Probably the last few. If I find any more (doubtful!) I can post them. I apologise that I feature in 4 of these so just pretend I'm Barry Hoban
.
BTW, the photos posted of Barry are excellent. I don't think I've seen them before.
The first three are from 1966. It did seem to rain a lot that year
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This was a Deeside Olympic RR March '66. John Bowling and Arnie Lloyd from Deeside Olympic and me. Fields in these events comprised a good selection of Merseyside 1st category riders (including probably Pete Matthews) many of whom had ridden for GB and in the Milk Race. Needless to say I wasn't placed very high at the finish!
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This was an Ellesmere St Raphael CC 3rd and Junior event a bit later in '66. No idea which one as the photo was given to me by an old friend from someone in the local paper. Lad behind was from Macclesfield Whs. Again no idea where I finished in the results.
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The rather wet 1966 North Wales Championship on the Llandegla course. Yours truly at the front with Dave Vose Deeside Olympic, Ken Evans Ystwyth CC and Reg Breckon Deeside behind. Dave Vose later joind Kirby CC and rode (I think ) for GB in some big events and Ken rode for Wales a few times. Reg was good in local events - better than me anyway!
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Time now moves on to April 1971 when we had moved to Oswestry. This event was a series of 3 round a circuit not far from town. Here we have from left, Ken Wheal Deeside Olympic, Alan Godding Wrekinsport CC, another Wrekinsport rider beside another Macclesfield lad and Bob James from Oswestry Paragon riding his immaculate Roy Swinnerton (probably Mercian built). Bob moved to Canada some years later and I had the sad news last year that he had passed away suddenly. He was a friend of Barry Hoban and often came out training wearing a Sonolor jersey.
I wonder where the baby is now?
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Same event, different lap (these were local newspaper photos BTW). From the left John Bethel Macclesfield Whs (who won the event and the series overall), me on my Bob Jackson Olympus (that I never really got on with), Alan Godding Wrekinsport again and Ian Bellis Deeside Olympic (who passed away early a few years ago). Just noticed that John Bethel only has a single chainring. Perhaps he was riding his TT bike!
Well, that's all folk's! It's been an interesting exercise, trying to remember things and people that I would have known instantly once. A sign of old age I suppose. If I do find anything else - I'll be back!
Oh, BTW, I just remembered that at Het Volk (see above) as well as Thiery Marie we also picked up Mauro Gianetti who, these days, is a DS with Bahrain pro team. He spoke better English than Thiery so between us, with Pat's Spanish, My French and German and Paddy's cockney, we managed a reasonably decent conversation.