The Richmond Meet
Cycle racing plays a major part in the history of the sleepy market town of Richmond in North Yorkshire.
Cyclists from all over the north of England religiously flocked to Richmond every Spring Bank Holiday for what ended up being one of the biggest cycling meets in the country. 
The earliest recorded racing took place in 1869 on the town’s cycling-specific grass track, where participants gave their bikes names and local bookies set up betting rings for the races.
The first annual “North Yorkshire and South Durham Cyclists’ Meet” took place in 1892 when it was feared that the nearby Barnard Castle Meet was being overrun with cyclists from Tyneside and the borders. Local clubs all played their part in assisting the Meet Committee with the organisation of the events and provided constant entertainment for the crowds with fancy-dress competitions and, on occasion, daring circus-style acts as well as the busy itinerary of track, circuit and road races.
During the 1960s, the “North Yorkshire and South Durham Cyclists’ Meet” became “The Richmond Cyclists’ Meet” and began to decline due to the closure of several of the local cycling clubs, including the Richmond Cycling Club. 
Despite this, a handful of local stalwarts and a few of the remaining local clubs, including Hartlepool Cycling Club continued to organise the Meet year on year. Cycling almost disappeared from the Meet Itinerary in the mid 90s after which only the grass track races remained.
In November 2004, the Richmond Cycling Club was re-established by a group of enthusiastic Richmond-based cyclists, including some that had been members before the club’s closure in the mid 60s.
2006 saw the Richmond Cyclists’ Meet rise from the dust with 3 events following the traditional itinerary – the “5 Dale 100” Cyclosportive series, the Arthur Metcalfe Memorial Road Race and the Richmond Grass Track Meet. The weekend’s events proved hugely successful and the Richmond CC resolved to run the event annually based on the traditional weekend itinerary.
2007 saw two major upgrades to the Meet with the addition of an Elite road race and a National grass track championship.
Firstly, British Cycling awarded a round of the Premier Calendar Elite road race series for the Arthur Metcalfe Memorial Trophy which was run over a gruelling 7 laps (85 miles) of the traditional Waithwith circuit but with the start and finish located in Richmond town centre. This complemented the 2 lap (35 mile) regional road race for the newly introduced Arthur Caygill Trophy, whose competitors were also treated to Premier Calendar style logistics with police / NEG escort and road closure. Despite the best efforts of the weather, both races were very successful, attracting capacity entries.
The Elite event was televised by Cycling.tv and the program was broadcast by British Eurosport.
Click here to view the Cycling.tv coverage
Click here to view the British Cycling report on the event
Secondly, the Meet hosted the National 8km Grass Track championship, successfully attracting a larger, high quality entry.
Click here to view the British Cycling report on the event
Click here to view a Cycling Weekly report on the sportive
2008 saw a conflict on the calendar that resulted in the rescheduling of the Premier Calendar event to September. The new date away from the Bank Holiday has however allowed for a spectacular development of the route to take in Swaledale, Wensleydale and the Butter Tubs and, having proven the logistics, an increase in the maximum field size.
The 2008 Spring Bank Holiday Meet was successfully further expanded to introduce a time trial over a 25 mile sporting course in Swaledale and a 32 mile closed road criterium at Croft motor racing circuit. The Grass Track Meet this year was awarded the National 400m Sprint championship and with excellent weather, spectator numbers were estimated at ~1000, hopefully indicating a return to the popularity of earlier years.
Richmond Meet 2009 - The Spring Bank Holiday Meet was successfully refined with a repeat of the time trial and capacity entries for both the Sportives and road race. The Grass Track Meet this year was awarded the National 800m Sprint championship and with excellent weather, spectator numbers were estimated at ~1000, again reinforcing the feeling of a return to the popularity of earlier years.
Richmond Meet 2010 - Over the traditional Spring Bank Holiday weekend the established schedule of Thursday’s Swaledale Trophy time trial, Saturday’s 5 Dales Sportive, the Arthur Caygill Trophy road race and Monday’s Grass Track Meeting, this time featuring the 8km National Championship was planned.
The 24 mile hilly (SPOCO) time trial over the Grinton Moor course was convincingly won for the third time running by the local up and coming rider, Simon Baxter (Adept Precision). The event for the first time incorporated the Richmond Cycling Time Trial Championship Club which was won by Sven Wardle.
The sportive once again attracted a capacity entry of 550 and despite a poor forecast the riders set off early in almost dry conditions but the weather deteriorated in the latter half of the day to provide an extra challenge on top of the 100 mile distance. The poor conditions however didn’t dampen peoples’ enthusiasm with many promising to return again next year.
The road race had attracted a capacity entry of 80 but the escalation of traffic control requirements that have affected all of North Yorkshire road events unfortunately led to the last minute cancellation of the race when the contractors could not supply the necessary human resource to staff the control. Major efforts are being made by British Cycling to overcome these issues and hopefully avoid a repetition next year.
The grass track meeting was run in perfect weather conditions with wall to wall sunshine, warm temperatures and no wind. A large crowd of spectators estimated at over 1000 was attracted and caused the Cricket Club hosts to sell out of food and drink several times over ! A varied program of events was held encompassing all abilities both locally and nationally with the 8km National Championship being won by Evan Oliphant (Endura).
For more information about Richmond Cycling Club or the Richmond Meet please visit:
