top of page

Dave Jones: A lifetime in the saddle pays dividends

Dave Portwood

Updated: Jan 17

The Interview below was given by Dave Jones (1930 – 2022) to Sara Bartlett, former Newbury Road Club Press Officer and Club Member, in 2007. (Images from club archive – with thanks to the originators)


Dave Jones is one of West Berkshire’s most remarkable cyclists.  He is one of the longest established members of the leading local group, Newbury Road Club.  He takes a breather in between training rides to talk about his achievements.


Dave’s Birthday ride, 2010
Dave’s Birthday ride, 2010

Thirty minutes is a benchmark time in cycling.  People new to the sport get quite a shock when they discover that most club riders can quite easily cycle ten miles in under 30.  It can sometimes be a psychological barrier to novices.

 

However, so fit are the most practised club cyclists that they will cycle ten miles in under 25 minutes.

 

Newbury Road Club cyclist Dave Jones is one of them.  He clocked 24 minutes 07 seconds last summer in a time trial at Farnham, Hants.  More impressive was his best 2006 time for 25 miles of 1 hr 02 minutes and 32 seconds.

 

But the real rub for many club colleagues who have only ever experienced a view of his rear end as he glides past and disappears into the distance, is that he achieved those times at the age of 75 – only eight months after he broke his hip in a bike crash the previous winter.

 

He would be the first to admit he’s never been up with the elite even in his younger days [Elite cyclists will clock a shockingly quick sub 20 time for 10 miles].  However, few have maintained such consistently high standards so long after collecting their bus pass (which, incidentally, Jones has never bothered with).

 

He joined Newbury RC in 1948 following a friend’s suggestion, and in his first week rode a 25 from Newbury to Calcot clocking 1 hr 14 on an old steel Raleigh.  He was instantly hooked.  Within ten years of joining Newbury RC, Dave Jones took the club’s 100 and 12 hour records.  He was the first Newbury rider to exceed 20mph for 12 hours – achieving the mind-boggling distance of 241 miles.


Dave in action in the Harlequins “25” in 1955
Dave in action in the Harlequins “25” in 1955

In 1967 he achieved the West London Cycling Association (WLCA) best aggregated average speed over 25, 50, 100 miles and 12 hour races, of 22.091mph, and improved to 22.87mph in 1968. However, he has stopped short of attempting a 24-hour race: “I don’t think I could stay awake that long!” he laughs.

 

These days he holds veterans’ age records for 70 year olds riding 1.01.51 for 25 miles and 2.05.17 for 50 miles.  Aged 71 he clocked 23.16 for 10 miles and he is also a national age group champion on the tandem with Keith Williams, clocking bests of 22.45 (10 miles) and 57.49 (25 miles.)


After 64 years of racing Dave hung up his wheels in September 2012 in his last race; the WLCA “10” recording 26:25.
After 64 years of racing Dave hung up his wheels in September 2012 in his last race; the WLCA “10” recording 26:25.

How does he do it, and more to the point, why?

 

“I just like riding my bike,” he explains simply.  “I ride 40-45 miles every other day, and on Sunday I use the club social ride for endurance training.  That will go up to about 60 miles.  In summer I race twice a week doing mainly 10s and some 25s.  That’s my only speed training.

 

“I used to do a lot more, but you don’t recover as quick when you get older.  I’ve tried doing two days in a row, but it doesn’t work – although I would if I could!”

 

Years ago when there was less reliance on cars, Jones and his club mates would ride to their races even if they were 100 miles away.



 



Dave always the first to help a club member with a puncture, 2017
Dave always the first to help a club member with a puncture, 2017

“We would cycle there, do the race, then cycle home again.  It was nothing to do 200 miles over a weekend.  Sunday club runs would last all day and sometimes we would ride to the coast, then back again.  The only concession was we would stop for a pub meal on the way home.  We once rode all the way up the A4 to Herne Hill in London on Good Friday, then stopped off on the way back for fish and chips!”

 

He is also a seasoned globetrotter, having toured in France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Andorra, Yugoslavia, Hawaii, Nepal, Bangladesh, Australia and several African countries.  He is regularly returns to the Philippines with his wife Emma, to visit her relatives, and keeps two bikes out there so he can get his regular fix of cycling.  Fortunately, she is happy to let him get on with it.

 

Dave and Friends in 1955 near the Italian Border
Dave and Friends in 1955 near the Italian Border

He cycles about 8,000 miles a year and reckons he has surpassed 400,000 in total. He keeps a daily diary, but it irks him that in the first seven years of cycling he failed to keep a note of his mileage – at the very time when he was probably cycling more miles than he ever would.

 

With Dave Jones you struggle to find any magic formula to explain his achievements.  “I eat anything really.  I do eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg, and I always have muesli for breakfast.”   Any vices? He has to think about this for a few seconds, then suggests: “Too much television and I’ve got a weakness for cowboy films – John Wayne and Clint Eastwood!”

 

The real answer is probably that he was born with a natural athletic talent and huge energy. “I once entered a running race having been persuaded by my cycling club mate Jeff Garner,” he remembers.  “I didn’t do any training, but he was training for weeks.  Although I didn’t win, I was handily placed. I beat him and he wasn’t too chuffed!  I could barely walk the next day, but it was worth it!”

 

Jones has never pulled on a pair of running shoes since but is now all set for another year in the saddle.  Pending no injuries and a good following wind he will no doubt be cleaning up in the veteran categories again, fully justifying his tag of Supervet.

 

207 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


Commenting has been turned off.
bottom of page