The First Seventy Years: 98 - Time Trialling
...It was a bitterly cold morning. Not knowing how I should present myself on the start line I turned up in clothing more suited to a hot day in the south of France. I shivered all the way round the course...
Eric Biddulph tests his legs as a time-trialler and becomes a "Duke''.
The Club circa 1957
During the winter of 1952/53 I began to take an interest in time trialling. This is the form of racing in which riders set off alone at one minute intervals to cover a measured distance, usually 10,25 or 50 miles. My first race was over 25 miles starting near Belper on 2 March 1953. The route went through Matlock on the A6 before retracing over the same stretch of road. It was a bitterly cold morning. Not knowing how I should present myself on the start line I turned up in clothing more suited to a hot day in the south of France. I shivered all the way round the course and finished in a time of one hour twenty one minutes.
The more experienced riders competed on special wheels and tyres referred to in the sport as' sprints'. They consisted of tyres which had a much thinner innertube than normal which was sewn into the tyre cover. It was possible to pump them up to pressure levels which were much greater than that of normal road tyres. Known as 'tubulars' they were stuck on to the sprint wheel rims with a cement which prevented the tyre from rolling off. The higher pressure reduced resistance with the road surface. This made it possible for riders to travel at higher speeds.
I was never able to afford any sprint wheels until the end of the decade. I, nevertheless, rapidly increased my level of involvement in time trialling. By the summer of 1954 I was competing in 10 mile races every Thursday evening and in the occasional Sunday morning 25 miles race. None of the riders owned cars so it became necessary to get to the start of a race by riding to the venue. This could be as much as thirty kilometres. I frequently set off very early on a Sunday morning to get to Loughborough or Derby in good time for a race.
Those riders fortunate enough to own 'sprints' would carry them either side of the front wheel on brackets which were specially designed for the task. The ' sprints' would be fitted for the race. Upon finishing the ordinary wheels known as 'wired ons' would be refitted for the ride home or to join the clubrun for the remainder of the day.
Nick-names were the order of the day. Having joined with a 'Duke' cycle frame I immediately became known as Duke. Tony Theaker was Squeak; Stewart Brown was Stew; Brian Webb was Cobby and many more. Even to this day, my contemporaries from Nottingham address me by my old nick-name.
