Page 31 - PBCOctober2015

Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine Volume12 No.2 October 2015 "31

More ruminations from The Centurion

Another interesting item in the above was the Editorial page in the 1975 April issue.

“Bicycling, like all other forms of life in the known Universe, must adapt to changing
conditions, or die. When the derailleur gear came into prominence in the 1930s, the
ruling body for bike racing in Victoria Australia banned their use in races under their
jurisdiction, as being ‘unfair mechanical assistance’. They lost the fight.

When the New York Velodrome burned down in suspicious circumstances in the 1930s,
and the Newark Velodrome was sold in similar murky circumstances, BikeSport fought
back. The Mayor of Nutley built the Nutley Velodrome. When the Hitler War ‘killed’
Nutley, Cycle-Sport went onto the road, with track bikes being raced on small flat
circuits.

Now, in the 1970s, real road-racing is enjoying a comeback. When a club folds up, you
bet your life a new club is being born somewhere else. If a certain ‘fast man ‘ leaves a
club, you bet your life a faster man will be joining that club. Midget & Intermediate
class riders (American categories) will tell you that Life is just another word for
change.

The reason for this editorial diatribe is that we have had our fill of listening to the
‘Jonah’s’ moan about losing the ‘Good Old Days’…….which mean, variously the 20s, the
30s, the 40s, the 50s, the 60s, right up to the 70s! What a load of old cobblers! Good
fellowship, the thrill of winning a race, the quiet of the countryside at an early morning
Time Trial, and the good natured horseplay of a week end away with the boys……all
these things are as good as they ever were 1890 or 1975. So enjoy TODAY. (And
tomorrow).

And isn’t that the case with the Pickwick Bicycle Club, which has
retained it’s historical connections but continued to move with the
times and celebrate the ‘Old Days’ .. Editor.