Mexborough and Swinton Times October 7, 1927

How long should a bicycle last? Mr Fred Dixon the old racing cyclist, whose home is at Wombwell, has a “grid” that he has written for 22 years. The machine is a Rover and Mr Dixon bought it in 1905 for racing purposes. On it he did all this training, and it carried him when he won his most notable successes.

In the height of his fame he took training runs of 40 to 50 miles a day regularly, and he considers he is fixing a very low estimate when he says the machine has travelled at least 50,000 miles. Obviously very proud of the machine, he says “It is as good as new today, and I would not exchange it for half a dozen of the new models. They don’t put the same quality of steel and workmanship into machine these days.”

One has not to be very old to recall the time when Mr Dixon was carrying all before him in track events. Riding under A.A.A. and N.C.U. rules he won the South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire mile and half mile championships, and in 1911 took from Herbert Crowther, of Leeds, the Yorkshire mile championship, that Crowther had held for three years.

In the last mentioned success there is a rather singular feature. Mr Dixon says his victory was a big surprise to everybody, and Crowther himself appeared to be greatly disappointed at been “beaten by a pit lad.” Anyway, says Mr Dixon, his mother saw chaffed him about it that he never raced again.

Altogether Mr Dixon won nearly £400 worth of prizes and trophies. He is now devoting himself to the welfare of the new Wombwell Wheelers Cycle Club, and his experience has been invaluable in the work of organisation.

One of his sons shows great promise as a cyclist.