[CR]Benelux Gears & Other Matters

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Ideale)

From: "Joe King" <joeking@fastmail.fm>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:29:43 +0000
Subject: [CR]Benelux Gears & Other Matters

Been through all my old stuff and the earliest reference I can find on a 5 Speed Benelux Mk.7 is January 1959. Could be even earlier than this. Found this in my search which I am sure will be off interest: Formed in 1922, the Sheffield Phoenix CC is predominantly a racing club. Its name is derived from the former Phoenix cinema in the Hillsborough area of Sheffield , where club members used to meet on a Sunday morning prior to riding out into the Peak District.

Harry Hill

Sheffield Phoenix CC member Harry Hill was born in 1916 and has had a remarkable career in cycling. He was selected to ride in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and came home with a bronze medal. As his life has progressed Harry has collected many awards for his achievements in cycling. Reproduced below are his recollections of cycling in 1930s England and the 1936 Olympics.

Cycling in the 1930s

1937 was an exciting year; the highlight was the World's Amateur Hour Record. Cycling magazine set up a fund to send Mills, Paul, myself and a manager to break hour records in Milan ; Mills and Paul on the tandem and me for the solo hour. At that time Milan was the best track in the world. We stayed at a local hotel and took the tram to the track. After a day or so getting used to the track the weather improved and the decision to try for the records was taken. Mills and Paul broke the tandem hour with 50km and I did 44.5km. The following year the UCI decided to alter the hour record to best only, so obviously it always went to the pros. Maurice Archambaud broke the record with 45.8km.

We were all happy with the success of our hour rides and the manager gave us all a special reward by taking us to Venice for the weekend by air. This was a brilliant idea as none of us had flown before and we enjoyed the special attraction of the layout of the city with the bridges, buildings and gondolas along the waterways. However the airport was fogbound and we had to return to Milan by train. The day after that we left for home and on arriving in London we were met by the editor of Cycling and others and all enjoyed the reception, especially as there was money left in the fund. 1938 was the centenary of the Dunlop Rubber Co. who promoted an international track meet at Herne Hill in the Summer. The German world champion of the time, Meulenberg, was invited to ride a 10 minute pursuit and I was chosen to ride against him. The officials would afterwards arrange for me to turn pro and would assist in providing me with a sponsor. However, as the Dunlop track meet was about 3 weeks away, and I had ridden several 25s in just over the hour, my cycling club mates said all I needed was a good day and I would beat the hour. Maurice Gibson would be the time keeper and Albert Butterworth, the local cycle dealer, acted as observer. I had 3 attempts using the local 25 mile course at Sutton Crossing, and on the 3rd attempt I did 59.57. This was the first time anyone had gone under the hour. All the club were excited and shortly after a paragraph was written about it in Cycling. The advertising manager of Cycling arranged for me to visit the John Bull Rubber Co in Leicester , which I did; this resulted in a year's contract and turning pro. It was done quickly and I was able to meet Meulenberg at the Dunlop meeting at Herne Hill. It was a first class meeting of champions and great publicity for Dunlop. I won the pursuit, but to be fair, Meulenberg was not a pursuit specialist. I rode at Herne Hill later in the season against Karl Kaers, the Belgian pursuit specialist, and he beat me in the pursuit.

In the autumn of 1938 I went to Edinburgh to go for the straight out 50 mile RRA record, riding on John Bull tyres. The first attempt failed as the wind was not in the right direction, but 2 days later it was, and I had a trouble free ride - except for a level crossing where I had to climb over both gates with the bike and get going again. Of course, the time keeper's car was held up. I had a good run in to the finish and the timekeeper just managed to catch up and beat me to the line. I did 1.44.30 beating the old record by 3 minutes. The following year Shake Earnshaw beat me by the same time. However, I was on 92" fixed and he used a deraileur.

My next ride of importance was to attack the professional hour on the track in Central London in July ‘39. I organised the attempt with the time keeper and observer and started one Sunday morning with little wind. I rode 26½ miles, beating the old record by about ½ mile.

