2007 is a year for anniversaries. The Y-frame, Tom Simpson's death and the Raleigh takeover of Moulton have been covered here previously.
In September 1967, Vic Nicholson broke the Cardiff-London record on a Moulton.
In 1962, John Woodburn had broken the record on a specially built Moulton Speed. After the opening of the Severn Bridge, Brian Catt took the record over the new shorter route.
However, Moulton would soon retake the record.
This post on the Phil Bikes blog contains a copy of the report in the September 1967 edition of Cycling.
Making good use of Sunday's strong wind Vic Nicholson regained for Moulton Bicycles the London to Cardiff record.
His time for the 151 miles was 6-14-54 seconds, beating Brian Catt's three-months-old record by nearly 18 minutes.
Both Nicholson and Catt used the newly-opened Severn Bridge which chopped 10 miles off the route used by previous record breakers including John Woodburn's December 1962 epic on a Moulton.
...
With 20 miles to go timekeeper Eric Wilkinson drove past Vic for the finish and traffic congestion was such that he got to Marble Arch with only two minutes to spare before Vic Nicholson weaved his way through to finish there.
Not so fortunate was organizer David Duffield, who lost sight of his man in a traffic-jam with one mile to go.
Visit the original post to read a full size scan of the report in Cycling, September 1967.
great stuff! & great cyclist won many many tt’s.does anyone know the original route (cardiff to london) that would have been taken in 1962. My late father John Tovey BATHcc was one of the few that broke previous records & knew Alex Moulton very well.
tuvs@hotmail.co.uk
Hi does anyone know where vic nicholson is now
VIC HAS RECENTLY RETIRED AND LIVES IN HONITON,DEVON.I WORKED WITH VIC IN A CYCLE SHOP NEAR EXETER IN 2007 AND HE WAS A LOVELY GUY TO WORK WITH.HE TOLD ME MANY A STORY FROM HIS RACING DAYS AND I HAVE THE HIGHEST RESPECT FOR VIC.WHAT A LEGEND.I OWN ONE OF HIS RACE BIKES AND IT IS MY FAVORITE BIKE THAT I OWN.I HAVE NT SEEN HIM FOR A WHILE BUT HE COMES FROM AN ERA WHERE MEN WERE MEN RACING ON STEEL ROAD BIKES.
DEAN WILLIAMS
I knew Vic when I was in the Bath Cycling Club around 1970. He had been the club’s best rider and had been sponsored by Alex Moulton to ride on the UK professional racing scene. I remember this was accompanied by an advertising campaign in “Cycling” and “Sporting Cyclist” for the bike and its specially made racing equipment (big chainrings and the small tubular racing tyres) to try to get Moulton bikes accepted in the enthusiast market.
That campaign was not particularly successful. I was actively cycle racing at the time (in Bath and London clubs) but never saw a Moulton other than Vic’s in club or racing circles. It was understood that they were not so good uphill – a comment I had heard from Vic himself.
Vic had retired from racing by the time I knew him, but could still be seen around Bath on his white Moulton with its huge chainrings.