|
 With
the racing season almost upon us, many IVCA members will be looking
forward with anticipation to the return of competition and working
out which races they can do well in. Two of the most coveted
prizes up for decision are the Sunday League Championship and the
Tuesday League Championship.
Last year's Sunday League went right down to the wire. Going
into the final race of the League, Kevin Simms was one point off the lead.
However, he did enough in that final race to take the League by one
slender point.
At 70 years of age, Kevin is one of the most senior racing members in
the IVCA. However, age does not get in his way when it comes to
the finale of a race and consistency is what earned him the Sunday
League title in 2001.
Kevin, who hails from Kilcock, Co. Kildare, began cycling at the age
of 19, with a friend of his, Bernie O'Brien. "The first
race I competed in was from Dublin to Monasterevin in 1951,"
says Kevin. "We cycled up to Dublin for the start at the
Iveagh Grounds in Crumlin. I was on a fixed wheel bike and
wearing football gear".
Top riders of the day such as Frank Baird and JJ McCormack were competing.
Kevin crashed before leaving the outskirts of Dublin, but got back on
his bike in spite of cuts he sustained in the crash. He never
saw the bunch again, but persisted to the finish in Monasterevin,
passing one other dropped rider on the way. As if he hadn't had
a tough enough day, Kevin then cycled home to Kilcock!
 But
Kevin wasn't put off by the experience. He joined Naas CTC,
got some proper cycling clothing and one year on, he finished
well up in the sprint in Dublin-Monastervin and won the prize for
first novice.
"I mostly did grass-track racing" says Kevin, reminiscing.
"Sports meetings were held nearly every Sunday, many of them in
farmers' fields". Kevin used to go to some of these meetings
with his friend, Jimmy Kavanagh, on a motorbike, with the frame of
the racing bicycle on Kevin's shoulders in the pillion seat and the
wheels tied to the forks of the motorbike. Kevin and Jimmy would
enter different races, using the same bike.
 "
On one occasion," recalls Kevin, "the twine we used to tie
the wheels onto the motorbike cut through a tyre with the vibration
from the road. We patched up the tyre using paper and
insulating tape."
But it wasn't all track racing for Kevin. In 1952, he won the
Mitchell Cup road race with Naas CTC on an 81-inch fixed gear. The
following year, he competed in the first
RAS Tailteann.
One thing which strikes you when talking to Kevin is his remarkable
memory for the names of people who competed in different races, the
courses they were run over and even the gearing on his bike.
His capacity to remember details may be the product of his love for
history and archaeology. " I would have loved to be an
archaeologist," Kevin says, "but I ended up working in
bakeries, firstly in Kilcock and later, in Dublin."
Surprisingly, Kevin gave up cycling at the age of 22, around the same
time that he moved to Dublin to work. He did not return to
serious cycling until 1980.
Living in Dublin, Kevin turned to a very different sport - weightlifting.
This was a sport which he participated in for over 20 years with some success.
As a member of the Apollo Weightlifting club, Kevin won the Leinster
Junior (weight standard, not age!) Weightlifting Title in 1966.
The same year, he won the Apollo Championship in the 12st. category
and held the Irish record for his category, squat lifting 470lbs.
When the Apollo club closed, Kevin joined the Hercules weightlifting
club.
 Kevin
was forced to quit weightlifting due to a back injury, and was
re-introduced to cycling through his contacts with Danny Flynn, who
also did weight training at the Apollo club and raced with the Vets.
"I went out to watch Danny riding a '25' one Sunday in
1980," explains Kevin. "The following Wednesday, I was
persuaded to ride a '10', which I did on an old Raleigh. I did
29mins. 59secs. I joined the Vets and raced the following week.
I won that race and have been on the bike ever since - not the
Raleigh, though!"
One of his best performances, he says, was riding a 100 mile TT in
4hrs. 53mins at 50 years of age. Another achievement was being
the oldest person to ride the Wicklow 200 in 2000.
Off the bike, Kevin has a huge range of interests. His love of
history remains strong and during the winter months, he is a regular
visitor to the National Library where he enjoys working
systematically through newspaper archives for articles of interest,
particularly about the town of Kilcock, with which he still has close
connections, and past cycling events. He records details of
many articles and has an encyclopaedic mind when it comes to riders
and races from bygone days.
 Other
interests include gardening and his big passion - art. Kevin
took up art in his mid-30s when he bought a box of paints and took
some art lessons. This opened the door to an exceptional talent.
The extent of Kevin's skill with the brush is best conveyed by
explaining that he has been a member of the Watercolour Society of
Ireland since 1974. Membership of this Society is open only to
those whose work is of a high standard. He has shown his
pictures with the RHA several times and has held one-man exhibitions
in Kilcock, Galway, and Roundstone, Connemara. In one
exhibition, he sold 22 paintings on the opening night. Over the
years, Kevin became friendly with renowned artists such as George
Cambell, Arthur Cambell and Arthur Armstrong, and some of their works
grace his living room walls.
Kevin and his wife, Kathleen, celebrated their ruby Wedding
Anniversary in 2000. They have three sons and three daughters
and five grandchildren. In a very full and busy life, Kevin has
retained his love of cycling. He gets out on the bike on
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, riding outside the racing season
with the group which departs from the Cherry Tree in Walkinstown.
He has also made the regular annual trip to Spain with some of this
group for the last 7 years. And the paintbox travels with him!
In spite of his many talents and successes, Kevin remains a very
self-effacing man, always ready to chat to new Vets. members and
provide encouragement.
One thing is certain, when the Sunday League begins to take shape
in 2002, Kevin won't be far off the lead.
Thanks to William Parnell: |
