Our Chairman, Dave Vine spoke at the AGM yesyerday to commend Mark Gladwyn for the award of the Arthur Jessop trophy in recoginition of his many and diverse contibutions to the life of the club.
"I would like to commend to you someone who has perhaps wisely steered clear of an official position in the club, but who has made a formidable contribution to both how we ride and to helping individual members. I am talking about Mark Gladwyn.
Mark joined the Wayfarers about 12 years ago and quickly made his mark as a ride leader. He raised our expectations of what a ride could achieve in distance and organisation. His first major initiative was the Shoreham Century, a 100 mile trip to the seaside at an inclusive pace acceptable to many, not just A riders. It has now become a firm favourite. Notably for an accomplished climber like Mark, this was advertised as flat, which was true, once you had surmounted the North Downs.
As well as leading, Mark roamed far and wide in search of challenging rides, be it Audax, Raids in the Pyrenees, or spring classics on Belgian pave, always bringing back entertaining stories for the blogs, illustrated with stunning photos. More recently he has been exploring ancient unpaved trackways, some very unpaved, while encouraging us to ride with him, to the delight of some of us.
Mark is an enthusiast for cycling history, particularly CTC, unearthing old texts and guidebooks from second-hand bookshops and the internet. So it was no surprise when he revived the TriVets 100mile challenge, but this time with 100km and 50km variants for those working up to their 100, together with group leaders to provide encouragement. And everyone qualified for a winged wheel badge to remind us of our heritage.
Mark has been ahead of the curve on technology too. He appreciated that we are all getting older and needed lower gearing. He started with advocating 32t rear sprockets, a rarity with road bikes a decade ago, moving on to finding niche makers of smaller chainwheels. Some 10 years later Shimano caught up with his thinking and released the GRX chainset.
That’s not all; in almost every development to make cycling more enjoyable and accessible, GPS navigation, tubeless tyres, gravel bikes, and now most importantly, electric bikes, Mark is a pioneer.
But above all we should recognise Mark for prompting us to ride further and more adventurously and for his unfailing generosity in helping individual riders in countless ways with his time, advice and encouragement.
I commend to you and propose Mark as a worthy recipient of the Arthur Jessop Shield for Outstanding Achievement."
Dave Vine, Chairman
11th May, 2021
5 comments:
There was a unanimous vote of approval!
Jeff
Congratulations to Mark - he has been extremely kind and generous to myself and Duncan. I recall him leading a couple of us back to the train station at Winchester so we did not get lost. No doubt this was one of the many times he has assisted the Wayfarers.
A very generous hearted worthy recipient.
Mark is a star cyclist doing much more than most do to promote the activity. He has a vast knowledge of how bicycles work technically and how modern innovations have improved this noble machine. Let us not forget Maggie who backs him up and is his solid 'stoker' on the tandems they ride. His generosity is well known, not only buying drinks at our lunches, but handing over wheel sets and complete bicycles to deserving individuals. His is the example we all aspire to. Well deserved Mark!
Hear hear, couldn’t agree more! The award is very well deserved and I’d like to add my personal thanks to Mark for all the help he’s given me over the years.
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