Winter Training - 1958 style

[John the Canuck]

a Raleigh [model.?] but weighed a ton.!
.
we used our road wheels and carried our tubs to the event on brackets attached to the front axle

.
no fancy day-glow licra gear here.......
toe-clips with steel plates under shoes
track suit - standard black, with de-rigueur bobble hat
rear battery lamp with red glass
kit roll and canvas 'bonk' bag

a simpler life by far
john

 

[jay clock]

ahead of his time hipster.... fixie, one brake..all that retro kit

 

[youngoldbloke]

I converted my first grown up bike - a Raleigh Trent - to fixed, dropped bars, single brake. Same sort of period, early 60s-ish - remember those patterned long socks we wore too? Not ahead of our time jc - everyone rode fixed in winter. I remember carrying wheels on those brackets too , strapped to the bars to to hold them steady. Sadly no photos of my bikes from that period.

 

[jefmcg]

and bam goes the best part £1000 to get kitted out like that at Rapha!

 

[ayceejay]

I used to have one of those 'rubberized cotton reel' jobbies attached to the 'bars opposite the brake so that I could ride on the hoods.
It is a while since I've seen a frame that could accommodate a pump like that and with no bottle cage.

 

[screenman]

Where all all the cars.

 

[John the Canuck]

................................It is a while since I've seen a frame that could accommodate a pump like that and with no bottle cage.

hi - if you look by my left wrist - a pump bracket welded to the frame maybe.? - and it does indeed have a water bottle - hence the pump 'behind' the down tube

ah.! those were the days - !!

BTW ...YOBloke - I'd forgotten about the handlebar straps....

 

[John the Canuck]

leading to.....................
a ''Novice 25'' with Hertfordshire CC in 1958

.
cotton shorts, a bell and a pocket watch clipped to the bars
and not a pointed hat in sight.............

 

[Accy cyclist]

That bob hat looks like it's going to come off if you get some speed up John! May i ask how old you are?

 

[John the Canuck]

That bob hat looks like it's going to come off if you get some speed up John! May i ask how old you are?

born during the London Blitz...............
actually in Wales, as all London hospitals were reserved for the nightly toll of Blitz casualties
''Between 7 September 1940 and 21 May 1941 there were major aerial raids (attacks in which more than 100 tonnes of high explosives were dropped) on 16 British cities. Over a period of 267 days (almost 37 weeks), London was attacked 71 times''
and
''Starting on 7 September 1940, London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 57 consecutive nights.[7] More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged, and more than 40,000 civilians were killed, almost half of them in London''

Dads Squadron was based at Biggin Hill - he could get a 2day pass to visit London but not Wales
so within 3 months Mother returned to London [with me] during the Blitz to see him..............crazy times.!

and a history lesson for all you 'youngsters' .........

john

quotes 'thanks' to Wiki

 

[John the Canuck]

Yeh but you had aero hair tho

sadly no more......

'a pocket watch clipped to the bars'
kept that watch clip for eons - till my wee *&^*&^ing brother sold it on HIS bike
one listed on eBay last week at £36...............jeeez
would have suited the Peugeot down to a T

 

[Easytigers]

Love the pictures! After reading this thread, I just said to my wife..."I've been cycling for years and I don't have one picture of me on a bike!"
Going to rectify that this weekend!

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Great photies !

 

[John the Canuck]

Great photies !

thanks -- i though i might 'recreate' the B&W image with my 1985 Peugeot
but canna find a pair of zipped running pants - only a modern bib or baggy track bottoms....