Paddington Cycling Club?

Good to hear John is alive and well, and only 70. I was a member of the club in my teens in the latter half of the 70s. I posted a photo of racing at Paddington track earlier in this thread and would love to see more. Will there be ever a Paddington CC reunion, I wonder?

A bit of an update on John Austin, I met him and some of the old PCC members on Wednesday and I had under estimated his age, John is now 81.
I found an old club membership list from 1979 and Yoav from Warrington Creesent is on it. I mentioned this site to John and will be sending him the URL, hopefully he will drop in to say hello some time.
Tony Gowland was also on the list as an hon member.
I remember going to Bangor a few times and have fond memories of the wardens 2 daugthers.

Here is a picture of me in a race at Battersea park in the late 70's.I will dig out some more pic's of PCC members and post them soon.

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81! Gosh! Does he still cycle?

Yup, Yoav from Warrington Crescent, that's me. Does John remember me :-)

Would be great to talk to him again.

...

Hi all

I am not a cyclist but I was browsing for information on Paddington Recreation Ground Cycle Track and came across this forum.

My father was a keen road and track cyclist in the early 1930's and I have a splendid collection of medals won over a number of years.

I have managed to find a Getty Library photo of the track in 1937 and a history of the building of the recreation ground around 1890. I would like to ask if anyone has any photos, documents etc. relating to the Paddington track during the period 1930 to 1935 which is when he was most active.

Thanks

What is your father's name?

I would be very interested to see any old photographs of the track and read any information you might like to share with us.

My father's name was William (Bill) Sansom.

The only records I have are a West London Cycling Association certificate from 1932 and a list of his medals (dates, distance, time etc.) from the Dragon Road Club and Western NCU won between 1929 and 1932. I also, of course, have the actual medals.

The 'Getty' photo and history of the building of the ground I found on the internet.

I have tried uploading a file of the 'Getty' photo of an accident on the banking in 1937 and the certificate but I keep getting a file upload error message. I could try reducing the file sizes.

Whiskers, I remember them as they built my first proper road bike I had a Ken Ryall frame bought some new Campag bits and kept some of my old stuff then slowly upgraded to some Shimano 600 bits and pieces.

One of the photos I posted up was a fellow PCC member and he is riding the club tandem, that was fun to take around the track.

I remember Steve Hefernan (sp) used to race at the Rec sometimes and I think as most cyclists in the day he worked part time at Condor.

Jeeez I remember John and his lets cycle 35 miles have a 30 min rest do a 25 miler time trial then when thats finished cycle home. Lucky he always had some liquid glucose with him hidden away, remember hill climbs and tricycle racing and there was that old timer with one leg that would crop up at those meets.

Kingsbury Circus yeah thats the meeting point I remember one run when some youngster turned up all beaming as his Dad had bought him a new bike (the equivalent of a £99 Halfords special) and the trip was to Amersham, half way there the bike started to disintegrate and somehow he limped into town and John had to pay his fare back to London as there was no way he was cycling back.

I also fcuking hated/detested having to repair Tubs grrrrrrrrrrrr

Go on admit it did any of you shave your legs as the lady spectators loved the smooth feel of your legs smothered in a cream to keep the muscles warm ;p

The club tandem... now there was a machine. I renovated that before it was sold, it had cinelli steel bars and stem with 40/32 campag super record hubs, it was a tad on the small side.. built for a japanese pairing to ride at tokyo'64, according to the club gossip. I rode it at Welwyn with Spencer Kirkham on the front, scarey stuff.

I was a member of PCC in the early 1990s - here is a picture of me in a 2up TT with Tim Dolphin

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Is that you at the front or the back?

that looks like Tim at the back..

I'm the one at the front. A few of the guys from back then are still racing with the Finchley Race Team.

I am with London Phoenix these days.

An early proponent of tri-bars I see, and is that a Colnago you're riding?

wasn't there a velodrome somewhere around paddington earlier this century ? i seem to recall some old biffer talking about it at herne hill a while back ? wonder if the cycling club was linked to that somehow

Yes and yes. I began (and ended) my cycle racing career with Paddington CC based at the track at Paddington Rec. Sadly, the track was demolished a few years ago. There is a photo of me racing at the track earlier in this thread.

wasn't there a velodrome somewhere around paddington earlier this century ? i seem to recall some old biffer talking about it at herne hill a while back ? wonder if the cycling club was linked to that somehow

There's quite a lot of info about the track on the first page of this thread, Julian.

An early proponent of tri-bars I see, and is that a Colnago you're riding?

Yes - I still have the Colnago hanging in my shed - purchased from Whiskers in Willesden Lane NW2. It's not in a ridable condition at the moment..one day I plan to refurbish it.

I used to lust over the Colnagos owned by other PCC members - couldn't afford one myself at the the time. The best I managed then was a Woodrup also bought from Whiskers about 1982. I finally managed to satisfy my Colnago lust earlier this year when someone gave me a rusty early 90's Colnago which I had refurbished and I now ride.

So when did Whiskers close then?

Whiskers in Kilburn i'm guessing it shut in the mid to late 90's.

They're in Welwyn Garden City now... and deals to be had!!

They always had a separate mail-order business based somewhere north of London. In the pre-internet days, their catalogue was a godsend. Strange that they don't seem to have a website, or none that I can find.

Who was the guy that ran the shop in Kilburn Lane? He was always very helpful to me but he didn't suffer fools gladly. Is he still around?

They always had a separate mail-order business based somewhere north of London. In the pre-internet days, their catalogue was a godsend. Strange that they don't seem to have a website, or none that I can find.

Who was the guy that ran the shop in Kilburn Lane? He was always very helpful to me but he didn't suffer fools gladly. Is he still around?

Alan Ephgrave i think...

There is no website or price list these days.. but they are still the biggest importer of Campag in the country. But i'm a Suntour / Shimano man myself.

Alan Ephgrave i think...

That's the man. I remember being in the shop one day in the 1970's when a bloke came in asking for a puncture to be repaired. Alan spent ages trying to persuade him to fix it himself, even offering to show him how to do it but the man was adamant that he wasn't going to fix it himself, so Alan charged him for a new tube, which was a big thing in those days. How prescient of him.

There is no website or price list these days.. but they are still the biggest importer of Campag in the country. But i'm a Suntour / Shimano man myself.
Wonder how they survive in the 21st century?

mail order.. and they supply other shops campag stuff.

^I don't know what the pub was called, I was 14 FFS;-)
Wests is probably a good idea though I'm actually a Lewisham local now, so even further than it used to be... but if beer and rose tinted spectacles are on offer I could be persuaded:-)
Hey Ho PCC always demanded commitment!

Yoav,
Paul Shuttleworth was in Bangor when I was, he was older and from what I remember a bit of a moaning dickhead:-0.
Once John chided him for moaning about a hard day by reminding him that all us schoolboys had just done 90+ including Crimea and Ugly House Hill and weren't giving him any grief:-)
None of us could actually talk at that point and some had left vom on the top of UHH... (not me:-)

There was a sprinter called Daeo (really not sure of the spelling) who was seriously good but rubbish at blowing his snot in the right direction on club rides, yuck!

Michael Tremaine? Talented schoolboy rider and some huge sprinter called Nick something who seemed to be Chris Hoy sized!

Carl was american, skinny and perma tanned also in his 40s used to ride me up to winter weight training behind Swiss Cottage... Hang on, that came out wrong;-) always used to ride a white 66" fixed.

I think the jersey must've changed a couple of times, though I also remember a version with the red sleeves like you said.

Was the sprinter called " Nick Faint" had a blue roberts track bike.