The first Continental Pro' from the Lune RCC          

I was looking at Ben’s web site the other day and it occurred to me that some of the younger members of the club might like to hear about the club’s first pro to ride on the continent. His name is Ian Brown and he lives in Canada these days but he was born in Morecambe.

          When the club was formed by Pete Nowell in 1948 Ian would have been one of the founder members but he went into the RAF to do his National Service, which in those days was compulsory, because of his cycling Ian was short listed  for the 1948 Olympic Games so because the Lune RCC was a British League of Racing Cyclists club and the international teams in those days were selected by the National Cycling Union, who hated each other with a passion, Ian couldn’t join the club until he had missed selection for the Olympics. But when he did he became one of our most prolific winners.

          In those days you didn’t wait until someone offered you a contract to ride on the continent, you went over there and took out a pro licence and rode the races and if you were any good one of the stars offered you a place on his team for a specific race you rode for him, and you got a jersey a bike and you looked after yourself.

          Ian went over there in 1953 and stayed until 1958, he did well so he was never short of rides. He rode Milan - San Remo, he rode Tour of Flanders three times, he rode Lieige – Bastogne - Lieige he rode Het Volk and he rode Fleche - Wallonne both more than once, he finished fourth twice in the Tour of Belgium, he rode the World Champs twice, once in 1956 getting in a race long break with Rik van Steenbergen, who went on to win the race. He rode and finished the Tour of Switzerland taking a third and a fourth place on two of the mountain stages. He held the yellow jersey in the Tour of the Champagne Country losing it on the last day when all his team packed and left him to be worked over by the other teams. He also rode and finished the Tour of Spain, all of his Simplex team packed before the first week was over so Ian offered his services to the great Spanish climber Frederico Bahamontes, which was accepted, and the two have been firm friends ever since.

          When he came back from the continent in 1956 he was offered the position of head of the Canadian Olympic Cycling Squad which he accepted and has lived in Canada ever since. He was head of the squad for the next eight years, and he brought some decent Canadian cyclists through. Ian’s son George was the chief mechanic for Lance Armstrongs US Postal team and the Discovery Channel team and before that the Seven Eleven Squad which was the first American squad to make it in Europe.

          Ian’s nickname is Biddy and nobody seems to now why, if I find out I will let you now. Ian has a brother Michael who was also a member of the Lune and was quite a decent rider although not as good as Biddy. Hopefully there are some good photographs to follow.

Tony Sweeney
May 2007