The Historic Racers Cycling Thread

[Adam43]

That’s alright, I knew what you meant.

[E.B]

Pure self indulgence post here. Apologies in advance. I see Bob and others posting photos here of their cycling adventures from times gone..... I never really got into cycling. I grew up in Africa, went to boarding (prep) school, and then Mum and Dad moved back to England when I was 14. I had a bike then but it was used to visit local friends only. My new (day)school was a train ride away in Kingston on Thames. As soon as I was 16 I got into motor bikes and used to ride them to school. My bicycle was gladly passed on to my brother.

I do actually have a bike now but I admit that our own Delta has ridden more miles on it than I have or ever will. (I lent it to Iain when he came to Phillip Island a few years ago.) It is still hanging up on the garage wall.

However my late Father was a very keen cyclist in his teens and like some of you people did, before I was born he rode bikes long distances in England... probably like Bob, cycling to racetracks to watch his much adored BRMs racing. (He lived in Bristol and Castle Combe was a regular visit.)
That continued until he met Mum and bought an old MGTC. He started working in Africa in his early twenties and transport was a Land Rover..

I never actually saw him ride a bike but heard the tales and saw photos.

Fast forward to when he was in his sixties, still working for Fyffes bananas, now in their London office. He came came home one day and announced to Mum he had borrowed a bike and was dong a Fyffes sponsored charity ride that weekend. No training or anything like that. The ride IIRC started in Hammersmith but certainly ended in Brighton. He was under strict orders from Mum to just do a few miles and she would drive with the support party and pick him up. Orders of dont do anything silly etc.

Fortunately I was in Aus otherwise I am sure I would have got roped in to join the ride myself.

The day of the ride came, and Dad headed off to the start point and set off towards Brighton. And just kept riding. He rode all the way to Brighton, much to Mum's distress. Many half his age gave up. Not Dad though. He was one of the last to arrive in Brighton, but he made it all the way, raising money for charity in the process. He came home by car though

I was looking through photos the other day and found a photo of him on the bike I believe in Brighton at the end of that ride, complete with yellow (bananas) T shirt on. I thought it was a good effort for a bloke in his sixties who hadnt sat on a bike for over 40 years.

None of his cycling enthusiasm wore off on me though. Im happy just to read about it here.

Dad is on the left.

[Mike Harte]

That looks like it's Madeira Drive, Brighton, Chris, where they use to run the car and motorbike time trials.

And it's a small world; I used to be a supplier to Fyffes as well as the competition, Geest.

[bauble]

Ah! So that is why the leader of Le Tour wears a yellow jersey

[E.B]

I think I just spotted our Bob in a bike race in his youth.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1817875745374376155

[morninggents]

Oh! You mean the guy holding the bike at the end of the film? Roughly the same age bracket.

[356sc]

Originally Posted by E.B

I think I just spotted our Bob in a bike race in his youth.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1817875745374376155

[bauble]

The truth;

[Gerard C]

Nice anti-fart integrated system ont the two first pics. Have on patent on this may be?

[Gerard C]

Wonderful and well deserved gold medal for Remco Evenepoel flying in the Parisian streets. Including the epic rue Lepic.

[andy97]

As mentioned a few days ago, I was supposed to do my 2nd ever gravel bike ride event yesterday in Norfolk, with Glorious Gravel. 85km taking in the Peddars Way and various off road tracks etc from Fakenham to Hunstanton and back.
Unfortunately it did not go to plan.
At about 1/3 distance I fell off on a narrow and tricky bit of the the Peddars Way and went over the handlebars, landing on my shoulder.
Spent 3 hours on my back in the dirt alternately being rained on and in the sun, waiting for an ambulance which never arrived, before the organisers got me to A&E.
Have badly broken my shoulder and upper arm. In a lot of pain. Have an appt with the fracture clinic on Tuesday to see what the way ahead is.
Currently dosed up on cocadomol and trying not to move.
This is what happens when you try and get a bit fitter!

[E.B]

'Sheet', sorry to hear that Andy. All the best for a full and speedy recovery. It sounds like given the multi-directional movement aspect of that part of the body the post op recovery will be a bit more complex than a straight broken arm or something.
Fingers crossed and all the best with it all. Get back to normal asap.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by andy97

As mentioned a few days ago, I was supposed to do my 2nd ever gravel bike ride event yesterday in Norfolk, with Glorious Gravel. 85km taking in the Peddars Way and various off road tracks etc from Fakenham to Hunstanton and back.
Unfortunately it did not go to plan.
At about 1/3 distance I fell off on a narrow and tricky bit of the the Peddars Way and went over the handlebars, landing on my shoulder.
Spent 3 hours on my back in the dirt alternately being rained on and in the sun, waiting for an ambulance which never arrived, before the organisers got me to A&E.
Have badly broken my shoulder and upper arm. In a lot of pain. Have an appt with the fracture clinic on Tuesday to see what the way ahead is.
Currently dosed up on cocadomol and trying not to move.
This is what happens when you try and get a bit fitter!

