We recently reported with great sadness, the passing of another NRC hero, Dave Smith. Dave, aged 90, had a fall in August and never fully recovered. His last few days were spent at home with his family around him.
Pic Above: Dave Smith (left) with Dave Jones, timekeeping at a midweek TT in the 1990s.
We pass our sincere condolences to his daughters Wendy, Caroline and Jennifer, and the wider family.
Dave was a highly active NRC member in the era of Dave Jones, Arthur Frost, Brian Copas, and Dave Canning. Older members of the Club will remember Dave as one of the regular timekeepers in the 1990s and early 2000s. In the 1990s Dave was NRC General Secretary and later became Chairman but had held most posts on the committee.
His funeral service will be held at 12 noon on Thursday 29 September at St. Mark's Church in Cold Ash, with a burial in the adjoining churchyard, followed by refreshments in the Church Room. Everyone is very welcome to the service, especially wearing NRC cycling kit.
There will be a shortened Thursday Midweek Club Ride on the 29th, finishing at the service for those who like to attend. Details of that ride will be posted through the usual Club channels.
David Smith Remembered
David Smith has been involved in cycling over 70 years. He was born and lived in West London until 1953. He was given an old bicycle at age 11 to get to school and took to cycling quickly. By age 16 had joined Ealing Manor Road Club.
In those days, huge club runs of 100 or more riders were common. The hardest ride was London to Bath and back in 18 hours. David completed this challenge, 3 years in succession.
In 1951, David started time trialling and was initially rather slow but soon gained strength and was cycling 7000 miles a year. By 1956, he had moved to Folkestone and joined the cycling club and was club champion in 1957.
David moved to Berkshire in 1958 and joined the Bon Amis CC in Reading, by now his yearly mileage was around 14,000 miles. In 1958 and 1959 he got into the British Best All Rounder lists for riders exceeding 22mph over 50miles, 100 miles and 12-hour rides, and was again the club champion.
September 1962 was his last time trial, having decided the time was right to start supporting clubs rather than competing. He started timekeeping at Newbury Road Club. From 1956 to 2018, he completed every cycling club secretarial task.
Cycling to work over 20 miles every day and riding whenever he could, including with his family; he completed over 300,000 miles in his lifetime. Moving to Essex in 2019, he continued cycling and finally stopped (due to cancer) at the age of 89 years, in September 2021.
David was a sportsman of the old-school where a sport was for life and a source of great joy and companionship.