The 1939 World Track Championships were being held in Milan and I went with my mother and Les Brooks, a local cycle dealer, in the car. It was a pleasant journey through France , Switzerland , and Italy . However, there were rumours of German troops massing on the Polish frontier and people were getting anxious. A day later the rest of the British team arrived, but during lunch a telegram arrived stating all the team were to return at once. It was the biggest turn round I had ever known. However, as professionals we could make our way home in the car, which we did. Before that, on the same day, we saw the sprint finals with Van Vliet and Scherens, but everything else at the Velodrome was cancelled as World War II had started.

The return journey was made against a background of stress, with soldiers at many road junctions as we traveled through France . Going through Dijon and the various villages around, the roads were mostly used by the military. On arriving in Paris the army was giving details of mobilisation assembly points, and people were obviously very anxious. The Metro underground was closed. We met British army officers who guided us on the road to Dieppe . On arrival in Dieppe the dockside was full of GB cars, so we left ours thinking we may never see it again, and we rushed on to the boat. After about 3 hours we were in England , yes it was a great feeling.

Up to the 1936 Olympics

In the early 30s there were very few cars, most people used public transport. There were trams in Sheffield just like today, and of course men and boys rode bicycles. It was a 6 day working week but most people managed to go home early to visit relations and go to the pictures. Club cyclists around the country looked forward to Sundays; we would often ride 100 miles during the day, dinner at one place and tea at another, with always a mad sprint to get there first. Those were the days for cycling; we had the roads to ourselves.

In 1935 I took part in club riding and raced in 25 mile time trials on the old O2 at Sutton Crossing. I stayed at Blyth on Saturday evenings in a B&B at the first house (at that time) on Worksop Road , for 3 shillings and 6 pence (17½p).

On a few occasions Maurice Gibson would organise a club 5 mile time trial starting about ½ mile east of Mattersey, the course going east for 2½ miles alongside the canal and back again. They were enjoyable times, watching the canal boats going under the bridge and having a drink at the pub and discussing the local racing results. Both Ron Blythe and myself had the fastest times for this 5 mile event. I think Ron did 11 minutes and I did 11.30.

In September of 1935 I rode a 25 mile TT but punctured on the return at about 15 miles, and to my surprise my photo was in Cycling that week, with the heading "H Hill went fast until he punctured." This event was on the A1 about 60 miles north of London .

I did many training miles in the Winter of 1935-6 and felt in good shape for another successful season. I won the first 6 events I rode in, in different parts of the country. The officials of the day must have taken notice because Maurice Gibson came to the garage where I worked just before Easter with an invitation to ride at Herne Hill on Good Friday, as Ralph Dougherty could not ride. His boss would not allow him to race on that date. It was a 10 minute pursuit of 4 riders and at the end there was only Ernie Mills left, who I nearly caught. The officials were all around me giving instructions that I had to stay for 2 more days for training and come to the next meeting. This was the first time I had ever seen a track, and 4 months later I would be riding an Olympic pursuit on the new Berlin velodrome.

As far as I can remember I won almost every 25 mile TT in different areas in 1936, and on my 20th birthday I received a letter from the NCU that I was one of the competitors to ride for England in the Olympic 4km pursuit. The track officials gave me sound advice and we had pursuit training, but only once did the pursuit team have official timing on the track We should have had more training together but it's always difficult to have the four of us together.

We were given the train fare to London and we left for Berlin the day after and were housed in the Olympic village about 15 miles west of Berlin . The German Olympic officials had organised the games in a professional manner and Germany seemed a wonderful country to live in. Adolf Hitler Platz was decorated with all kinds of advertising. It was lit up for the presentation of all the competitors at the Olympic stadium; this went off very well but the cycling team did not take part as the baggage and cycles had been mislaid. The cycle track had been built in another district of the city so we never saw the big athletic stadium.

In the actual race when we were against the Italians, we would have had silver instead of bronze medals because we finished one behind the other when it should have been abreast. So, we were first over the line by a second, but we had dropped a man and I being the 3rd man lost that split second. Teddy Southcott, the President at that time, dealt with the incident but to no avail. Yes, if we had gone training together we would have had silver instead of bronze. The medal presentation was done professionally with a capacity crowd. Watching the celebrations it was the first time I had been on a podium at such an important occasion.

We came away from the track and Olympic village very impressed by all the propaganda, such things as this left a big impression in our lives. We arrived back in London to receive a welcome homecoming. Back in Sheffield there was to be no welcome and no civic reception, just a few lines in the local paper.

