31mph for 100 miles: How John Archibald broke one of the toughest time trial records

"Scarring", "painful", and "unpleasant" are some of the words John Archibald used to describe his record-breaking ride at the National 100-Mile Time Trial Championships on Sunday.

The 33-year-old won the event in Cockermouth with a time of 3:12.58, averaging just over 31mph and taking 39 seconds off the existing record, which had stood for five years. 

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Speaking to Cycling Weekly the day after, Archibald said he was "a bit buckled" following his effort, but delighted with the result. 

"I had done some longer events, but nothing solitary to that level," he said. "There's no music or anything else to distract you, or talking or anything like that. You're just in the pain cave, like you'd expect really. The time doesn't fly by, it's definitely a drag."

To tackle the route, which comprised four out-and-back laps of a single carriageway, Archibald broke it down mentally into 25-mile chunks. It wasn't until after the first quarter, he said, that he "started to seriously consider" going for the record. 

"I knew I had the potential to get it, it was just [a matter of] would I fall apart or not?" the Scot explained. "It just got more painful from the second lap onwards, to the point where, on the third or fourth lap, I thought it could all fall apart completely.

"Your glutes, your hamstrings, your back, the position. Everything about it is just very uncomfortable and unpleasant," he continued. "I was just largely focused on the end goal of going, 'if I let off, I know I will be disappointed in myself, in terms of if I miss the end result.' I knew it was within reach. It would be a sort of mental defeat, rather than a physical one."

Archibald rode a Cervélo P5 TT bike for the event, and fuelled by fitting a hydration bladder pack down the front of his jersey, which he had never done before. "I had sugar water in it, and 300g of carbohydrates in there, but I only managed to drink two thirds of it. That probably contributed to how I fell apart a bit in the second half," he said. 

Still, despite the rainy conditions and depleting energy levels, the Scot ended up averaging 337 watts to take the national title and the record, a legendary marker of the British TT scene, which had belonged to Marcin Białobłocki since 2019.

"The way the sport moves on is just phenomenal," Archibald said. "Who knows if it'll stand for one year, five years, 10 years? I can imagine it'll go again pretty soon, because with the technological development in cycling, no record is safe."

The 33-year-old will now look to target the upcoming 10-mile and 25-mile National TT Championships, having already won the 50-mile event last month. 

Will he return to defend his 100-mile title next year? "It will take a lot I think," Archibald laughed. "It really was scarring in terms of how much it hurts. I wouldn't rule it out, but it really wasn't a pleasant thing to do."