St. Christopher’s Long Distance Riders
Early Years
On a Sunday in 1952, Joe Pond cycled 336 miles in 24 hours including a stop to attend Mass on the route.
Because Catholics had an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday and the Bishops refused a dispensation, Joe had to modify the official R.T.T.C. route to include a diversion to a Church or Mass Centre.
Catholic racing cyclists were at a disadvantage so Joe presented the National Club with a Cup to suit the conditions.
Under the Joe Pond rules, Len Richmond (Herts.), Tony Davey (Liverpool), John Withers, Pat Kenny and Peter Swinden (Birmingham) increased the mileage up to 438 by 1963.
Following the 1962 Vatican Council, Mass was available on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Birmingham presented a new Cup to the National Club and John Cahill (North Staffs) competing under R.T.T.C. rules rode 464 miles to become 2nd in the 1971 National Championship.
The enthusiasm for long distance competition blossomed.
Traversing the Country
There were records for competition by bicycle, tricycle, tandem and tandem tricycle.
In addition to the events organised under Road Time Trials Council rules, Place to Place and Distance rides were organised by the Roads Records Association and the Midlands Road Records Association.
Birmingham Section riders were ready to meet the challenge; Peter Swinden, John Withers, Pat Kenny, John Taylor and Sean McDonnell competed and their success is listed in the Roll of Honour.
A few of the most memorable rides are listed as follows:
| Year | Record Details |
|---|---|
| 1961 | 24 Hour Tandem 449.25 miles. Swinden and Withers (MRRA). |
| 1964 | 1000 miles Tandem 2 days 18 hours and 9 minutes. Swinden and Withers (RRA). |
| 1965 | Birmingham to Bristol and Back 160 miles in 7 hours 37 minutes and 33 seconds. McDonnell (MRRA). |
| 1965 | 24 Hour Tricycle 431.5 miles. Kenny (RRA). |
| 1965 | London to Edinburgh Tricycle 20 hours 48 minutes and 52 seconds. Kenny (RRA). |
| 1966 | Lands End to John o Groats Tandem 50 hours 14 minutes and 26 seconds. Swinden and Withers (RRA). This record was not beaten until 2015 when the shortened route included the Forth Bridge. |
| 1976 | 25 miles Straight Out Tricycle 1 hour 5 minutes and 58 seconds. Kenny (WRRA). |
| 1977 | Pembroke to London Tandem Tricycle 246 miles in 11 hours 42 minutes and 5 seconds. Kenny and Taylor (RRA). |
Legends
John Cahill had studied at Leeds University where he met Roy Cromack, the first rider to complete over 500 miles in the 1969 RTTC 24 hour Championship. John was inspired resulting in his first success organised by the Catford CC. in 1971, previously mentioned.
He noted that Tyne R.C. won the team event for the third successive year. By 1975 he had managed to put together a team to compete in the Catford C.C. event. Supported by Michael Parker and Tommy Finney the North Staffs Section provided the winner in the RTTC National Championship with 469 miles and winning team with 1304 miles.
In 1977 Mick Coupe, a cousin of John, joined the team together with the Coupe families in support. Founder Member and Treasurer of the Club in 1939, Mark Coupe, now a successful builder, offered his support.
Each rider in an event would have a support vehicle manned with helpers responsible for arranging safe stops for feeding the rider, rest breaks, fitting lights and changing into night clothing.
The Cahill brothers drove for John, Coupe brothers for Mick, Parker brothers for Mike and Tony Crompton for Tommy.
The drivers of the cars could report to a Central Control positioned on an island, strategically at about 100 miles where the long legs of the course radiated out.
This organisation with the “Secret Weapon” allowed North Staffs to dominate the National 24 hour Championship for ten years up to 1981.
Refer to the Roll of Honour. Individual winners 4, Second place 6, Team winners 6.
Most notable 2 National records;
| Year | Record Details |
|---|---|
| 1979 | C Coupe 492, Cahill 489 and Parker 436, 1417 miles in the North Midlands event. |
| 1980 | Cahill 497, Coupe 476 and Finney 468, 1441 miles in the North Road event*. |
(*This record was not beaten until 2015).
The Secret Weapon
Positioned at Central Control were a team of helpers including Mike Ralphs and Peter Hambley.
Engineer Peter had purchased a ‘Hewlett Packard 29 C’ programmable scientific calculator.
By inserting time of start for each rider, distance to Control where current time was added manually, a HMC sub routine gave speed of the rider and the additional lengths ridden could be added to give overall distance travelled.
After monitoring the riders over a number of races a pattern emerged. By studying rider speeds a decay in performance was noted and final distance predicted.
At 100 miles in the 1980 Championship John Cahill was riding at 25 miles per hour. John Woodburn was under 4 hours, 497 and 505miles were the respective finishing distances.
One rider however George Berwick Glasgow R.C. rode at constant speed throughout to complete 460 miles.
With this current information St Christopher’s had an advantage over opposing teams and it was 39 years before their record was beaten.