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In the late 1950's I biked with my father to Isleham flower show and sports. He entered me in the local boys cycle race and I managed to come second. He then entered me in the under 20's cycle handicap race. Because I was not very tall and probably looked younger than I was, I had about a half lap start in the five lap race. I went on to win by a large margin and won the championship cup which my brother had won two years before. I also won five pounds ten shillings which was half a weeks wages for a working man at the time. This gave me an appetite for cycle racing and I joined the Littleport Wheelers which had been one of the largest cycling clubs in England and always organised grass track racing at the Littleport show on the sloping football field. Competitors came from all corners of the land to compete against the locals.
At school I was never much good at team sports but I did enjoy a game of football and would have a go at anything from cross country running to long jump and all inbetween. One year I actually reached the final of the 100 yards at the school sports. I finished last.
When I was sixteen, I was old enough to race with the senior riders at grass track meetings. Most Saturdays my father took me to a race meeting somewhere and I began to win a few prizes. The Littleport Wheelers lost a lot of members and finally disbanded. After a brief spell riding for the East Anglian Cycling Club, I joined the Mildenhall and District and have remained a member ever since. I started to ride 10 mile time trials then 25 miles. The Mildenhall club also introduced me to road racing. But my first love remained grass track and I went on to win the East Anglian (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire) quarter mile championships three times. I also won several silver and bronze medals over 1000 yards and five miles in the East Anglian championships.
For the past thirty years I have organised grass track racing at various villages in the area. The Mildenhall grass track meeting has become the largest cycling rally to be organised by a single cycling club anywhere in the Country. It is held on August bank holiday weekend.
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