I had bought an Olympic jersey with the 5 rings in front as a souvenir and when I was ready to go home to Sheffield I realised I had spent the train fare on the jersey, so I had to cycle home. I rode over 100 miles to Gonerby Hill just north of Grantham, but it was getting dark, I had no lights and I was tired, so I stopped a lorry going to Sheffield and he took me home. My mother was pleased to see me. There is no need to mention much about the Sydney Olympics as most people have seen or read all that happened. Compared to 2000, we were real amateurs without a doubt.

Technical note: Harry used his own bike for the Olympic pursuit, a Holdsworth with 531 tubing. He used a 92" fixed gear, though for 25 mile time trials he used 82 or 84" fixed. For those who are too young to know, 92" is 48x14, 82" is 52x17 and 84" is 53x17.

Syd Wilson

Now in his 70's, club member Syd Wilson rode the 1953, 56 and 58 Tours of Britain. In 1953 the 12 stage Tour was sponsored by the Daily Express, which meant that the race had lots of advance publicity and was well reported. Syd recalls 3 pages of reports each day and large crowds at every stage town. A typical stage covered 140 miles, had just one feeding station and was races on open roads.

The total distance for the 1953 Tour was 1639 miles and the average speed was 23.30mph. But 12 hard stages took their toll, and from 59 starters, Syd was 1 of only 41 finishers. The winner was BSA team member Tiny Thomas. Teams from Ellis-Briggs, Hercules, Viking, Wearwell , Belgium , France and Italy all competed for a share of the £1015 total prize money. Not a lot of cash, even for 1953.

After a long day in the saddle the rides had to find their own lodgings for the night, a B&B that could accommodate a team of 3 and their bikes. Syd remembers one occasion in Glasgow when he repaired his bike in a bus shelter in torrential rain while his manager (former Phoenix member Eric Gilbert) drove round in the team van trying to find them some digs for the night.

A team member's racing kit consisted of exactly 2 jerseys, 2 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of leather racing shoes. So, each night they would wash that day's kit ready for the next day. The jerseys were wool with 2 pockets set high on the chest and 2 round the hips.

Syd's Tour of Britain bike had 10 Benelux gears. The 5 rear cogs were changed by a friction lever on the down tube, but the front mech was rod operated. The rod changer was on the seat tube. On a hilly Welsh stage Syd's gear cable snapped, so he was lent a small bike while the Cyclo mechanic replaced it. It took 30 minutes, by which time Syd was well off the back. The wheels had tubular tyres, but riders had to change punctured tubs by themselves at the roadside. Two aluminium drinking bottles with cork stoppers were fixed to the handlebars. And if a part broke, the riders would go round the other teams asking for spares.

The Club Open Time Trial

Jack Broughton, the club archivist, has written a history of the club's annual open 25 mile time trial :

An athletic event held continually for 75 years must be a rarity given the problems caused by World War II. The late Maurice Gibson organized the event from 1927-49 and was chiefly responsible for it being held during the difficult period 1940-45. Reviewing the event over such a long period is a near impossible task as it would require the accrued memory of a 95 year old. There were no national time trial championships until 1944 but one cannot ignore Arthur Briggs' 1.1.25 in 1929, a remarkable time which stood as event record for 15 years. Time trial champions since then were Jack Simpson, Baz Breedon, Dave Dungworth, Pete Wells, Ian Cammish and Gary Dighton, the latter two also winning the BBAR. Our own Harry Hill was an Olympic bronze medallist and World Amateur Hour Record holder. Shake Earnshaw was "Cycling" BAR in 1938 and Tom Simpson was the World Professional Road champion in 1965. Perhaps too we shouldn't forget Malcolm Johnson who has won the event a record number of 5 times. The weather has played its part in determining winning times, and whilst there wouldn't be a consensus on which was the best day, there should be no disagreement on which was the worst. A freak snowstorm on April 26th 1981 caused havoc for riders traveling to the event, yet the Blyth-Markham Moor course was rideable. Of the 120 entrants only 9 started and 8 finished, so there was no wonder that Mark Blagden's winning time of 1.4.28 is the fifth slowest in the history of the event.

Croeso Cymru Joe King Nr. Maenaddwyn Ynys Mon Wales