Michael Hutchinson

Michael Hutchinson is a writer, journalist and former professional cyclist. As a rider he won multiple national titles in both Britain and Ireland and competed at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was a three-time Brompton folding-bike World Champion, and once hit 73 mph riding down a hill in Wales. His Dr Hutch columns appears in every issue of Cycling Weekly magazine

As a writer, he wrote the award winning The Hour about his attempt on the sport’s most famous and sought-after record. He followed that up with Faster, about the training, the science the genetics and the luck behind the world’s fastest riders, and Re:Cyclists, a history of cyclists from 1816 to the present day.

He’s written for outlets ranging from Cycling Weekly to the New York Times, and has presented and and commentated for the BBC, Eurosport, Channel 4, and Sky Sports.

Before he did any of that he was a legal academic at Cambridge and Sussex universities. He now lives with far too many bicycles in London and Cambridgeshire.

Latest articles by Michael Hutchinson

Some riders joined us on the road, they'd clearly been sent by God just to annoy my friend Bernard

Four riders good. Eight riders very very bad, says the Doc

2 Comments

Jeremy Vine has had enough of the online abuse and threats, and you can't blame him for that

Sadly no drivers watched the videos and thought 'Oh my gosh! I did just that the other day, and that poor rider must have been terrified!'

By Michael Hutchinson Published 12 September 25

4 Comments
'The better it is the less there is to talk about' - the impossible task of the post-ride chat

Dr Hutch fails the post-ride family interview every time

By Michael Hutchinson Published 7 September 25
Being a pro cyclist was sanctioned selfishness, but now I have to go to birthday parties

Cycling Weekly's columnist, Dr Hutch, is out of excuses to get out of bad social events now he doesn't have to train as much

By Michael Hutchinson Published 27 August 25

5 Comments

Motor racing drivers take a test, so why not pro cyclists?

Points could be up for grabs for knocking riders off bikes, soaking your manager in energy drinks and dodging TV cameras, imagines CW's columnist

By Michael Hutchinson Published 18 August 25

2 Comments
If safety was really the priority of racing, we’d be doing it online

We’ll need to get more radical to reduce the risks of racing, says CW's columnist

By Michael Hutchinson Published 20 April 25
The thing that bothers me most when I look back at old school training is that right now we’re doing something equivalently misguided

Our columnist's old training diaries reveal old-school levels of lunacy

By Michael Hutchinson Published 13 April 25

I don’t think I’m alone in often having an internal monologue going on when I’m riding

Self-talk can be a double-edged sword, says CW's columnist

By Michael Hutchinson Published 6 April 25
200 skinny bike riders doing 50kph is still too much like a high-speed Where’s Wally: The case for colour-coded helmets

Will this bright idea ever gain the recognition it deserves?

By Michael Hutchinson Published 30 March 25

3 Comments
In the world of dashcam videos, the comments section is the most intelligent bit of the experience

CW's columnist goes down a dashcam footage rabbit hole

By Michael Hutchinson Published 23 March 25

You might think racing in the UK is on a downward trajectory at the moment, but we’re not back to 2005 just yet

We can still fill a velodrome, which, is an improvement on CW columnist Hutch's experience

By Michael Hutchinson Published 16 March 25
If we all work together we can make sure Geraint Thomas won’t retire until he’s 50

Inner demons provide the best pep talks, suggests CW's columnist

By Michael Hutchinson Published 2 March 25
It suddenly occurred to me that if I wasn’t enjoying it I could just stop - so I did

Will quitting a race lead to abort-mission creep?

By Michael Hutchinson Published 23 February 25

6 Comments

An Indoor Olympics would finally open the way for Dungeons and Dragons players to get Lottery grants

The Doc’s plan for a Winter Olympics with cycling has a flaw

By Michael Hutchinson Published 16 February 25
I'll never rate a performance '10', it's important to my delusions of greatness that I can always believe I could have tried harder

Protecting your ego is as easy as pretending you didn’t try, writes CW's columnist 'The Doc'

By Michael Hutchinson Published 9 February 25
If exciting bike racing is about unpredictability, then the less we know, the better

The One Cycling project is in danger of killing the fun with facts

By Michael Hutchinson Published 2 February 25

Cycling interval sessions hurt, but, you'll find all the people who want to kill you with their car in the gym

CW's columnist goes in search of workouts - but only finds woe - especially in the gym

By Michael Hutchinson Published 26 January 25

2 Comments
Improved cycling tech means we now know 'form' was a myth, but it was a lot more fun when we had no idea what was going on

Before power meters, coincidence soon became custom

By Michael Hutchinson Published 19 January 25

3 Comments
It feels wrong that cycling is more likely to result in your premature death than strapping on a kite and stepping off a cliff

CW's columnist is keen to hit the road more in 2025, although not literally

By Michael Hutchinson Published 12 January 25

17 Comments

I’m 'that guy' from the club run, except that thanks to virtual racing, I now have global reach

CW's columnist an online racing idiot, you’ve been warned

By Michael Hutchinson Published 29 December 24

2 Comments
Cycling is a sport that’s all about going fast and I’ve no idea how you turn that round to make it safer

Going retro to make racing safer is not an idea with a future

By Michael Hutchinson Published 22 December 24

4 Comments
My 10-mile TT power hovers between 375 and 382 watts: I can’t improve by training harder, the only way to go faster is to go shopping

CW's columnist is stuck in a threshold rut

By Michael Hutchinson Published 15 December 24

5 Comments

I’m having to tell people I’m still a cyclist despite the fact it’s not cool anymore

Bragging rights now belong to the paddleboarders

By Michael Hutchinson Published 8 December 24

5 Comments
No one who buys these electric bikes is planning to pedal very much

Electric motorbikes - or, de-restricted, illegal e-bikes - are giving us all a bad name, writes CW's columnist

By Michael Hutchinson Published 1 December 24
Bikes have got more expensive - but - we no longer start every ride wondering how long they'll remain functional

Modern machines take all the jeopardy out of leaving the house

By Michael Hutchinson Published 24 November 24

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