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AD 2020

Re-visiting a piece originally written for ‘The Wheeler’ by Brian Pucknell in 1984

June in the year 2020, the Ashford Wheelers Cycling Club is 119 years old. It is thirty six years since the Club last promoted the R.T.T.C. Championship 25 Mile Time Trial. What has happened in the intervening years?

So much that has had an effect on cyclists, but two things stand out. First of all the move in 1993 by all the controlling bodies for cycling in Great Britain to come together in one joint organisation, the C.B.C., or to give it its full title The Council for British Cycling, with its H.Q. in the old A.A. building at Fanum House in London. The first President of the new body was the then Chairman of the C.T.C., and it was he who had brought about the union of all the old bodies, so that they were able to speak with one voice for all cyclists to both the Government and the international cycling bodies for the first time in over a hundred years.

The second was in fact a series of measures by the Government which was brought about by the need to conserve the world’s oil reserves. The first of these being the introduction of petrol rationing in 1998 and culminating in 2008 with the banning of the use of motorways by private cars and motorcycles. Motorways were reserved for coaches and public service traffic but these were further restricted to Mondays to Fridays only in 2015.

The result of these restrictions was a great upsurge in cycling of all kinds, plus a vast number of gas, steam and electric cars and lorries etc. But none of these new types of transport were as fast, or able to perform as well as the petrol-driven types they had taken over from. Public opinion soon put a stop to an attempt to produce an atomic car. Linear accelerators were given a trial, but despite the high speeds obtained, could only be used on a place to place route, and the cost of building special tracks proved to be to costly, so that in the end this development brought about a saving of the railways that had gone into decline in the late 1980s. Most of the existing tracks could be converted to the linear types of engine and with speeds of close to 200mph obtainable the internal airlines soon had to pack up, except for flights to Ireland and Europe etc.

So it is that on a June Sunday in the year 2020 the Ashford Wheelers find themselves once more promoting a Championship 25, this time for the C.B.C. Over the 36 years have passed since the Club last had this honour one thing has remained constant, and that is, despite all the advances in design, the main factor which governs cycling sport, and in particular its speed, is the human factor. In the 42 years since Alf Engers became the first rider inside 50 minutes for a 25, the record for the distance has only moved to 46-30, an improvement of 2 minutes 54 seconds. And this despite the fact that since 2015 most fixed distance time trials have been held on motorways with their far better surfaces, the use of the new alloys, made on space stations, together with the one-piece frames that do away with lugs and brazings, the 1½ oz tubulars filled with helium at 200 psi, the adoption of disc wheels made of glass fibre and aerofoil handlebars with twist grip brake and gear control.

The field for the Championships contains the six regional champions, that is England South-East, South-West, Midlands South, Midlands North and Wales, together with the Champions of Scotland and Ireland, the National Champions from the last five years plus the winners of all the first-class 25s held since January 2019, making a total of some 200 riders all told.

Other changes over the years have been made which riders in that other Championship would find strange. First of all there is the starting gate, each rider fits his machine into one of the two gates in use, and when his start time arrives the ram that fits to the rear stays gives him a push start of 30 psi, so that all riders get the same start. As one rider starts so the next one is ready in the other starting gate.

Then the atomic clocks that are used today make the digital watches of 1984 look primitive. These watches do not gain or lose any time at all, photo electric cells record each rider’s start and finish time, his time is then put into a computer which lists all the riders in order of time recorded and keeps a constant display and update on the results board.

All riders must have a reflective section in the back of their skin suit, as numbers are no longer pinned onto them as in the old days. A small plastic card is fixed to the frame of each cycle; these carry a code embedded into them and this activates the atomic clocks and computer.

Other changes from the 1980s are the mini disc brakes built into each hub and thus sealed from the weather, so as to give perfect braking under all conditions, and the universal adoption of pedals that are fixed to the riders’ shoes, thus doing away with toe clips and straps. Then there are the video patrol cameras placed at two mile intervals around the course so that any infringement of the pacing laws can be recorded.

Prior to the start each rider can be seen taking deep intakes of oxygen from the cylinders set up at the start for this purpose. Mind you this has not been reckoned as a great help, but most riders take advantage of it.

So there we have it – some of the foregoing may seem far-fetched and unlikely to come about. But some of today’s members will still be around, and if you recall this small item it may be of interest to see which of these predictions have come about. Some of those who ride the 1984 Wheelers 25 will be the same age as I am in 2020, perhaps you will care to make a forecast ahead on that day, perhaps the Club will no longer be around, I hope that is not the case, but one thing I do feel sure of, there will be cyclists and a form of cycling.