Henry MUSSEN

Harry Mussen started racing in his hometown of Dunmurry as a 13-year-old in 1897. He won two races on his first outing and, within a few years, established himself as one of the leading long distance riders in Ireland. After finishing second in the Irish 50-mile Championship to Dublin’s Jack Meade in 1902, Mussen beat the reigning champion to win the title in 1903, and retained it the following year, when he also won the 10-mile title. He broke many national records from 20 miles upwards, and also set a new one hour record of 35 miles 1749 yards (57.012 km). In 1907 he set a new unpaced record of 6h 24m for the 102 mile trip from Belfast to Dublin and a few months later he lowered the paced record by 29 minutes, before setting off on the return journey for a time of 12h 22m for the 204-mile Belfast-Dublin-Belfast round trip. Mussen took part in the 100km at the 1908 Olympics and two weeks after the Games he broke his shoulder following an accident riding through the streets of Belfast. The following year he retired from racing. In 1928 he witnessed an unfortunate event when a plane crashed onto the Dunmurry high street and killed a five-year-old local girl playing in the street.