Adrian died in July 2022, I didn’t find out about his death or his funeral until much later. I have had some contact with his family who have asked me to write down my memories from all those years ago.
In 1964 I moved to Horley, Surrey with my family. I was 18 at the time and a keen cyclist. I looked for a cycling club and joined the Crawley Wheelers. I made many good friends, and I got on particularly well with Ron Ford and Adrian Jones.
Adrian and I first met in 1964 and between 1964 and 1970 we raced a lot together, cycle many miles, both training and on club rides and went on holiday together three times, in 1965 to watch the Tour de France (myself, Adrian and Ron Ford), in 1966 touring Brittany (just the two of us) and in 1970, (myself, Adrian and John Wheat).
In 1970 I moved to work in Cumbria and contact was lost, then in 1973, I met him by accident at the World Cyclo-Cross Championships at Crystal Palace and after that there was no further contact. Fifty years have passed, a long time. What happened to him in the time since we last met? I have no knowledge.
If I close my eyes and think of Adrian, who do I see? I remember a quiet, unassuming man who got on well with everyone. He was very polite and underneath that polite exterior was a steely determination to do well, something I found out many times when he beat me in bike races, not that I minded as I had my moments as well.
I have always kept a diary and then my diary consisted only of my cycling activities, little mention is made of anything or anyone else. I do have quite a few pictures and press cuttings, so I am publishing these together with my memories.
The pictures are taken from my photo albums or from colour slides, at the time it was all about me, however Adrian does figure on each published page. The album pages are as they are with my added memories/comments
France & Switzerland 1965
Le Tour
This tour was my first time abroad. I loved it all and we got to see the Tour de France several times, though we had to do big miles to keep up with it. The pictures were taken on Mt Ventoux, Stage 14, we cycled to the top and waited for the tour, roasting in the sun with no knowledge of sun strength at altitude, or the necessity for sun-cream, we all got sunburnt. There was nothing of the fuss riders make nowadays about cycling up Ventoux, we just did it, with a little help from fans walking up the road who would shout, ‘poussez’ and then give us a big push
Here is the publicity caravan prior to the actual race. Having never seen anything like this we were impressed and intrigued. Insect killer was being promoted and the motor cyclists was part of the ‘gendarme demonstration’ team sponsored by cinzano. Compared with the modern tour there are very few spectators.
Below
top left; Raymond Poulidor (the eternal second, after several TDF 2nd places) and Jimnez (a Spanish climber),
top right; Rik Van Looy (the emperor), he was no climber, more of a classics specialist, good in Belgium in the rain and cold of Spring. He bossed the professional peloton, hence his nickname. Tom Simpson was in the race but no pics on Ventoux.
bottom left; we are at the top of the Galibier, Adrian must have felt the cold less than me judging by his shorts. At that time the summit ran through a tunnel, it is not in the picture and is behind us. This tunnel is now closed and a new road goes higher by following the route of footpath that can be seen in the background. The summit is now 2642 meters. We did 100 miles that day to keep up with Le Tour
bottom right; a village somewhere in France, it was very hot and the village fountains were a good way to keep cool and replenish water bottles
Apres Le Tour
We left the Tour de France after about 10 days and continued our journey via Chamonix into Switzerland, catching the train home from Lausanne. The journey both ways was an epic story but not one for telling here, we were very lucky to keep ourselves and our bikes together.
left; We all took a dip in Lac d’Annecy. Annecy is a lovely town and I have always wanted to go back there.
right; The hostel was full, we were offered alternative accommodation. We were very comfortable, after a hard days ride we had to climb a massive hill to get to it, the view was well worth the effort.
below
top; one highlight of our tour was a rough pass called the Gemmi Pass, at the top we were amazed to be in the snow with lumps of ice floating on the lake behind us. The pass took us from the Rhone valley to Kandersteg
bottom; the descent from the Gemmi summit was on a gravel road interspersed with an occasional snowfield
left; Its was another hot day, here we are cooling our feet in a stream. Our feet were swollen in the heat and Ron foolishly cycled without socks and got very sunburnt feet, making walking very difficult for several days.
