The Club was founded on April 12th 1939, with Eric Madgett being the ‘prime mover’. Notable time trial racing ‘moments’ would include Jacqui Denny’s Tricycle 12 hour competition record in 1957, with187.25 miles, and Peter Schaay, Geoff Banham & Paul Denny (Jacqui’s husband) getting the100 mile tricycle team record with a combined time of 14 57 14 in 1960.
The tricycle racing tradition was continued in the 1970s & 80s by Mick Madgett, who dominated tricycle ‘criterium’ racing for several years,
In the 1970’s the club was one of the first in the country to take on a sponsorship deal, with Delite Accessories, who distributed Huret components from their Diss base.
Also in the ’70’s, the club was in the vanguard, being one of the first to promote a ‘town centre’ criterium on closed roads. At the time, there was a strong racing squad, both on the road, and in grass track racing, with the club team beating the very ‘track oriented’ Haverhill Wheelers in the team pursuit for the regional championship, amongst other successes.
There was a slightly quieter period during the 80s & 90s, though with some quality performances, such as Dave Gill riding to a top 10 in the national ‘Best all Rounder’ time trial competition (over 50 & 100 miles, & 12 hour distances) in the mid 1990s.
In the early years of the new millennium, the tradition of Sunday ‘club runs’ was re-established, & this now forms one of the main club activities, with two groups at different speed levels most weekends.
Diss Cycling Club 