Lance got it Wrong...
It seems that Lance Armstrong got it wrong. It's not EPO or Testosterone or HGS that you need, it's Ron's tea. Back in 1975, Ron received this letter from the Clarencourt CC after one of his TTs.
"Dear Mr Taylor,
We'd like to thank you for your event last Saturday. We came away happy with one 'personal' and two bests for several years. We can't work out why, as it didn't seem a good day particularly. After discussion, we've decided it was your tea*. We may not turn in fantastic times, but we do know about tea and we are unanimous in the opinion that yours was the best we can remembers. I had one before and one after and I'm now trying to get my money refunded from Boots for my stock of "Dynamo"**.
Yours truly,
Tony Rumbell, Colin Glanville and David Luhr"
(Thanks to Clarencourt CC for confirming the names. I note that a Norman Luhr is still the treasurer!)
* Ron has asked me to point out that the tea was provided not by him, but by the late Phil Smith and his wife Betty.
** Boots Dynamo was a popular and legal 'booster' for cycling!
Farnborough Cycling Club 90th Anniversary
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Farnborough Cycling Club was founded in 1921. The picture is of a medal from an FCC event, showing the basic elements of the current Farnborough and Camberley CC badge - the lion of England, the rose of Hampshire and England and the pine tree, for which Farnborough was famous. A.J (Gus) Rumble was a founder member. The club was originally only for men but they had several lady members by the mid 30’s including Mrs. Rumble. Gus Rumble and his son Albert owned a combined radio/cycle shop in North Camp that continued after the war right up to the 1980s. A racing/touring stalwart in the Camberley club, one John Tyler, worked behind the counter at Rumble’s for many years (he used to cycle from his home at Ascot daily). His knowledge and advice, combined with the Rumble family, ensured that most active and competitive clubmen from all the local clubs used their services and they kept a comprehensive stock of equipment. The book "Farnborough - A Second Selection" by Jo Gosney carries a photograph of Farnborough C.C. members, c.1930 outside the Town Hall, the caption suggesting that a cycling event was held in the town hall in 1934. This would have been on rollers and local clubs also competed. |
Camberley Wheelers Cycling Club
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The Camberley Wheelers badge was merely a shield, half royal blue and half light blue. This original Camberley Wheelers CC medal is from the 1940s. It is not known exactly when the club was formed, but it was a fully active and successful club in the early 1930s and may well have been founded in the 1920s. By 1935 regular Sunday club rides were held. Most pre-war cycle racing took place on the Reading and Herne Hill tracks. |
Formation of Farnborough and Camberley CC
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Farnborough and Camberley CC was formed in 1969, through the merger of Farnborough CC and Camberley Wheelers CC. C.W.C.C. had found that they were unable to get volunteers from within the club to act as club officials.They therefore approached Farnborough C.C officials with a view to a merger. C.W.C.C had ample funds and an impressive array of trophies to hand over, thus the merger did have its attractions. The meeting to agree the merger took place at the Jubliee Hall, Farnborough (now replaced by the Thompson building) on the 5th January 1969. Of those attending, 21 were in favour, 5 against and 3 people abstained. As can be seen, the components of the Farnborough CC badge were used as the basis for that of the new club. |
FCCC over the years
Many thanks to Vince and Gene Alexander for providing these reminisces and photos, and for loaning the two medals whose pictures appear in these articles.
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Gene joined Camberley Wheelers C.C. in 1935 when she was 19 years old. Her family were involved in cycling way back at the turn of the century when her grandfather ran a business in Bexley Heath, Kent making the early forms of bicycle. This picture shows Gene's mother sitting in a dog cart. |
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Here we see Gene’s mother on a bicycle ride with her sister and their father (who clearly had recently returned from the Boer War). Before her marriage Gene’s mother was an active member of the Catford C.C. and her enthusiasm for the sport was obviously handed down to Gene and her brothers. |
Vince writes:
In the 1950’s CWCC's printing was done by a Mr Appleton who used to have printing equipment in a lean-to attached to his house in Yateley. I used to enjoy chatting with him when I took our clubs requirements to him, He was ‘born and bred’ locally and he remembered an active cycling club that had affiliations and attachment to a Camberley church situated just off the High Street. He could not name the cycling club but he was sure that they were active in the early years of the 20th. Century
When I joined the club in 1945, I do remember that, like most clubs across the country, it was expanding its membership.. There was local competition for new members between the neighbouring Farnborough and Camberley clubs, and the pool of youth being built up within the Royal Aircraft Establishment at the time was a prime source (As an Apprentice I was one of these!). The RAE used to run an annual sports day through the 1950’s and cycle events were included on the grass track laid out on the sports field.. Thus there was competition between employees who were also members of both clubs and I think that this added to the rivalry that existed between the 2 clubs. From my recollection I know that I tended to be placed second in these events behind a ‘fast’ Farnborough C.C lad called ‘Spud’ Harris.
Cycle racing on Grass tracks was very popular through the late 1940’s and the 1950’s. Most events were combined with Annual Carnivals promoted by local towns.. The Camberley club had the task of covering all the arrangements for the cycling competition within Camberley’s carnival day. I remember having to measure out the ground available on Camberley’s recreational ground and I finally laid out a 440 yard track that had 2 different radii to utilise fully the available space. The cycle racing entries for Camberley’s events (and that for many of the local towns events) were restricted to the clubs within the Border Cycling Association. However grass track meetings closer to London (Windsor for instance) were open to all and there were racing cyclists at the time who specialised in this form of our sport. Thus there were products produced such as tubular tyres designed specifically to be used on grass.
Local towns that organised Grass track events in the 1950’s that I can remember were Camberley, Farnham, Alton, Basingstoke and Guildford. Guildford, incidentally, ran senior grass track events before the war and these attracted the countries major racing cyclists. My club at the time used to attend the Carnival town meetings but we treated them primarily as a ‘fun day out.’ Although we rode the cycling events, we also used to enter such events as the 3 legged running event and a ‘tilt the bucket’ event (then popular with the audience!) I particularly recall riding at a Farnham event one year when rain had made ‘their 6 lap to the mile’ track ‘very dodgy’. For the sake of those who had paid to view the event the clubmen decided to ‘give it a go.’ Inevitably riders ‘came down’ on the bends and it became a case of getting back up, checking your bike and getting on again. I particularly remember this event because, within a crash in a heat, a Farnborough C.C. competitor damaged his wheel. I ran across with my bike to lend him mine; tripped over a marking peg and broke my leg! While in the hospital I was joined by 2 other clubmen with injuries. One clubman had even damaged his leg while taking part in the 3 legged race!
