He wants to be fit enough to start in the World Championship in San Sebastian in October.
- Ex-professinal rider Dick Dekker will become team leader of the Tegeltoko-team next year. He will succeed Jean-Paul van Poppel. Tegeltoko has decided to continue the contract with the cycling team for another two years. The budget will grow with 100,000 Dutch guilders each year. This is about$A68k.
The amateur, self-taught bicycle engineer and professional two-time track world champion, has returned from a brief retirement in determined mood to enhance his proven reputation as a ground-breaker.
``Whatever the regulations are, I will always be looking to work within them to create the maximum advantage for myself -- that's the only way I know how,'' the 31-year-old Briton said.
Obree, who stunned the sport four years ago when his home-made bike carried him to a world hour record, travelled to Perth as a reserve with the British team at the world track championships, which ended on Sunday.
``I will be looking at the world mile record to work out if it's feasible for me to break it again. Next year's individual pursuit world title is another target,'' Obree told Reuters in an interview during the five-day championships.
Obree rates himself about 90 percent fit after struggling last year because of a virus, missing out on the Atlanta Olympics.
Not content with changing bike design by bringing the pedals closer together to improve pedalling efficiency, Obree pioneered two new riding styles that revolutionised cycling techniques, changing the sport's appearance dramatically.
But the International Cycling Union (UCI), unhappy about the developments, changed the regulations to outlaw them, arguing a need to return to basics.
So often have his ideas brought Obree into conflict with officials, UCI chief Hein Verbruggen was moved to publicly deny the ruling body had a vendetta against the wiry Scotsman.
Obree believes the UCI hierarchy has long been uncomfortable with his highly individual approach to the sport.
``I don't think it is a personal thing, I believe it is about what I stand for -- which is innovation and change and radicalism.''
``A lot of people are scared by change, particularly older people that have seen their sport change so dramatically over the past decade,'' Obree said.
In 1993, Obree caused a senstation when he broke the prestigious one-hour record in Norway by covering 51.596 kilometres on a bike that including parts that were taken from an old washing machine.
Obree later introduced the ``Superman'' riding position with extended handlebars that allowed him to keep his arms straight while pedalling.
The UCI effectively banned the position by limiting the length of the handlebars after Italians Andrea Collinelli and Antonella Bellutti won in Atlanta using the technique.
Before that, Obree used the ``downhill skier'' position which was was banned two years ago by officials, who cited safety concern. While all this was going on he claimed two 4,000 metres individual pursuit crowns, most recently in Colombia in 1995.
``The reason they had to ban them was because it was associated with me -- they don't want me to become a legend, they guy that invented these position.
Obree believes the sport's hierarchy has always felt uneasy about an unknown ``coming out of the mists of Scotland'' to claim the prestigious hour record ahead of established road racing stars.
But he is happy for the UCI to keep tinkering with the regulations. ``Only through change can I keep innovating to gain an advantage. I rely on the rules being re-written,'' he said.
Late last year Obree clashed again with officialdom, this time by publicly declaring his fears about possible drug use.
His concerns centred on Erythropoietin (EPO), a substance that stimulates the production of red blood cells which transport oxygen around the body, improving endurance.
Since he went public in a French newspaper, the UCI have introduced blood testing to monitor EPO levels. Any rider with an abnormally high level of the substance in their system are immediately suspended from riding on health grounds.
For once, both parties are in complete agreement.
``The UCI was right to introduce that test and I applaud them for it. Now it's up to other sports to follow,'' Obree said.
Longer term, Obree is working on improving the gear system for bikes, a development he hopes to perfect over the next five years, before his retirement as a rider.
``I am looking at improving the efficiency of the transfer of energy from the foot to the wheel,'' said Obree, who concedes his work could lead to more disputes with UCI officials.
``That could happen but I'm determined to keep on looking for ways to improve,'' Obree said.