I apologise for not writing about this before now, but I thought that if I had things to say it should be to the family in the first instance, and, in particular, to Marj, his wife of 42 years. One's heart goes out to her. She, Simon, Alan's daughter and grandchildren have been denied what might well have been the best years of his life by this cruel and untimely tragedy.
Marj was so dignified on Saturday morning. She and Simon, who has been an absolute tower of strength, have humbled the rest of us.
What happened was this. We'd ridden ten miles from Manchester to Bury in about an hour, and stopped because Alan said that he wanted a bite to eat. He sat down in a bus shelter for five minutes or so, then got up and we made to set off, but, as we did so, Susie discovered she had a puncture, so we spent five minutes or so fixing that. As we were about to set off again Alan collapsed.
By sheer fluke, expert help, in the shape of Mark and Darrell, two club members, was at hand, and efforts were made to revive Alan. We called the ambulance, which arrived in next to no time, and they asked Mark and Darrell to continue, but, after a few minutes more they decided to take him in to the ambulance, where they continued to try to revive him for another fifteen minutes.
Alan lost consciousness very quickly - possibly instantly. He didn't suffer in any protracted way.
For our part there was no panic or commotion, just serious concern that gave way to great sadness.
Alan was treated with respect - CPR is necessarily an active process, but it was done without drama. When he was placed on to the ambulance trolley, he was lifted with gentleness - he wasn't pushed or pulled around. No death is entirely dignified, but this was as dignified as one can imagine.
It may be some small comfort to his family to know that everything that could have been done to try and save him was done.
Andrew and I rode with Simon and Emily, one of Alan's granddaughters, from Manchester to Bury last night. It was a sad, sad journey. Emily laid flowers. There wasn't much to say, but I did tell Emily that Alan had set the bar for grandads very high, and it was up to the rest of us to try and come somewhere close.
Some of you will recall Alan riding a tandem from Manchester to Blackpool in 2011 with Emily as stoker - she was twelve at the time. It was a great pleasure to meet them, not least because he was so very, very happy to be taking Emily on an adventure. They received a round of applause at the top of one of the steep hills just a few miles north of Bury, not because of their athletic endeavour (which was impressive enough) but because Alan was clearly making such an effort to make Emily's night out memorable, and, in doing so, making our night out just as memorable.
Those who knew him best will write their appreciations. All I can say is that he was a nice man, a man who saw the good in things and a man who made life brighter for those around him. He'll be greatly missed.