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based on the current and last three years times, this was not good enough
for him. I often received a phone call from him, sometimes late in the evening,
enquiring into the ability of certain riders he felt were likely to perform greater
or lesser than the times on their entry forms. Sometimes this could be
answered over the phone, but in the main it would mean me going around to
his house to assist, and compare events I had ridden with the riders in
question. We would go through the week to week results on various courses,
ignoring the current and LTS times, all to get a more accurate assessment
of riders’ probable times in the event . All this because Dave wanted his
handicapping as near to perfection as possible. For years he tried to get all
the field on handicap into the same minute, and this was in the days when
we could have a full field of 120 riders, an achievement which he got quite
close to but never quite made. He was one of the club’s timekeepers.
All organising, so not much bike riding, but David did manage to race a bit in the
sixties, and work took him away quite a bit, so no time to take it seriously. I know
he raced when he was in the Rodney C.C. and whilst he told me of his achievements,
the years have dimmed my memory as to what times he did.

It would not be proper for me to mention the exact reasons for his leaving
the club, but suffice to say the day he left was a sad day for many of us. We
lost a great club member because he was highly principled, and I admired him
for that. He stuck to his guns, but I know he missed the camaraderie he had
enjoyed over the years, but no amount of persuasion would budge him from
his decision.

As this was written it evoked fond memories of our times together and we
offer our sincere condolences to Joan at her sad loss.

Dave you were a great mate through those years, may you rest in peace.

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