Life Cycle

I was fortunate to make some good friends through my cycling years whilst away at Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham in the early 1980's.

I did not really engage with those on my course which, over it's four years duration, sounds like I had a real attitude problem but frankly I did not have much in common with the other 90 or so students with whom I had lectures and tutorials on  a daily basis.

I was more interested in my cycling and without any outlet within the activities of the Poly to do this  I wandered astray and after finding the nearest bike shop to my digs I asked if there were any local clubs who were taking on new members. The bike shop was Langdale Lightweights in Mapperley, a suburb about three miles out of Nottingham City Centre and the owners, the Greens were friendly and helpful. They mentioned a few clubs in what was an active area for racing teams, what with the Raleigh bikes and a rich heritage of competition in the city and for some reason the Trent Valley Cycle Racing Team sounded progressive and interesting.

They met weekly in a church hall just down the road from the bike shop and I turned up one dark, late autumn night on foot. The hall quickly filled with riders and bikes, in their winter gear and with proper lights and equipment for the time of year. I was immediately made welcome by the team coach and my status as a student was evidently quite a novelty amongst an otherwise local membership from schoolboys and girls to seniors. I was asked all of the usual stereotypical questions about student life and I felt as though their only other experience of students was from watching The Young Ones on TV. Perhaps they thought I was a bit like the Rik Mayall character because I spoke without a Nottin'em accent and came from somewhere with a girly sounding name,  Beverley. That made me a bit posh and affected.

I knew that I was in the right place because everyone talked and lived cycling and importantly competitive cycling which consisted of mass start road racing and individual time trialling. The sociable aspect of the club was matched by the training runs, circuit training in the hall and regular film nights when we would marvel at the grainy images of cycling epics such as 'Stars and Water Carriers' about the Tour of Italy and features on Eddy Merckx and his contemporaries.

Nottingham was a hotbed of cycling and hosted a round of the televised Kelloggs city centre races in 1983. All of the European stars were there and as I wandered about soaking up the pre-race atmosphere I bumped into Stephen Roche and nearly got run over by Jan Raas. It was a great evening and two of the Trent Valley lads were prominent in the junior support race and got their faces on TV.

The Saturday Club runs were an eye opener to me as I had only ridden on my own before but found myself paired up in a long drawn out group of around 20 as we left the busy city roads and headed towards a café in the Derbyshire Peak District or into Lincolnshire, to Grantham or east to Newark. It was necessary to concentrate so as not to cause an almighty pile up and the two by two convoy ebbed and flowed as each pair took it in turns to lead into the headwind or avoid potholes and roadside debris. Conversation was possible and I was again quizzed on student life and I certainly dispelled many myths and legends based on my own quite mundane existence.

After a few months on the chain gang and benefitting from the experience of my peers and seniors at the club they considered me ready for my first competitive event. I paid my subs and got a Racing Licence. My first ever event was a 37.5 miles hilly time trial and although the rider after me caught me I managed to prevent other humiliations and finished about half way down the field.

Shortly after the Trent Valley Cycle Racing Team entered a road race on the Lowdham circuit east of Nottingham and I made up the four man team. I got a mention in the local sports section of the newsapaper for my efforts which consisted of trying to help our best rider to win but getting 'baulked'- good word that- by a crash in the chasing group.

I did not really do a great deal and in the whole of my racing years only managed one win and a few lower placings. It is sad to say that I have dined out on those paltry acheivements ever since. However, the friendships I made in my Nottingham years were special to me and although I have drifted away in terms of time and locations I do recall those times as some of the most memorable and fulfilling in my involvement in cycling.

I was therefore thrilled to be contacted just this week by one of my former team mates whom I have not seen for the last 28 years and we are hoping to be able to get together, compare beer bellies and bald heads, and reminisce quite soon.