Bannister's sub 4 minute mile features; club spirit; racing results; article about the Buckshee Wheelers; the Chilterns

The cover is very similar to that of issue 17 - it has the same Patterson picture, though the title font is slightly more elegant. The same two adverts are present before the main text of the Newsletter.

Page 1 

Editorial. This month, Bob is hugely proud of the achievements of Roger Bannister in being the first to break the four minute mile. This was on 6th May 1954, so the May issue of the magazine can’t have been out until well into May! Unfortunately the English football teams got beaten by their Yugoslavian counterparts. (continued page 2)

Page 2

From a discussion of other sports, Bob moves on to the thorny issue of club spirit, and reflects on a a letter printed on page 7 of the issue. Essentially, Bob’s observation is that clubs such as the Northwood Wheelers can funtion well only when the members cooperate and interact fully.

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A new member is welcomed to the club (another is welcomed on page 3)

Page 3

Racing Results

Club ’25’ 16th May 1954. Colin Turner won with 1:05:04, Brian Major a very close 2nd.

Club ‘100’ 23rd May 1954. Six started, three finished. Of those, the winner was David Saunders (referred to a the Club’s promising 100 miler) in 4:50:08. It was wet and cold - there’s an account by the winner in Open Roads, May 1954.

Pages 4-7

One Thing Leads to Another, by K. R. Meredith

Seems begin as a reminiscence of riding for the Buckshee Wheelers (there’s a bit on this page (you need to scroll down a fair bit) about the Buckshee Wheelers, including this:

The man behind the Buckshee Wheelers was Johnnie Walker, a member of the Sheffield Central and Oval CC who was posted to Cairo in October 1939 as a sergeant in General Staff Intelligence. Like many servicemen he had left his bike back in the UK but managed to buy one in Egypt that he rode around Cairo when not on duty. 

The upshot was that he met other cyclists in the area and together they advertised in the Egyptian Mail that they had a spare bike which servicemen could use when on leave.  This resulted in some 180 letters from personnel wishing to go cycling again. Johnnie organised a cyclist reunion in Cairo which was attended by over a hundred  military men keen to experience the fellowship of other cyclists' company.

Thus was formed the Fraternity of the Buckshee Wheelers very soon known as just The Buckshee Wheelers.  Buckshee was derived from baksheesh, an Arabic word denoting 'free or something for nothing'.  Now they had a club, hundreds of potential members but only four bikes so Johnnie appealed to the cycle trade back home in the UK who, to their amazement, shipped out 100 new bikes loaded onto three army lorries.

Now the club was established with machines they set about organising their first race in October 1941.  It was a 25-mile time trial starting beneath the pyramids and the winner was presented with the 'Bully Beef Trophy', made by another soldier from a silver-plated bully-beef tin hammered into the shape of a pyramid and mounted on a wooden plinth. The club also ran regular club runs of up to 100 miles over the desert roads. The Bully Beef Trophy continued to be a success for several years until in 1944 the club decided to organise a massed-start road race on the island of Ghezira where several hundred police obligingly closed the roads for the event! An Egyptian, Faris Bey Sarafin, donated a magnificent 50 guinea cup for the event which had an entry of 120 riders.

After a bit, the story shifts to a reminiscence of a canoeing trip that encountered several difficulties, culminating in rescue.

From a cycling perspective, however, does the opening sequence of time trialling on the Suez Canal Road reflect the author’s National Service?

Page 7

This is the letter referred to in Bob Harvey’s editorial, and which seems to indicate the Club is ina  bit of a sticky patch and is losing a sense of camaraderie and purpose. Continues page 8.

Page 8

Preview of the Club ‘100’. But weren’t the results on page 3? 

Racing Secretary D. Saunders has a snippet about Scotsmen, porridge and sporrans. 

Pages 9-10

Club Programme June 6th to July 18th

This is the runs list for the Sunday runs and others. It includes some race dates too.

Thes pages were back to back, and perforated for easy removal for reference.

Page 11

Two more sportraits - Boff Empson (apparently despite being a hard-working club member, Boff always finds an excuse not to do any cycling, and is noted for his abilities to sleep anywhere) and Texas Turner. Are Texas Turner and Colin Turner one and the same?

Page 12

Another contribution by R. Meredith: The Chilterns Are Ours….it’s a nice little reflection on the countryside the Northwood Wheelers could call their patch.