A fantastic holiday that left me wanting more. The only downside was that I was 20, Ron & Adrian were 24 or 25 and the difference in stamina showed, I was absolutely wrecked by the time I got home and it took me months to recover. Fantastic memories of the Tour de France, the travelling and the good company of Adrian and Ron.
Tom Simpson
We were shouting for Tom when we saw him in the race but things did not go well for him in the TDF that year.
During stage nine Simpson injured his hand crashing on the descent of the Col d’Aubisque in the Pyrenees. He developed bronchitis after stage fifteen and cracked on the next stage, losing nearly nineteen minutes. His hand became infected, but he rode the next three stages before the Tour doctor stopped him from racing. He was taken to hospital, where they operated on his hand and treated him for blood poisoning, bronchitis and a kidney infection.
Tom struggling in the Tour, he recovered to become World Champion in the autumn.
Racing Closer to Home
The three of us did a lot of racing together. Adrian and I always seemed to finish close and he usually had the edge, sometimes beating me by a few sec and more often by more. Ron was a class act and was always ahead of the rest of us. Just how good was Ron? He still holds the Crawley Wheelers Crawley-Brighton-Crawley record set in 1968, over 50 years ago.
Below
Top left; taken before we moved to Surrey and before the Beatles had arrived on the scene
Top right; Adrian is standing next to the car, no fancy roof racks then, just a regular one, and a bit of padding with bike upside down. I wonder who’s car that was?
Bottom Left; My hairstyle is clearly influenced by the arrival of The Beatles. There were no helmets, if you fell off there was always a risk of a head injury.
Bottom right; Herne Hill Track, Good Friday, nearest rider is Pierre Trentin, World Sprint Champion, wearing his ‘rainbow stripes’
The New Towns’ Festival of Sport 1965
Sporting competitions were encouraged between the new towns around London ; Basildon; Bracknell; Crawley; Hatfield; Harlow; Hemel Hempstead; Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City.
below
Top left; this was the Crawley Wheelers team; Graham Seymour, Ron Ford, Adrian Jones, Peter Main. Possibly outside my parents house in Horley, before heading to Harlow.
Top right; shovelling cement.
Bottom left; race action. The winner was R Barton covering 45 miles in 1:46:00, I was 8th (no result sheet).
Bottom right; The start, Ron, me, Graham, Adrian.
Brittany 1966
We covered big miles and I took very few photos. We were remarkably similar on our cycling set-up, who would consider hanging a duffel bag over the back of the bike nowadays? The Point de Vue de Laz, 300 meters above sea level, was a high point of our tour, although not mountainous Brittany was surprisingly hilly.
We found a village criterium, typical of many such events and important to small villages. Professional cyclists worked hard to earn money after the TDF by racing almost every day for start money and prizes. If a rider was local, he was sometimes ‘allowed’ to win the event.The bottom picture is of a very young Eddy Merckx, he was 20 then, so it was before many of his big wins.I know this because he is the same age as me. It was a good trip and Adrian and I got on well, no booked accommodation, we just too our chances, holidays were less common then and somewhere to stay easy to find at the end of each day.
below
top left & right; two similarity equipped, good looking young men.
right middle; a very young Eddy Merckx, age 20 in a village criterium we came across it by accident.
bottom; we are about 300 meters above sea level here, our max height in Brittany
The late 1960’s
A little older and stronger, we were a good team in 1968/69
below
left; National Championship 50 mile Time Trial. I was 107th in a time of 2:09:22, the winner was Martyn Roach in 1:48:56, the winners time was amazingly fast for the 1960’s. I was 20 mins off his time, however, we did get the Crawley Wheelers team record for 50 miles with me, Adrian and Ron. I am riding a single fixed wheel bike and only a front brake was needed. A bell was compulsory, and a pump, spare tube and tyre levers always carried. No drinks on the bike, drinks were handed up by ‘runners’ near the half way point.
