Speaking of Tom Simpson, and the sadder aspects of his story, I saw a show on Discovery Channel last night about doping in sports. Although it was American-produced, it had a surprisingly large amount of footage about doping in European pro cycling. A recent Kelme rider was interviewed, and it was stated that a number of pro riders had died of heart failure in recent years. I was surprised that they did not specifically mention the death of Tom Simpson, probably the most famous and shocking doping-related death of a cyclist in the history of the sport. They also failed to mention the disqualification of Merckx from the Giro d'Italia for alleged doping.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
BJay Booth <swiftybjb@rogers.com> wrote: Someone asked some time ago if anyone had seen the Reg Harris "Maestro" video from Bromley Video.
I just received two DVDs from Bromley, the Reg Harris video and the The World of Tom Simpson. I was worried that they might not play on my DVD because North America and the UK have different Regional Coding, but David Bromley assured me that these DVDs have no Regional Coding on them so that they wil play on any DVD player anywhere in the World, and he was correct, they do play on my DVD player.
First, the Reg Harris video is an old TV interview with Barry Davis and I remember seeing this years ago. There's not much actual racing footage on it, there probably weren't many cameras around on those days, but the interview is excellent and gives you a great insite into Reg Harris, and there is plenty of extra footage of Herne Hill, the Cycling revolution at Manchester etc. Well worth the money.
Second Tom Simpson. I was a young teenage cyclist in England when Tom was at his peak as a pro, and like virtually every other Brit cyclist, I idolized him, I even saw him race on 3 occasions, once riding 120 miles round trip on an old Pashley tandem to watch him speed by in the London/Holyhead race where he sat up and waved at us when we yelled his name - but that's another story. Anyway I have read about him for years but I have never heard his voice, in this video he is interviewed by Danny Blachflower (a football - er, sorry, for you Americans out there - a soccer player) during the 1964 TdF. It brough a lump to my throat that was hard to get rid of. Tom Simpson was my hero and this video is worth 10 times what I paid for it just to have heard him speak.
Best,
Brian (there are no hills in Ontario) Booth
Toronto, Ontario, Canada