Cycling UK Forum

Firstly some sad news. Mike Vaughan (senior) was mentioned earlier in this thread. He passed away on 7th December.
See: https://en-gb.facebook.com/MikeVaughanCyc

I now have the full report of the 1963 Professional/Independent National Cycling Championship. This confirms it is the 7 mile circuit as mentioned earlier in this thread. Total distance was 93 miles.If anyone would like a copy PM me and I will email it to you. Thanks to all that contributed. Incidentally as well as my dad being third, my uncle, Billy Holmes, was 6th in the event.

I am looking to arrange for my dad to re-ride a lap or two next year, and will post an update here.

In terms of identifying the cyclists in the photo I posted, I now have numerous reports from the Isle of Man cycling weeks of 62 and 63, and am going through them to try to identify likely riders.

I have identified that Warwick University do hold an extensive archive of the Cycling/Cycling weekly etc.
See : https://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/NCA/4/11/67
And they hold a huge number of other cycling publications.
See https://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/NCA/4/11
I have arranged to visit them the week after next, I will post back here on the results.

I have passed on the best wishes to my dad from the various contacts that have been mentioned in this thread. He returns the compliments. He is interested in meeting up with old cycling colleagues, so I will look into that.

Thanks for that, now checking all the riders in that team. I think this may have been the 1962 event not 1963 as per my previous post.

Thanks again for the replies to this. As mentioned there are some slight discrepancies. I have checked back on OS maps of the time and am plotting the likely routes onto a public site that I will share here.

In the meantime here is a photo of a break in the Manx International Premier Trophy Road Race from 1963. We have identified three riders but are unsure on the other two, if anyone can identify them we would be grateful.

The identified rides are Alan Jacob on the left, Tom Simpson in the middle, Jacques Anquetil back left. The unknown rider at the front is wearing an Amstel Bier jersey. The rider on the right at the back is wearing a jersey that appears to say ???ane Froux. According to Cycling Archives, Tom Simpson went on to win this event with Manuel Manzano second and Huub Zilverberg third.

Thanks again for the continuing suggestions.

I have now checked the archives for the Kenilworth Weekly News for October 1963, this being the date and location given on the Cycling Archives site.

I could find no mention at all of the event. It could be that the date or location on Cycling Archives is wrong, or that the local paper simply did not report on a national event taking place in the town.

Thanks again for the help via this forum. I have tracked down a couple of paper archives which I need to visit as soon as I get time.

My dad remembers Colin Lewis and did meet him but says he never cycled against him. Colin really came onto the scene just as my dad finished his career. So he is pretty certain Colin did not ride in the 63 nationals.

My dad cycles with the Alton CC these days:
http://www.altoncyclingclub.org/

There is a photo of him here which I took when we were cycling in France earlier this year:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cbyga4rbdxvc29s/AAD6IWS3JNUqwaNSDi7-eJPga/Tours%2C%20audaxes%20etc?dl=0&preview=2018+20+Jun+-++Alan+Jacob+in+France.jpg&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

Thanks to all that have replied. The date of the event seems to have been added recently to cycling archives, it was not there when I had last checked.

I can find no other information on the internet about the event.

As it happens Alan Jacob is my dad, and is still cycling 100 miles a week, every week. (Although he is now on an Bianchi ebike having had trouble keeping up with the club members 40 years younger than himself.) The reason I am looking is that we would like to re-ride the route with him. Unfortunately he has no records of the event and only remembers it as being in the midlands.

I am pursuing some other leads for this, and will follow up the other suggestions in this thread.

I have been using a rear view radar for a couple of years now.

The radar normally detects cars before I can hear them, especially when riding into any sort of head wind. I have counted in my head and got up to 12 seconds between the radar beeping and being able to hear the approaching car. It is especially useful for detecting electric cars which can be virtually on top of you before you hear them. I use a mirror as well, but realistically I am spending more time looking ahead than looking at the mirror, so having a device that beeps to alert me of an approaching car is useful.

I find it of most use on quiet country roads where cars are less frequent. On busy roads you always know there are lots of cars so are taking precautions all the time anyway.

The radar is also good at picking up when there are two or three cars behind you. It means I know how many cars are coming past and am not surprised by a second car after one has passed.

Obviously the radar is not going to stop an irresponsible driver from hitting you, but it is alerting you to be more careful as cars come by.

Most of my cycling is on a tandem with a blind stoker. The radar is particularly useful when turning right off a main road. If it is telling me cars are coming then I will not bother to have a look behind. When it says the road is clear I will then look and check before moving to the right. Although it seems very reliable I would never move right without a visual check first.

Having the radar means I am always cycling with a rear light on, which I think is a sensible precaution for anyone. The radar is probably a bit better than a normal rear light as it lights up more as cars get nearer, helping to draw their attention. It is also useful for cyclists in a group behind me as the changing lights alert them to an approaching car as well.

In summary I think a rear view radar is a useful safety aid, but it does not replace cycling sensibly.

Does anyone know the exact date and route of the 1963 National Road Race Championship? I believe it was based in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Thanks.

Due to injury I was relegated to support driver and photographer this year. You will find photos on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16504094@N05/sets/72157631789062742/