Dave Holden, who sadly died last week, was a founding member and the first chairman of Cleveland Wheelers. As a tribute to him we’ve taken the opportunity to reproduce an article that he wrote for the Spokesman magazine on the club’s 50th anniversary in 2008.
Fifty years ago cycling politics was in crisis. The National Cyclists Union, the governing body for road racing (often called “mass start” in those days) sensibly insisted that events should be held on closed roads.
However, apart from a few prestige events like the Isle of Man, and locally the Richmond Road Race, ‘mass start’ events usually meant riders getting dizzy racing round and round a trading estate until the officials ran out of fingers and toes to count the laps; then there was a problem keeping count of all those who’d been lapped on such a short circuit. This type of racing was a minority but growing interest at the time and the rival British League of Racing Cyclists was formed to run events which mixed riders up with traffic. The NCU promptly excommunicated the BLRC and its members. Meanwhile the RTTC had dropped its requirement for all black attire it but still required the first rider be pushed off well before the lark had staggered out of its nest. And track racing! That was something we just read about.
Cleveland Wheelers 