Pre 1950s rides of LFGSS: old bikes, vintage rats, classic lightweights

Evelyn Hamilton (The Person)

It's unusual nowadays for me to see a copy of Cycling Weekly but, by chance, I happen to have the issue for 3rd October '24. The photo below is on pages 60 and 61.

I'm almost certain the rider on the far right is Evelyn - it looks very much like her, and she's about the right age (Born 1906, so 24 in 1930) and, unlike the others, she has a proper bike - with sprints and tubs - note tapes. CW didn't notice what they'd got in that pic, or possibly didn't care.

She was a remarkable person, even if we don't believe absolutely everything she claimed. Good looking and photogenic she shines out of all those photos with dowdy looking blokes ( I'm including Claud Butler himself and he was generally a bit larger than life).

She claimed to be a champion cyclist and it's not hard to believe she was good, but just what women's championships were there in the 1930's? The French resistance story is great, if it's true, but if she was awarded the Cross of Lorraine it seems surprising that there is no record.

One thing that does seem to be beyond dispute is that she lived to be ninety nine (the same age as Eileen Sheridan). Evelyn certainly is an intriguing character and I hope all the stories are true, but I really would love to see a little more proof.