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With the best will in the world, we're not likely to get a significant cycle industry either.
What you say about changing start and finish points is well worth pursuing. In fact the Barnet/Bedford record would need modification since a small section of the Bedford end is pedestrianised. There has at least been some discussion about this, with the suggestion that the route might divert onto the ring road for an equivalent distance so that the length of the course was the same as the old record, thus making a new performance comparable. Please note that nothing definite has been agreed about this, but the idea is in line with the suggestion in the post above.
As I said yesterday in post 15353, journalism and bike racing are inextricably linked. So for me the 'story' that may come from a record must be at the front of our minds. London to York - who doesn't think of Dick Turpin? I'm not saying this is still a practical record, but it has an obvious appeal as a story before you even touch on the cycling history.
This is the problem with the RRA suggestion of circuit records: you can find a convenient circuit, but how on earth are you going to make anyone interested in it?
Surely the appeal of place to place is a combination of the demonstration that these journeys can be made on a bike and fairly quickly at that, plus the history of the record with the rider making the attempt competing against some famous name from the past. Who wouldn't want to ride against Ray Booty, Phil Griffiths or Ian Cammish if they thought they could beat them (which, with modern speeds, they might)?
So perhaps what we need is to modify courses where it is deemed essential, but only in such a way that the public (both cycling and general) can relate the new record to what was done in the past.
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clubman
With the best will in the world, you're not going to get rolling road closures through city centres. Those records are from a different era and don't really have too much meaning now.
The way forward would be to start again. Pick start/finish points just outside of city centres eg Brum - London, start Moseley (Brum), finish Barnet (London). Drum up support from Time Trialists and Ultracyclists, follow the template set up by TCR and IPWR