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Part 3: 1986 – 1988

With the new name of Central London to confuse the rest of the DA, 1986 started badly with the closure of our closely associated clubroom. Although the dingy basement was never comfortable, it had the merit of being cheap, and when the church needed it for rebuilding work it was impossible to find a suitable alternative immediately. The regulars continued to meet in the Three Compasses pub nearby, and evening rides were organised in the summer as a replacement. 1986 also saw the abolition of the GLC and its cycle project team which had designed and funded most of the new cycle facilities in London.

A hostel weekend in the depths of winter at Badby endured snow and ice bound roads, damp blankets, frozen toilets, and needed no encouragement to seek the warmth and comfort of the pub in the evenings. The Easter tour pre extension suffered gales and cream teas in Cornwall, with better weather for the main tour in Devon. Peter Cave retired with a broken bottom bracket as usual, but we did meet up with the Finchley section. Martin Fisher led an alternative tour to the Po Valley in Italy.

Visits were organised to vintage cycle rallies at Heme Hill and Benson. The CTC's Triennial Vets ride was supported by nine section members who rode the 100 mile course as marshals, some complaining afterwards that they had difficulty keeping up with the veterans. Roger Cline tried an innovation to the BCTC heat that year by starting it in Central London from Marylebone station with rough stuff across Hampstead Heath. In July Martin Fisher led a "fourth attempt" to reach Bodiam Castle, having been defeated by weather and British Rail on previous rides. Martin also organised a second overseas trip in August, renting a cottage on the Cherbourg peninsula, but poor weather spoilt the weekend. A second DA hostel weekend at Blackboys was supported mainly by section members, but the barn dance success of the previous year was repeated. Hindhead hostel was the location for a cookery contest organised by Fuzz, and won by Mark and Graham; Fuzz earned no points for "jellied kippers on toast".

Roy Watson came off in Richmond Park on the Strauss Autumn tea ride, leading to a comment at the hospital "policeman meets sleeping policeman and comes off worse"; fortunately not seriously. Pre-Christmas apathy and appalling weather resulted in a ride from Slough only making as far as Windsor Park, and was nominated by its leader Richard Dudley-Hughes for the Velocipede award - the rest of the section agreed. Christmas itself was spent at Glascwm on the Welsh borders, where Dave Kurtz proved that he could boil anything dry, and the tour moved to Stow for the New Year.

A walking weekend at Bradenham hostel started 1987 with almost no controversy, in contrast to that some years earlier. Finchley section's joint ride with ourselves and the Tandem Club brought out a good number of solos as well for a damp ride into Hertfordshire. Early season attractions were a ride to three windmills in one day, and an afternoon spent ice skating.

The Easter tour started in the Cotswolds and suffered excellent weather and sunburn through the Welsh borders, before the main group joined in for a few laps of Snowdonia. Rough stuff included Wayfarers pass and the Llangollen canal. Dave Kurtz somehow managed to get lost on the Severn Bridge cycle track. Group catering brought Parmesan cheese shortages to Mid Wales, and Peter stripped a freewheel this time.

Summer fashion was a new line in T shirts at £4 each with a Central London design. Another success was restarting the clubroom after 18 months in a new location; ironically for committed cyclists this was at the civil service centre underneath the Department of Transport. The section's "social secretary" Mike Bryan deserves the credit.

A Whitsun hostel weekend at the new Ridgway hostel was a remarkable failure in having only two members present, neither of whom realised the other was there! Summer brought out our most junior member, Michael Everitt, son of Dave and Eva, who attended the August bank holiday trip to the New Forest wearing a mini section T-shirt. Pat and Mike started a new career by leading a CTC national tour to Anglesey which was supported by section and DA members despite the weather.

The section committee exercised its sense of humour by selecting the list of items to be collected on the DA scavenger hunt which included a cobweb, a cowpat, and an ice cube; one group actually managed to "find" everything. The "Great Storm" in October brought down many thousands of trees throughout South East England, with Sevenoaks being reputedly reduced to one. Runs were disrupted, with no one attending the hostel weekend at Tanners Hatch that followed.

The DA's 50th anniversary was celebrated by a dinner in Ealing, and commemorative coffee mugs. Publicity for proposals for a cycle route along the Thames valley from London to the source of the river was given by a number of joint rides with the LCC along the towpath; in one instance by separate groups riding from London and Oxford to meet up halfway. Much mud was encountered along the route.

Despite significant disinterest in DA events the section won the Chapman trophy, apathy in other sections proving even greater. I well remember the last 40 miles of the 140 after limping home when a pedal fell off in Dorking. The Christmas buffet took over the "Hat Shop" as usual for a reunion of both regular, occasional, and past members. Christmas at Overton and New Year in the Cotswolds proved to be so cold and damp that some even went home early.

The transient nature of Central London has meant that the section must try harder to maintain its membership. By the start of 1988 Dave Everitt, a founder member, had moved with family to Haslemere, Richard Philpott, renowned in the section for his tea-making, left for Crewe and helped establish a new section there, and the Dudley-Hughes took the Velocipede award and cat to Oxford. However the fresh ideas and enthusiasm of new members enrich the section from year to year to supplement our backbone of established riders, some of whom still refuse to go away. Behind the scenes as always have been Pat and Graham who keep the section going, and before that Brian Young who helped restart cycling in Central London.

Whilst the use of trains to get out of London was the foundation of the section's success, the BR connection has not been without problems and incidents. Runs leaders are often required to show considerable powers of persuasion and organisation when attempting to load large numbers of cycles into small guards vans, or coping with "Sunday working" alterations to time tables and rolling stock. A "Network" rail card introduced in 1986 means regular group discounts on fares, but new rolling stock and increasing restrictions on cycles by train will make it difficult to operate our style of cycling club from central London in future.

Conceived as an urban cycling group, and with most members using a bicycle as their everyday transport in central London, there has always been a strong interest in "cyclists’ rights". Three members, John Franklin, Malcolm Green, and Pat Strauss, have been elected CTC councillors and chaired the Town and Countryside Committee. Many others have been persuaded to attend meetings, sit on committees, write letters, or stand on street corners counting bicycles. The section was founded in the same year as the London Cycling Campaign, and has a considerable joint membership: we wish them a happy anniversary as well.

Early season rides seem to have taken place in particularly dirty weather, with gratuitous rough stuff leaving an overall impression of mud both in the mind and on the bike. The traditional hard start to the Easter tour took on the Pennines with such a ferocious appetite for hills that some were left literally by the roadsidel A rough stuff crossing of Cross Fell by the old corpse road to Garrigill led by Peter Cave brought back memories of an Easter tour eight years earlier which encountered High Cup Nick: in those days leaders didn't have to contend with mountain bikes, but this year Dan showed a clean pair of pedals on the descent to the pub for lunch. Peter shed chain ring bolts this year.

The spring calendar has included the usual range of rides, including such favourites as the London to Brighton (and back), hostel weekends, and good representation at the Home Counties and York Rallies. The section's actual birthday passed unnoticed at the CTC AGM, but was celebrated later in June by a hostel weekend at Hindhead with a barbecue organised by Dave and Eva. Some forty one members meet to renew friendships, and talk over past rides and riders. Four (Pat, Mike, Jo and Ben) from the original ten who set out one damp Sunday from Camden Town on the section's first ride, had the honour of cutting a bicycle shaped birthday cake. Somehow, in between all the eating, drinking, and reminiscing, time was found to enjoy a bit of cycling: Happy Birthday "Camden".

John Aizlewood
October 1988

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