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@yoav
See what you mean, that is a nice Raleigh, although the club bikes weren't anything like that. That's a club bike I am riding in my photo. No idea what make they were as they were all painted the same plain blue. Later on, I was loaned a lovely chrome track bike by a fellow club member whose name I forget and then in 1979 I got my own track frame built by a builder called Alec Bird in SE London. He had a workshop at the back of the old Holdsworth shop in ?Penge?. I kept that frame for many years hoping I'd race again but never did. In 1995, I met a young cyclist so keen to race on the track, I felt sorry for her and gave her the frame.
I rode at Herne Hill just the once but never at Welwyn. More recently, I've had a couple of goes at the Manchester velodrome. They do "taster" sessions for about £10, no experience necessary, but I soon got the hang of the wooden bankings.
I also remember well those early morning rides from central London to time trials in the outer suburbs. Did more miles getting there and back than the race.
And to add to the name dropping, I can say that I raced against Sean Yates when he was riding for the Archer RC (sponsored by Cutty Sark whiskey) at Paddington. Of course, when I say 'raced', I mean I was on the same track at approximately the same time as him. Any impression of actually racing him is purely accidental :-)