Not many people other than those involved in cycling will know the name of Dave Rayner.
He was born in 1967 in West Yorkshire in the North of England into a cycling family with his father having been a first category racer or what is now referred to as Elite.
As with most youngsters surrounded by all things cycling Dave Rayner joined his first local club at the age of 12 and his talent was soon to be shown with a National Road Race Title to his name at the age of 17.
UK cycling at that time did not really offer a career path and those good enough to turn professional were in a small pool of domestic riders and although regularly competing all over the country it was rather parochial compared to the continental scene.
A few home grown riders packed a bag and on a shoestring budget and with little in the way of language skills just tried out the French, Belgian, Italian and Spanish way of cycling life. It was a case of racing and attempting to win primarily to get noticed but also to get some prize money to cover not just race day expenses but also basic living costs.
Homesickness and an inability or unwillingness to integrate with the host nations and lifestyle saw for many riders who rather than risk starvation, just returned to these shores none the wiser for the experience. It was of course in the days before social media, mobile phones and personal computers with little or no chance of regualr contact with family and friends to provide encouragement.
A few excelled after showing immediate skill and tactical acumen being nursed through academy teams and catching the eye of the managers of the second string and professional racing teams. This promotion opened up great opportunities and reasonable salaries which could be topped up with win bonuses and the generosity of the sponsors.
In the seventies and eighties there was a career in cycling for Paul Sherwen and John Herety from England, Robert Millar from Scotland and the most accomplished pair from Ireland notably Steven Roche and Sean Kelly.
Dave Rayner's natural affinity for the sport made him an ideal candidate to progress further and he went to Italy at the beginning of 1984 and rode for the G.S.Porcari-Fanini-Berti Team.
He was riding with the likes of Mario Cipollini and Andrea Tafi and remained there until the end of 1986. In 1985 Dave came 14th in the Junior World Road Race Champs and 5th in the World Junior Team Time Trial Champs at Stuttgart.
In 1987 Dave won the under 22 award in the Milk Race and then turned pro for the Interent-Yugo Team in Britain.
In 1988 he joined the Raleigh-Banana Team, won the under 22 award again in the Milk Race and came 8th overall.
1989 saw him with Raleigh-Banana again and 8th overall again in the Milk Race and for the 3rd year running [a record] he won the under 22 award again.
He joined the Banana-Falcon Team in 1990 and in that year won the Scottish Provident Criterium Series overall.
In 1991/2 he went to Holland and rode for the Buckler Team under former World Champion Jan Raas. He went to the USA for 1993 joining the I.M.E-Health Share Team which was not very successful so for 1994, his final season he came back to Britain and joined the Lex-Townsend Team, coming 2nd in the National Criterium Champs in Milford Haven.
Tragically, Dave Rayner died aged 27 after an incident with a doorman outside the Maestro nightclub, in Manningham Lane, Bradford.
He was put on a life support machine at Bradford Royal Infirmary but died next day.
In November 1994. the nightclub worker was charged with manslaughter but, when the case came to court on 18 November 1995, the judge decided that there was not enough evidence to charge him and, having already pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault, the defendant was instead put on probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. In effect he was able to walk freely away.
This sentencing came as a complete shock to the Rayner supporters."We arrived at the court for a 10am start, and both sets of lawyers and the judge went into chambers telling us nothing," said David's father John. "After three hours they told us there was not enough evidence to link Johnson with the death of our David."
Serena, David's wife said: "We have been badly let down by the Crown Prosecution Service".However, she ruled out further action, saying: "I believe Dave would want us to get on with our lives now but at the end of a year's wait it is a sad way to end. Just think, his life was worth only 100 hours of community service."
A lasting tribute to the memory of Dave Rayner was sought and what better way to achieve this than through a funding scheme to support home grown riders in the European race scene. Financial support of this type would mean one less worry when living abroad and allow more time to concentrate on the all important training and racing. The cycling community responded with generosity and support.
Amongst the first beneficiaries of the fund set up in Rayner's memory to support young British riders racing abroad was Dave Millar who only retired this year after a momentous career which earned him the respect of the peleton especially after returning to the professional ranks after a doping ban. Support was also given to Danny Webb, who raced in Belgium and France, Paul Moore and Daniel Moore and the super domestique (team rider) Charly Wegelius, now a team manager.
Since its inception over £600,000 in grants has been given to 350 riders to enable them to race abroad including, most recently champions like Adam Yates and regular winners including Dan Martin and Ian Stannard.
I do remember Dave Rayner in his racing days as his meteoric rise was at the same time as my much less so with competitive cycling. I can appreciate what it took to be an Elite category rider as a main job from my own exertions as an amateur which yielded nothing more than one win in a minor event and a few placings for points and Dave Rayner has my utmost respect.
I have tried to put back something into cycling after it has, and continues to give me much enjoyment, mainly through being a sponsor of a local team for fifteen years until quite recently.
The Dave Rayner Fund does benefit in a small way from my efforts in that old jerseys bearing the name of my company when obsolete after a few seasons are retrieved from the rather fusty back room of a local bike shop and sold for £5 with all proceeds going to aspiring young riders.
Dave Rayner should be well pleased with the contribution made in his name to the huge success of British cycling in recent years with Olympic triumphs, Tour de France wins and major placings on podiums.
Out of tragedy does come something good. Nice One Dave.
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