Bad news Andy, I hope you recover soon

[bauble]

Andy, like everyone on here, I wish you a full, speedy, and pain free recovery, it is frustrating being unable to offer practical help, so if you PM me an address, I will happily send you a few books/DVD to help pass the time you are inactive. Obviously I have no idea about your tastes in literature, or what you watch, so it will be racing oriented.

I hope the bike is alright, as I trust this little tumble () does not put you off cycling, perhaps you should watch Tom Pidcock's Olympic Gold Medal ride a few times, pick up a few tips on riding rough terrain.

So keep us all informed on progress, and Il carborundum Illegittimi'.
Best wishes.

Bob.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by andy97

Spent 3 hours on my back in the dirt alternately being rained on and in the sun, waiting for an ambulance which never arrived, before the organisers got me to A&E.
Currently dosed up on cocadomol and trying not to move.

Sorry for this, Andy. Might have been worse though. Red warning light is on, stay quite for a while if I may suggest, don't push your chance. Yes, you've been built tough!

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by andy97

As mentioned a few days ago, I was supposed to do my 2nd ever gravel bike ride event yesterday in Norfolk, with Glorious Gravel. 85km taking in the Peddars Way and various off road tracks etc from Fakenham to Hunstanton and back.
Unfortunately it did not go to plan.
At about 1/3 distance I fell off on a narrow and tricky bit of the the Peddars Way and went over the handlebars, landing on my shoulder.
Spent 3 hours on my back in the dirt alternately being rained on and in the sun, waiting for an ambulance which never arrived, before the organisers got me to A&E.
Have badly broken my shoulder and upper arm. In a lot of pain. Have an appt with the fracture clinic on Tuesday to see what the way ahead is.
Currently dosed up on cocadomol and trying not to move.
This is what happens when you try and get a bit fitter!

Peddars Way is an old Roman road , and parts of it have not had much maintenance since those times .
Have been along many parts of it on 4 wheels , and it is quite tough going , so on 2 wheels it is bound to be a lot harder .

Sorry to hear about your injuries , and hope you get better soon .

[andy97]

Thanks everyone for your good wishes, I am taking the pain killers and trying not to move much.
Will see what the clinic says on Tuesday. My sister (a physio) thinks, from my description, that they will operate but we will see.
Haven’t looked at the bike yet, it’s in the garage and I am staying put for the moment.
Sister reckons I won’t be playing golf, driving, or much else for up to a couple of months, maybe longer.
Work is also an issue as cannot type long bid answers with just one hand. No work= no pay - The disadvantage of being self employed.
Thank god for the Royal Navy pension scheme!
As for the a Peddars Way, where I fell off was very narrow & no more than a single cycle width. interestingly the organisers described the route as 2 out of 5 for difficulty and suitable for novices. My sister in law (an Ironman triathlete and very experienced off road cyclist, including competing in off road cycling events in the Yukon and Sweden) described it as “highly technical in parts, requiring an experienced bike handler”.
On the route setting day on Friday, one of the event staff fell off her bike and broke her hip, requiring a hip replacement yesterday. Near where I fell, someone else broke their collar bone, another injured their elbow and yet another damaged their shoulder as well!!!!!
Motor racing is far less dangerous!!!

[Gerard C]

Work might be the biggest issue because when a self employed is away for too long the market seem to forget about him. May be you can test speech recognition, many work fine now once you've understood how to deal with, then with one hand you can fix what has been wrongly interpreted and/or typed.
As to play golf again after a couple of months…

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Work might be the biggest issue because when a self employed is away for too long the market seem to forget about him. May be you can test speech recognition, many work fine now once you've understood how to deal with, then with one hand you can fix what has been wrongly interpreted and/or typed.
As to play golf again after a couple of months…

I may try speech recognition software but most likely course of action is to dictate stuff to my wife for her to type up!

[morninggents]

That's a great idea. Of course her second word could be 'off'.

Sorry to hear about your woes.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by morninggents

That's a great idea. Of course her second word could be 'off'.

Sorry to hear about your woes.

Thanks, she volunteered!

[Gerard C]

Afterwards she will know everything about your deepest secrets. Not an easy task to be a James Bond girl! More seriously, you're both lucky because this is a -rether- happy ending to what could have been a real drama. Good and fast recovery Andy.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Afterwards she will know everything about your deepest secrets. Not an easy task to be a James Bond girl! More seriously, you're both lucky because this is a -rether- happy ending to what could have been a real drama. Good and fast recovery Andy.

She will only be typing up work stuff, not my 10-Tenths posts!

[andy97]

Went to King’s Lynn QE Hospital fracture clinic today.
Have fractured proximal humerous in 3 or 4 places, one displaced. Have done the job properly!
Referred to Derby fracture clinic for further assessment.
Touch & go whether i will need an Op or not!

[E.B]

Blimey you dont mss about do you. Certainly done a proper job on it. As before all the best for a full and speedy recovery. Fingers crossed it ends up a surgery free process.