Tom Simpson Memorial Retro Cycle Festival Weekend

Tom Simpson Memorial Retro Cycle Festival Weekend 2022

Author: Ian Prince

Living in the North of the County of Nottinghamshire, and being too young to have appreciated having an Olympic Medallist and Tour de France rider coming from a small mining village a few miles away, it was not until much later did I appreciate quite what an impact Tom Simpson had made on this community.

So quite a few years later when I had gained a strong connection to the sport, (strangely by working and living in Manchester), I took part in a 400k Audax event that started at Harworth Sports and Social Club. Being a little concerned about leaving my car in the car park of a mining village for the best part of twenty plus hours, I promptly applied a steering wheel lock and asked if it would be safe? The reply came back….’this is Tommy’s Club, you could park a Rolls Royce or leave the Crown Jewels there and as long as you were a cyclist, no one would touch them. That’s the respect that all cyclists command here. So fear not’. Strangely it was for me one of the fastest Audax rides I have ever done even though they are not races, I arrived back at the head of the contingent of people I had shared the ride with. Low and behold, the car was still there and signing in noted much Tom Simpson Memorabilia all around the walls of the social club. 

So fast forward to 2022 and seeing that the annual memorial ride was advertised for September, I sent off my entry some months beforehand. Nothing much happened other than getting the rules about the retro aspect  (no carbon fibre) and trying to make sure my Harry Hall bespoke made to measure bike from 1983 was in fine fettle (I didn’t know Harry’s connection with Tom when I ordered my bike back then, but all due respect, Harry, as TdF Team GB support in 1967 never put me down or told me I didn’t know what I was talking about.)

A few days before the event, the programme for the weekend arrived much to my astonishment, as well as Tom’s fellow rider Barry Hoban and other famous riders, but seeing 1982 World Champion (and Audax rider) Mandy Jones was attending. Well that was the icing on the cake, as I had ridden West Pennine Road Club events from Rochdale when Mandy had left us mere ordinary Audax riders for dead. Never meet your hero’s they say and I must admit I was unusually short of words when I actually got to have a chat with her after the talks. (Those who know me may find that hard to believe).

So next day  (Sunday) saw me back at Harworth and meeting up with another local Audax rider I know, to do the days event retro ride. Looking around the various stalls selling retro gear, books on hill climbs around the UK and beyond, clothing plus loads more, the event was excellent.

Knowing the area and local roads well, I set off at a hell of a pace and led for quite a few miles, before taking a more relaxed pace so that I could catch conversations with others.

So we passed through Scrooby and towards Ranskill, before heading over to Mattersey, and down to Clayworth. From there up Haughgate Hill to reach North Wheatley and left on the dual carriageway to Saundby, Beckingham village, up to Misterton and West Stockwith.

I was shocked as to the distances many had come for the weekend…..Herne Bay, Kent, Carshalton, others from Kent, Sussex, Surrey, London, Nottingham, Leeds and Newcastle and many more places. The fellowship of the road was as ever, fantastic and with a well signposted and marshalled route, we were soon at Owston Ferry by the River Trent. Here was located a feed station and most of us took a break . It was also here that decisions, decisions had to be made: The long route or the short route? Well as most set off on the longer fifty miler, that was no real challenge to me so I followed suit.

So we followed the Trent (despite the road works) to eventually reach Belton and tracked back through Epworth (some stopping at the pub there) and Misson, before getting to Austerfield where we met the main road for a short run into Bawtry. Interestingly the peloton created a critical mass of cyclists ensuring the cars had to hold back. Once more the marshals took over with their large red flags to allow us to turn right at the Market Place and follow the Tickhill Road before after a few miles turning South down to Harworth and the finish.

Congratulating Chris Sidwells (Tom Simpson’s nephew) at the end on the excellent organisation brought the response that he and the team had tried to cover everything. They certainly had, plus the event will run again in 2023, complete with the World Champion attending again, having enjoyed the talks in the town hall so much.

After the event I reprised my visit to the social club and whilst I don’t think many knew about the displays and Tom’s bike here, I was welcomed once again into Tommy’s club to look around.

A fortnight later, myself and fellow Audaxer from Worksop, not content with having ridden the ride once, decided to do it all again just to prove fitness levels were good before the dark nights set in.