right; The Crawley Wheelers team, possibly taken at the Lewes Wanderers evening races in 1969
National 50 Result Board
Norway 1970
We cycled from Bergen north to Åndalsnes and back, a hard tour in mid-September. We failed to realise that Norway is a long way north, it’s colder and the season ends early. Hotels and B&B’s were empty and we caught one of the last boats along a fjord before everything shut down for the winter. Adrian and I must have made a big effort to keep in touch, I had left Surrey and was working in Cumbria by that time. John was a Youth Hostels Association tour leader who had become a friend. We all got along fine and the whole trip was an adventure. We didn’t know about Norwegian rolled limestone roads, which made a terrible mess of the bikes or the long dark road tunnels around the fjords that were really scary.
below
top; typical Norwegian scenery (it rained a lot)
bottom left; Adrian and John
bottom right; that’s Norway
Press Cuttings
The collected press cuttings were really about me, however in all those I have published Adrian is mentioned
In case you are wondering why I am on crutches? January 1972 I broke my left thigh in a skiing accident, but that’s another story (and a misplaced photo)
The picture above is one of my favourites; when I see it I think of youth, energy, sunshine and warmth, good friendships, plans for the future, fun, laughter, fitness and health.
Race Results
I have almost all my result sheets from my racing career, no sane person would want to read them all so I have included just a few ‘interesting ones which illustrate where we were in the racing scene.
Becontree Wheelers 25 mile Time Trial
Becontree Wheelers 25 mile Time Trial: I was on a really good day, my time 1:1:35 and Adrian still beat me by 2 seconds with 1:1:33.That time remains as my best ever 25 and my ambition to ‘beat the hour’ for 25 miles never realised.
Sheet 2 is omitted, there were 120 finishers
East Sussex 25 mile Time Trial
East Sussex 25 mile Time Trial; Adrian 7th in 1:03:27, I was 12th in 1:05:00. A good ride by Adrian and a more normal gap between the two of us. It is worth mentioning that Eric Bonner was 5th with 1:2:54. Eric was a very talented rider and we are still in touch 50 years later, his brother Dave was 25 mile competition record holder and later rode as a professional. My dad also rode this event and finished with a respectable time of 1:14:15 at the age of 52
West Sussex CA 35 Mile Team Time Trial
Something different, I rode with Adrian and a remember it very hard to keep up with him, he did most of the pacing and we were 5th. Average speed 22.6 mph but club members Bonner & Hayes were over 3 mins faster.
The Polytechnic CC 12 hour
Gayler Memorial
Adrian did a fantastic ride and broke the club record, he was 19th out of 70 finishers covering 244 miles. I did Ok with 222 miles, but was hoping for 240+. My ‘excuse’ was that, when I arrived home, after a holiday cycling across the Pyrenees, I immediately went down with amoebic dysentery (giardia lamblia). This was two weeks before the 12 hour and it put me in bed for several days on a water only diet, not the best preparation for a 12 hour race. There was a good Crawley Wheelers turn-out and looking back I wish I had done more longer these events.
We did Road Races as well
We competed in many more time trials than road races, but road races seemed to suit me, I had a good sprint. Sometimes getting the better of Adrian but not always, Ron Ford was in a class of his own, way ahead of the rest of us.
Reflections
I have really enjoyed writing this piece, it’s taken a while, delayed by Christmas and New Year. The hardest part was pulling together the information from my diaries, photo albums, press cuttings and colour slides (I have about 10,000 slides to go through one day). Once I had a plan and got going the memories came flooding back from over 50 years ago, all of them happy, I was so young.
Whilst writing this, I have learnt a few things; such as how to turn a colour slide into a digital photo and my WordPress skills have improved, I now know how to save a WordPress post as a PDF, and much more about categories, tags, header pictures.
I see my WordPress site, www.petemain.co.uk as an archive, for me to enjoy when I am sitting in the winged back chair in the care home, unable to go anywhere. It’ll bring back many fantastic memories. Whether it will be an archive of interest to anyone other than me only time will tell, one thing is for certain, I will never finish it.
I have endeavoured to ‘fact check’ this article, any corrections are welcome, message me on this post or email pete@petemain.co.uk
You are welcome to use extracts from this text but please give me a credit as author
©Peter Main – 2023
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