OBITUARY Eileen Sheridan 1923-2023

Trailblazing time triallist and place-to-place record holder nicknamed the 'Mighty Atom'

- James Shrubsall

Eileen Sheridan, cycling’s road record superwoman, passed away last weekend aged 99, just eight months shy of her 100th birthday. The Coventry-born rider was famed for her place-to-place exploits in the 1950s, amassing every major record at one point, including the coveted Land’s End to John o’ Groats record.

She even appeared on the front of this very magazine, lauded as “Britain’s Greatest Cyclist” in a full-page cover ad taken out by cycle manufacturer Hercules, to whom she was contracted to break records.

It was a rare and privileged employment but far from easy. Sheridan would regularly be set off on major undertakings in any weather with very little notice, describing in an interview with the Road Records Association how she burst a blood vessel in her throat during a London to Portsmouth and back attempt, such was the cold.

As well as from place to place, Sheridan – nicknamed the Mighty Atom due to her 4ft 11in stature – was unsurprisingly a dab-hand against the clock at standard distances too. She held RTTC competition records over numerous distances, and won National Championships. 

EILEEN SHERIDAN'S MAJOR RECORDS

1949 237m for 12 hours (new comp record by 17 miles)

1950 50 miles: 2hr 14min 16sec (RTTC record)

1950 100 miles: 4hr 37min 53sec (RTTC record)

1950 London-Birmingham 5hr 22min (her first RRA record)

1952 London-Portsmouth and back 7hr 12min 33sec

1952 Liverpool-London 9hr 39min

1952 London-Bath and back 10hr 41min 22sec