap.
Finish on the line
At 0:00 the board reads To the line: ride on and finish your lap. The race radio reads your Hour.
The rules
The Hour, the UCI way.
A standing start
From the starting block on the pursuit line, in the middle of the home straight, on the 50 second start clock. The Hour ends on that line too.
Sixty minutes, alone
One rider, no bots and no draft. The clock starts on the final tone and the hour is up at 60:00.
The bell
It rings for your last lap once the time left is under your average lap so far, as the UCI rules set it.
How the distance counts
Your whole laps inside the hour, plus the part of the last lap you rode before 60:00, worked out from that lap’s time and rounded down to the metre.
How to race it
An hour is a long time to be wrong.
Pace it from the first lap
An hour punishes a fast start more than any race does. Settle on a power you can hold and let the laps come to you.
Watch your lap time
A steady lap time is the whole plan. It also tells you when the bell is coming, because the bell follows your average lap.
Race your last Hour
The hour never changes, so your distance is a clean measure of where you are. Ride it again in a few months and see how far you have come.
On Ride Cave
Ride it your way.
Start in the block.
A starting block holds your bike upright on the black line, with no track stand to hold. Your first pedal stroke starts the UCI start clock: a tone at 30 and 10 seconds, each of the last five, and a longer final tone. Load the pedals as hard as you like; the block holds you until that tone.
Start clock3
A board made for the hour.
Time left and your distance, big enough to read through the effort. When the hour is up, the board tells you to ride to the line, and your distance is the result in your ride summary, not a time.
The HourTime left0:14Distance47,312 mThe bell: your time left is under your average lap
Any velodrome, or your own.
Ride your Hour on any of 22 velodromes, from London to Cali, or on a track you built. Surface and altitude affect your speed, as they do on a real track.
The settings
What you can set.
| Event | The Hour, in the time trial’s Event list |
|---|---|
| The start | Standing, in the starting block on the pursuit line, on the 50 second start clock |
| Track Starts | On by default. Settings > Preferences > Track Starts turns the start clock off for a 3 second countdown. |
| The field | Ridden alone, with no bots. Not offered as a Group Race. |
Questions
Good to know.
What is the Hour record?
The greatest distance a rider can cover on a velodrome in one hour, alone, from a standing start. Riders have chased it since the 1890s, and the UCI sets its rules today.
How is my distance measured?
As the UCI counts it: your whole laps in the hour, plus the share of your last lap ridden inside the hour, worked out from that lap’s time and rounded down to the metre.
When does the bell ring?
When your time left is under your average lap so far. That is your last lap.
Do I stop at 60:00?
No. Ride on to the line to finish the lap. Only the part of that lap inside the hour counts.
Is it an official record?
No. It is your own Hour, ridden by the UCI rules on your trainer. Ride Cave is not affiliated with the UCI, and your distance is not a UCI record.
More track racing
The other formats.
Madison
The team event. One rider races while the other rests, then a hand sling swaps them over.
Scratch
First over the line wins. The purest race on the track.
Points
Points on the sprint laps, and a lap gained is worth more than any sprint.
Elimination
The last rider over the line is out, again and again, until one is left.
Tempo
After the first four laps, a point to the first rider over the line on every lap.
Keirin
A derny winds up the speed, pulls off, and the sprint is on.
Time trial
You against the clock, with no draft: the kilo, the pursuits, the flying 200 m and lap, and the Hour.
Start your hour.
Pick a velodrome, choose Time trial, then The Hour. The clock is waiting.
