Sporting immortality the hard way

The Hour

The story of the only cycling records that matters, by one of our cleverest, funniest new writers

In this warm, gently wise book, Hutchinson tells of his attempt at the Hour, the history of the record, and the men who have claimed it ... Whether he added his name to that illustrious list is unimportant ... because, as with all great quest stories, this is not about the destination, but the journey

Hutchinson proves as good a writer as he is rider (praise indeed) - congenial, funny and insightful ... A very fine way indeed to spend an hour, any hour

Has the rare quality in any sports-writing of propelling the reader into the intensity of the sporting moment itself

Sometimes painful, often hilarious... One of the most insightful and entertaining accounts of the cycling world to make it into print

Constantly absorbing, very funny... Michael Hutchinson pulls off a real blinder

He is likeable and builds up the tension...with some skill

Michael Hutchinson became a full-time cyclist in 2000 after becoming disillusioned with an academic career. Over the following six years he has won more than twenty national titles, and the gold medal in the Masters' Pursuit World Championships. He is now a writer and journalist (and cyclist) and lives in south London.

The Hour. It's the only cycling record that matters: one man and his bike against the clock in a quest for pure speed. No teammates, no rivals, no tactics, no gears, no brakes. Just one simple question - in sixty minutes, how far can you go? 
 
Michael Hutchinson had a plan. He was going to add his name to the list of record-holders, cycling's supermen. But how does a man who became a professional athlete by accident achieve sporting immortality? It didn't sound too hard. All he needed was a couple of hand-tooled bike frames, the most expensive wheels money could buy, a support team of crack professionals, a small pot of glue, and a credit card wired to someone else's bank account. Still, getting the glue wasn't a problem... 
 
Michael Hutchinson became a full-time cyclist in 2000 after becoming disillusioned with an academic career. Over the following six years he has won more than twenty national titles, and the gold medal in the Masters' Pursuit World Championships. He is now a writer and journalist (and cyclist) and lives in south London.

Michael Hutchinson

Michael Hutchinson delivers the laughs with ease

A humorous account of messing about in boats

Chasing a Childhood Sailing Dream

The hilarious true story of an amateur boating adventure. 
 
Yacht racing. A world of privilege and money. Beautiful women, bronzed men, and Simon le Bon explaining that he used to be in a band. 
 
It's not like that for everyone. Somewhere much, much further down the ladder it all looks very different. As a teenager, Michael Hutchinson raced tiny plywood dinghies on Belfast Lough, amid shoals of sewage-eating jellyfish. For him, sailing became the kind of obsession that often as not ends with a psychiatric intervention. Turning pro was his only dream. 
 
Then, at the age of eighteen, driven to despair by his own unremitting mediocrity, he gave up. But he never stopped dreaming about it - what was he missing out on? How good or bad had he really been? Had it really been a wasted youth? At last, fifteen years later, he went back. 
 
Missing the Boat is the story of his comeback season, on the South Coast of England, in Ireland, and in the glamorous resorts of the Mediterranean. It's about the yachts, the people, the regattas, and just what it was like to dive back into a world that had become entirely alien. 
 
Michael Hutchinson won the Best First Book at the British Sports Book Awards.

Missing the Boat

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

Penguin Shop: 15% off with code PENGUINXMAS2025

White Nights

Little Black Classics Box Set

Penguin Modern Box Set

Frankenstein

Michael Hutchinson

Praise for Missing the Boat

Michael Hutchinson delivers the laughs with ease

A humorous account of messing about in boats

Books by Michael Hutchinson

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter