Open Writing

The coming of Easter has always been a most welcome time in my life. It always feels so good to see the sun shining and to know that the real summer is here at last.

During my early life I never missed going to Herne Hill to watch the bike racing on Good Friday. It was one of the highlights of my year even though it nearly always rained for part of the day. This particular year’s programme was promised to be better than usual as it was the hundredth anniversary meeting, with stars from around the world booked to attend. My partner and I together with two close friends left by train early on what seemed a perfect summer’s day from Bedford station and for once the weather forecast was very accurate. Very warm and only a slight breeze.

On arrival at Herne Hill station we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves following an unusually large crowd, many more than usual, and the roads leading to the stadium seemed to be filled to capacity with parked cars. At the ground’s entrance there was quite a queue waiting to go in. This was quite a shock to us, as in previous years it had always been only reasonably well attended.

Once inside we made our way toward the stand seats but there were only the odd ones available, so we sat fairly close to one other. The size of the crowd was greater than any we’d seen there since the middle fifties, and it was great to see so many children happily watching the early heats. The crowd were cheering every win and banging the sides of the track with enthusiasm.

One of our friends had never seen a live track meeting before, only on TV, and he seemed amazed at the speed of the mixture of amateur and professional riders on the track. In past years the pros very rarely got beaten especially in the early rounds. But this time it was different.

Britain has at last moved up in the world, due mainly to better coaching and lottery aided funding. We have now moved up the scale in world amateur track racing with medallists in the recent Olympics and commonwealth games. The quality of the riding and the very slick organisation at this afternoons event has set a new standard, and will hopefully bring back not only bigger crowds to track racing but fresh riders to the sport.

During the brief moments between races my mind went back to the great days of the forties and fifties when my hero Reg Harris reigned supreme here most of the time. Hundreds of bikes were piled up against the walls and trees at the track. We never ever heard of any being stolen. And very few moaned about having to wait to get them out after the meeting.

We left after it was over more than satisfied with the day’s entertainment, and we will all be going back again next year to be thrilled by such skilled riders. If only our car drivers could behave like them. There wasn’t a single collision all day, despite having over a hundred of them on the track at one point riding within inches of each other.