News: Pedal Club Lunch (May)

The unexpected and untimely death of Tony Doyle was marked by tributes from many at this Pedal Club Luncheon meeting along with a presentation to Ray Kelly

News: Pedal Club Lunch (May)

The Pedal Club May lunch included two events of note by Chris Lovibond

The unexpected and untimely death of Tony Doyle was marked by tributes from many at this meeting. Tony was a leading figure in cycle sport: his excellent record as a competitor is familiar to all, but perhaps less well known is that in retirement he made great efforts to encourage the sport, including a brief spell as British Cycling president and as a founding director of the Tour of Britain when it restarted in 1995. He had been a Pedal Club member for the past eighteen years.

Many members at the meeting made their own tributes to Tony, praising his enthusiasm to get people into the sport. His passion to improve British Cycling and make it fulfil its purpose was frequently mentioned; the present state of this organisation clearly must have weighed on his mind. The membership was united in sorrow at his loss.

A second noteworthy event was the presentation of the British Cycling Regional Star to Ray Kelly. This medal was handed over by Kelvin Hoy, chairman of BC Central Region who attended the meeting as a guest to mark this honour (Kelvin on the left, Ray on the right).

The Star acknowledges Ray’s work for cycling over the past half century, during this time he has furthered the cause of most aspects of cyclesport including the promotion of many events including reliability trials, road races and audaxes. His own riding career was varied, but possibly the most notable feature is that he has completed seven Paris Brest Paris rides – an impressively consistent record bearing in mind the difficulty of the event (1200 kilometres) and that it is only run once every four years.

Originally a disciple of that earlier great figure of West London cycling, Chas Messenger, Ray’s essential contribution has been to use his charismatic enthusiasm to encourage others to take part.

This lunch was held at the Civil Service Club in Great Scotland Yard and was attended by forty three members and guests.