TIN CAN TEN RESULTS 2003 Race on Loughborough Pheonix 2 x 5.4 mile course. Date unknown
Name	Club	Bike / gear	Time
Michael Gould	Loughborough Phoenix	1936 curly Hetchin’s, S-A TF	35:30
Ron Johnson	Leicester Forest C.C.	1938 Bates ‘Vegrandis’, S-A AM	37:24*
Peter Underwood	Cambridge (T&C) C.C.	1949 R.O. Harrison Shortwin, S-A ASC	33:26
Patricia Killiard	Cambridge (T&C) C.C.	1970 Hetchin’s Swallow, S-A FM	35:00
Paul Cooper	Rockingham Forest Wheelers	1967 Moulton Speed, S-A FW5	33:56
James Cooper	Rockingham Forest Wheelers	1968 Moulton Major, S-A FW	32:46
David Lovegrove	Halesowen A. & C.C.	1938 Hetchin’s, S-A AF	34:00
Roger Bugg	Loughborough Phoenix	1897 Alpha Bantam, Crypto hub 66” gear	53:55
Paul Vincent	Bath C.C.	1950s Ephgrave, S-A AM	27:16
Lorna Wray	A5 Rangers 1966	F.W.Evans ladies, S-A FW	42:17
Phil Wray	Milton Keynes C.C.	1939 Carlton Flyer, S-A AW	34:57
I Newton	C.T.C.	1938 Raleigh Silver Record, S-A AW	32:53
Bob Knight	Milton Keynes C.C.	Unknown track frame, S-A TF	D.N.F.*
Dick Hanson	Cheltenham & County C.C.	Unidentified track iron, S-A AW	31:24
Brian Donnan	Cheltenham & County C.C.	1985 Cheltenham Pedersen, S-A FC	31:57
Andrew Thompson	Loughborough Road Club	1960s Viking ladies frame, S-A AW	30:24
David Minter	Tamworth R.C.	1998 Brompton T5, S-A 5 spd	33:45
Sue Barlow	Tamworth R.C.	1997 Brompton T5, S-A 5 spd	38:29
John Dady	C.T.C.	Pre-1914 BSA, S-A K-type	L.R. §
Hannah Marshall	Loughborough Phoenix	1935 Dawes Tourer, S-A AW	33:57
Chris Thompson	Loughborough R.C.	1970s Holdsworth, S-A AW	25:27
Robert Gray	Sherwood C.C.	Hercules Hunter shopper, S-A AW	26:35
Morgan Reynolds	Hinckley C.R.C.	1948 Carpenter, S-A AM	32:15
Paul Evans	Loughborough Phoenix	Brompton, L5, S-A 5spd	D.N.F.**
David Eccles	Redmon C.C.	1940s Claude Butler ladies frame, S-A FM	31:10
David Walker	Nottingham University C.C.	Moulton APB, Sachs 3x7 hybrid	32:11
Minoru Mitsumoto	Farnborough & Camberley CC	1960s Raleigh track iron, S-A ASC	29:27

Outcomes, prizes, excuses etc. § Lanterne Rouge; got off for a rest by which time the watches had been stopped * Puncture ** Lots of punctures Chris Thompson took the Simon Antill Sturmey-Archer Trophy, Robert Gray, Paul Vincent and Hannah Marshall got Tin Can T-shirts; and the Loughborough Sock went to Paul Evans. As always we are indebted to Stuart Crick and all his helpers from the Loughborough Phoenix: his assistant timekeeper, Pusher-off Martyn Temple, marshals Eileen Johnson, Bill Marshall, David Carter, and John Stone, not forgetting J B Williams with his mobile cafe, and all the very kind people who made and brought cakes. The ‘Tin Can Man’, or Simon Antill Sturmey-Archer Trophy is one of several similar figures created for a Sturmey exhibition stand in a cycle trade show. He is built up from standard parts: the base from a dynohub, the legs from 4-speed axles, the arms are ‘chopper’ style down-tube levers for one of the earlier 5-speeds, the nose is a trigger, his hat is a sprocket and the fishing rod (?) from a toggle chain and indicator. Winning this trophy is a mixed blessing as it is a real fiddle to keep polished !

David Eccles' 2003 Tin Can Ten Report Punctures tried to get the better of us this year, but were we down-hearted? No! The Fighting Tin Can Spirit was exemplified by Ron Johnson who, despite puncturing at the Sutton Bonington corner on the last lap, nevertheless managed to battle through to the finish undaunted. Then there was Paul Evans who inaugurated a series of punctures on his way to the event (so don’t blame the course) and past trophy winner Paul Vincent whose powerful warming-up blew a tub – but with no time left to find a spare still managed a good time (same as his performance in 1995!) on a borrowed machine (the organiser’s) about two inches too small.

With the amount of elderly machinery on show it is quite suprising that mechanical difficulties are not more frequent on the Tin Can Ten. The most venerable machine this year was Roger Bugg’s superbly presented one-hundred-and-six-year-old Crypto geared front driver, and it takes a great deal of skill – and nerve – to ride that down the back of the ’hill’. John Dady demonstrated how to cope with a frame which is much too big through the device of building up the pedals with wooden blocks; hardly helping with lightness or aerodynamics so it was not surprising that he needed a rest on the second lap.

As well as the Alpha Bantam, small wheels were well in evidence once again; three Bromptons, three Moultons and Steve Ralph’s Hercules shopper. Robert Gray really deserved much more than a second place T-shirt for powering that thing round at an average of over 24 m.p.h. Does a smaller wheel and a lower centre of gravity make a bike more nippy on some of our sharper corners? Most riders complain of the difficulty of getting round the first corner of the course (very sharp, reverse camber, rough surface, oncoming traffic, and you’ve only just wound the machine up), so maybe small fat tyres are the answer. If there was a Concours d’Elegance award it would probably have to go Peter Underwood with his beautiful R.O.Harrison twin tube, which at first glance it gives the appearance of a much earlier machine with its deeply sloping seat tube, but when you look again you see that the BB is behind the seat tube – that must make for a very firm bottom bracket. The Hetchin’s Brigade made a good picture too; arguably Patricia Killiard’s being the prettiest – ‘Small, but beautifully marked’. It has been borne in on the organiser that little rivalries may be developing in the Tin Can ranks, so next year the Moultons and the Bromptons will be split up more on the start sheet. and we will try to prevent any needle match developing between members of the Cheltenham & County Club (Clearly Mr Hanson was determined not to be caught by Mr Donnan on that extraordinary confection of wire, skinny tubes and string that constitutes a Pedersen). [By the way Brian has very wisely appropriated the Tin Can as a site, so log on to tincanten.com when you are next ‘online’; there’s always good stuff and superb pictures in there.]

The organiser was deeply embarrassed by the presentation of a the contents of a hat which had been passed round for his benefit. He wishes to thank everyone for this unexpected generosity and hopes to turn it into some sort of promotional notion for next year. As usual we are very grateful to Loughborough Phoenix for rallying around and making this curious cycling event happen for yet another year.

David Eccles

David Eccles is the inspired Founder of the Tin Can Ten
These web pages created and maintained by Brian Donnan*

[ ] Hopefully, now it has been restored, the website will be read and pictures will be recaptured
P.S This website is tincanten.org not "com" and was painfully resurected by Stuart Collins in 2011.
*Brian is languishing permanently in Spain, poor chap, and the website languished too.

TIN CAN TEN RESULTS 2003