The Knowledge: Rohan Dennis on the need for speed

The Knowledge: Rohan Dennis on the need for speed

Featuring Mini Coopers, Ducatis, the Hour Record, and Willis the Akita

Bahrain Merida Mini Cooper Racing Rohan Dennis The Knowledge

Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) and Willis

It’s a 1998 Mini Cooper. It has hit 165kph, that I know of, but it gets a bit of wobble in the front end at that speed… We got it in 2014.

I probably drive my Ducati motorbike slower than I ride my bike. I know how dangerous it can be and it’s not really worth it.

I don’t think I am OCD, but I might be on some kind of spectrum. I count a lot, but it is always in fives. I don’t know why. The radio volume has to be on five, ten, 15, whatever. Same with the TV. I always try to get up stairs in multiples of five. Our house has six, ten, ten, then three. But if I go from the garage, I try to make it 15.

I will count pedal strokes on training rides and in races. The whole thing I thought about during my Hour Record was: hold, float, pedal and accelerate out of the bend. For 209 laps. Over and over.

Mentally, you are fried after a Grand Tour. Completely gone. I was more tired after any Grand Tour I have finished than after the Hour. But I couldn’t sit on a saddle for four days after. And sitting generally was difficult. If not for the saddle issues, I could do it again the next day. I might not perform as well, I might do better – I don’t know – but it’s like a big time-trial. That’s all it is, really.

 

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Bahrain Merida Mini Cooper Racing Rohan Dennis The Knowledge

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