Page 7 - PBCSeptember2014

Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine Volume 11 No.2 September 2014 !7

A Revolution Hits Stratford………………
!

An excellent evening was enjoyed by various club members & two
lady guests at this Olympic Velodrome event. Those members who
had tickets from Samuel Pickwick were joined by the editor and
his wife Janet (who already had tickets!) at the Birkbeck Tavern in Leyton for a pre-event
early supper. And what a place it turned out to be - found by our President after trawling a
number of venues (or was that just a pub crawl?) to find a suitable establishment as befits
members of the Pickwick Bicycle Club.
It was a proper pub’, with proper food, and proper customers, not one of those gastro
pubs…..with an eclectic mix of clientele watching the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the TV in one
bar, some regulars playing darts in another, and none of the least concerned about a bunch
of odd characters in Boaters and other Club regalia, tucking into a three course meal
amongst them. Lots of discussions about how many sausages we tucked into and the
portions of roly-jam pudding and whether we would be allowed so much if we were at home.
Then it was off to the Velodrome by taxi if you were lucky enough that the driver knew
where to go, otherwise it was a bit hit and miss before resorting to walking.
A packed Velodrome - very different since the Olympics, saw some eventful racing with
the British girls showing great determination to win
everything, especially “Trotty” (Laura Trott) as our illustrious
member Jonas Mudge in the commentary box frequently
called her. The men weren’t quite on form, with Jason Kenny
mis-judging the final of the Keirin -French star Francois
Pervis winning the race: and Ed Clancy & Andy Tennant losing
out in the marathon 200 lap Madison after being in contention
from early on in the race.
!
Making a clean sweep of the Omnium events, the final event of
the evening was won by ‘Trotty”, but Dani King & Katie
Archibald unfortunately touched wheel as they crossed the
line behind her and crashed to the boards. Everyone held their
breath, but both riders finally got up, a little worse for wear,
amid rousing cheers from the packed crowd.
!
Once it was all over, it was a lengthy step back to Stratford Station accompanied by a
biting cold wind. An event we will remember, so many thanks to our President and can we do
it again next year please? Even if it is only back to the Birkbeck Tavern!!.