The Yorkshire cyclists who conquered Garrowby Hill - 100 years ago...

We're not sure what the legendary Lock Lazenby would have made of that Frenchification of the name of his beloved hill. But he'd certainly have appreciated the challenge cyclists will face on Friday.

After setting off from Bridlington, they'll cross the Wolds, fly down Kilnwick Hill, sprint through Pocklington Market Place and then pedal out of town to Bishop Wilton, from where they'll make the steep climb up Garrowby Hill.

It's a climb Clifton Cycling Club ace Lazenby made on his bike exactly 110 years ago. And remarkably, thanks to the Pocklington and District Local History Group, we have a photo of Lazenby as he nears the top.

In the photograph, you can see he's feeling the strain a bit: his bike appears to be wobbling. But he's being cheered on by men in flat caps and women in long Edwardian dresses, and you can bet he had no intention of quitting.

This is, after all, the man who, according to the Clifton Cycling Club website, was once invited to compete in a hill climb in Kent.

"The club paid Lock Lazenby's expenses to ride the Catford Hill Climb in Kent in 1909," the website reports. "He rode down overnight on the Friday, rode the event on the Saturday afternoon, then rode back again in time for work on Monday." Catford Cycling Club's subsequent report of the event revealed that Lazenby was singularly unimpressed with the Kentish hill climb, declaring 'there was no hill'. They made Yorkshiremen tough in those days.

Hill climbs were all the rage in the early 1900s, as were cycling excursions generally.

So fascinated were the Victorians by this new form of two-wheeled transport that by the 1880s, cycling clubs were springing up all over Yorkshire, says Phil Gilbank of the Pocklington Local History Group.

Members of Pocklington cycling club on an excursion in about 1900

Pocklington cyclists founded their own club in 1891. With two local MPs acting as patrons and several leading citizens being prominent supporters, it quickly grew into one of the town's most important organisations.

Hill climbs were an obvious challenge for those early cycling enthusiasts - with Garrowby Hill a natural test for those in the York area.

In 1892, cyclists from York held a competition, in front of 300 spectators, to see if anyone could cycle up the famous hill from a standing start.

"Although no-one succeeded, Alex Stott very nearly did so, coming within 100 yards of the summit, with J W Wood 20 yards behind him, and F.E. Wasling another few yards further down the hill," writes Andrew Sefton of the Pocklington Local History Group.

"Obviously feeling that he hadn’t done himself justice, Alex Stott had another go two days later – in front of witnesses – and succeeded, thereby winning a £10 bet which was enough for him to emigrate to Canada."

The challenge which had faced Stott was much tougher than that which will confront modern professional cyclists on Friday. His bike weighed nearly 40 lbs, and he was on a road surface which was 'in places crossed by channels worn in the limestone or chalk by water, which were some few inches in depth, and difficult to cross', writes Mr Sefton.

A hill climb at Kilnwick in 1908 - this one using motorised bicycles

By 1905, the hill climbing competition had become a big event. On the evening of June 28 that year so many cyclists rode out from York and the surrounding area that by the time they got to Stamford Bridge 'the cyclists riding two by two took five minutes to pass a given point at a speed of 10 miles an hour', Mr Sefton writes. "It was estimated that there were nearly 1,000 people present, including large numbers of farm hands and other country people, who displayed a lively interest in the event."

That's a description which will sound familiar to any fans of the Tour de Yorkshire or Tour de France today. The man those spectators had come to see in 1905 was Alex Myers, a 27 year old cyclist of renown who worked at a big shop on Lendal called ‘The Sporteries’.

In his career up to then he had won more than £1,300 in prize money. For his attempt on the formidable Garrowby Hill challenge he was riding a Lambert Brothers machine with 26 inch wheels and weighing 26 pounds; he had raised the saddle, dropped the handlebars and changed into his dancing slippers… "He was permitted a 10 minute rest after cycling out from York," Mr Sefton writes. How generous of the organisers.

Rain had fallen during the afternoon, so the road was far from dry. Myers declined offers of marshals to keep spectators back, so during his climb he had to keep shouting “make way!” to force a passage through the crowd - again reminiscent of scenes from today’s Tour de France.

The sprint finish at the 1905 Pocklington Horse Show and Sports on the Percy Road rugby ground at Pocklington. 

"Some spectators tried to run to keep level with him, but he was travelling so fast that they couldn’t keep up," writes Mr Sefton.

Although Myers was successful, no-one had arranged to have the climb accurately timed. "The estimate was that he had ridden the hill in eight minutes," Mr Sefton writes.

In 1907, Lock Lazenby's year, the hill climb competition was much better organised – a stop-watch had obviously been acquired.

In a newspaper report, the event was described as being like a gala day. “There were stalls set out on the roadside for tea, vendors of oranges, and other hawkable articles galore. Motorists there were in plenty, together with char-a-banc parties in merry mood, while cyclists came tripping to the scene from all directions.”

There were 32 cyclists entered for the climb, of which 19 started. Lazenby won the open competition with a time of eight minutes, five and two-fifths seconds. Presumably he didn't dismiss this climb as 'having no hill'.

Pocklington Cycling Club

In addition to the Garrowby Hill climb, Pocklington cycling club in its early years also organised regular hill climbs up and down Kilnwick Hill, cycle sprint races at the summer sports on the rugby field on Percy Road, and club social activities, including a big New Year Ball and an annual decorated bicycle parade through the Market Place. Another major event was a gold medal time trial from Market Weighton to Pocklington, the winning time in 1895 being 18 minutes on an early racing cycle along rough roads.

Members of Pocklington cycling club line up in the Market Place in the 1890s

The Pocklington Local History Group has a wonderful collection of old photographs and press cuttings from the cycling club's early days. To celebrate the arrival of the Tour de Yorkshire, many of these are now on show in a special exhibition in All Saints Church, Pocklington.

They include the photo of Lazenby reaching the top of the Garrowby Hill climb; another showing the cycle sprint finish at the 1905 Pocklington Horse Show on the Percy Road rugby ground; and a great photo of George Herbert Stancer, son of the founder of the Pocklington Weekly News, on his tricycle.

Tricycle champion George Herbert Stancer, OBE

In the 1890s Stancer was the British record-holding tricyclist. He also later broke the Brighton to London tricycle tandem record. How many of the Tour de Yorkshire riders would be up for that?

• Pocklington Local History Group's exhibition of old cycling photographs opened in All Saints Church yesterday (Tuesday April 25) and runs until May 7, the date of the annual Flying Man Festival.

All Saints Church will be turning itself into a café for the day on Friday when the Tour de Yorkshire goes past. It will be open from 10.30am to 3.30pm, serving teas, coffees and bottles of 'Flying Man' beer.