British League of Racing Cyclists - The Beginning of The End

The Beginning of The End

Running the BLRC was never easy and there were frequent rows within its administration. The organiser of the first big stage race, Jimmy Kain, wrote to Stallard after the BLRC had merged with the BCF of the "two years of nervous and physical breakdown that followed the six years of BLRC office."

Stallard was a bright and energetic man with a vision for his sport. But he was not a man to tolerate argument or those with other views. Peter Bryan, editor of The Bicycle, later an associate of Sporting Cyclist and managing editor of Cycling said:

Stallard had the most abrasive nature that I have ever met. He could never believe that he could have a bad idea or make a bad decision. And sometimes he'd go berserk with those who disagreed with him. He didn't have, let us say, the delicacies of negotiation.

Having achieved what he wanted, with the NCU's final acceptance of massed racing on the road, Stallard placed the continuity of the BLRC over the end of the civil war that the BLRC and the NCU had conducted. He said: "The NCU were running road races and we were running road races and there wasn't any need for amalgamation at all."

Critics said Stallard had lost sight of the intention of the BLRC, which had been to bring racing to the open road and that, once achieved, that there was no further point in rival cycling administrations. Peter Bryan said: "The BLRC was originally a gang of enthusiasts. Then along came what I'd call the parliamentarians of pedal power, men who saw a runaway organisation and decided they'd take it over." Stallard was influenced by those who agreed with him but in the end he and others became too much for the BLRC's other administrators and the BLRC magazine, 'The Leaguer, reported in 1954: "There is a malignant ulcer prevalent in the cycling world common to all three racing bodies in this country. It is the taint of vanity and culminates in the clash of personality."

With both the BLRC and the NCU physically and financially reeling from a civil war that had long outlasted the war with Germany, the two merged in 1959 to form the British Cycling Federation, now known as British Cycling.

The January 1959 edition of the BLRC magazine, The Leaguer, reported formally:

This Annual General Meeting of the British League of Racing Cyclists agrees that all assets, liabilities, obligations and commitments of the British League of Racing Cyclists shall be transferred to or handed over to the British Cycling Federation as from the date of the incorporation of that body.

The text accompanying the announcement said:

It was evident, even before the decisions of this 17th and final Annual General Meeting of the British League of Racing Cyclists were taken, that League Sections and Union Centres up and down the country were already providing the momentum for the practical activities of the British Cycling Federation. Not only has contact been established between many of them but meetings have been held and decisions taken for the setting up of the Divisions which will form the organisational basis of the new Federation.

It also said that "those who are predisposed to live in the past, and even the progressive League is old enough now to number several such in its ranks", would greet the news with surprise. Stallard saw the merger as treason by "just three people were allowed the freedom to destroy the BLRC" and until his death saw the new British Cycling Federation (BCF) as a reincarnation of the NCU. In 1989 he wrote:

I have often sat back and thought just how nice it would be if you could relive your life based on the experience gained. For myself, I would never again try to achieve the impossible by trying to change things. On the two occasions I have tried to do this, I have failed, not because I lack followers, or because of the opposition of opposing bodies, but because of the activities of anarchists and those who are envious of your success and popularity.