World Cycle Stars Come Out for Rayner Dinner

 

Saturday 11th November 2006

Report and images Andrew Kennedy: www.kennedyimages.co.uk

 

This years Dave Rayner Fund raising dinner was held in the opulent surroundings of the Majestic Hotel, in the Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate. Guest of honour Alejandro Valverde was taken ill as he returned to Europe from his end of season break in the Bahamas, and on team orders had to fly directly to his home in Spain.

 

Right: Eric Vanderaerden receives a standing ovation as he arrives at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate.

 

The 600 gathered guests quickly got over the initial disappointment of not being able to welcome the young Spanish cycling sensation, and were soon cheering and clapping the Belgian duo of Eric Vanderaerden and Hendrik Redant, who had both travelled to Harrogate for the event.

 

These two giants of cycling received standing ovations from the assembled guests as they entered the huge reception room, with music playing and video highlights of their cycling careers being shown on screens around the dining areas.

The Dave Rayner story is now well known in the cycling world, and this event increases in popularity every year. Bradford cyclist Dave Rayner was born into a cycling family and showed early promise winning the National Junior Road Race. With the support of his parents John and Barbara he developed into a young professional road man and went to race in Italy, riding races with a young Mario Cipollini and Andrea Tafi.

 

In 1987, Dave won the under 22 age category award in the Milk Race, and took 8th place in the general classification, a top class result for such a young rider. In the early 1990's Dave Rayner caught the eye of Dutch team boss Jan Raas, and spent two years riding for the Buckler team in Europe. Rayner Dinner guest of honour Eric Vanderaerden was a team mate of Dave on the Buckler team.

Guest of Honour Hendrik Redant is flanked by Rayner committee men Keith Lambert, Sid Barras and British Cycling's Jon Clay.

The Dave Rayner Fund was set up by a group of prominent Yorkshire cyclists shortly after Dave died tragically. The aim of the fund is to assist ambitious young riders to make a successful career from cycle racing on the continent of Europe. Since it's inception the fund has financially assisted dozens of young riders, including current top pro rider David Millar. The fund attracts money from a variety of events, with the largest single donation of £12,000 this year coming from Paul Loftus and his team of dedicated helpers who organise the Fred Whitton Challenge sportive ride in Cumbria. The Dave Rayner fund car park bucket is a regular feature of many cycling events up and down the country.

Dave Rayner's mum Barbara and wife Serena with Rayner family and friends.

Young riders benefiting from Rayner funding in 2006 included Kieran Page, Jon Mozley, Peter Bissell (British Cycling Under 23 RR Champion), Alistair Stoddart, Dan Fleeman, Dan Martin, Matt Brammeier, Tom White, Adam Illingworth, Ryan Bonser and Lorna Webb. With short term funding going to University students Tom Murray, James Sampson and Richard Hepworth who all raced in Europe during their summer vacation.

The format of the Dinner has been cannily devised by the committee to gently extract as much cash as possible from the guests whilst enjoying an evenings entertainment. Between dinner courses money removal games were played, and the chief guests had looks of bemusement on their faces as they joined in the fun of heads and tails. With Sid Barras, Keith Lambert, Jonny Clay and their colleagues prowling the room with raffle tickets it's very hard to keep your money in the safety of your pocket. Everybody leaves with a warm glow, and a feeling that they've been pleasantly mugged. All in a good cause.


One of the guests being relieved of his money.

Without doubt the hardest working guest was Sir Jimmy Savile. The 80 year old Yorkshireman has been a great supporter of the Rayner Fund and he spent the whole evening working the tables, spreading his wit, wisdom and charm amongst the guests. Eric Vanderaerden seemed particularly fond of Sir Jimmy and they spent a long time chatting with each other.

Eric Vanderaerden  "so you're (Sir) Jimmy Savile?"

Eurosports cycling commentator Mike Smith was on good form, and introduced the main guests to the crowd. He had his hands full with Sir Jimmy Savile, as the cigar puffing celebrity talked about his time as a racing cyclist. Davitomon-Lotto team director Hendrik Redant shared some secrets of the peloton with Mike Smith and the guests as he talked about super star rider Robbie McEwen, and his preparations for major events like the Tour de France. Eric Vanderaerden was a very popular guest and many pursued him for autographs and photographs.

 

The Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Tour de France green jersey winner was a perfect gentlemen and had time for everybody. Vanderareden told Mike Smith and the crowd that he had fond memories of the young Dave Rayner when they both rode for the Buckler team in the early nineties, they had shared rooms on training camps and at races, and he told the audience that he was very sad when he heard about Dave's tragic death.


Hendrik Redant lets the crowd in on some peloton secrets.

In 2006 the Rayner organisation used some of their funds to send a team to the Junior Tour of Ireland. The team were victorious with Luke Rowe from Cardiff taking the yellow jersey, and the rest of the team working hard to protect his lead. Mike Smith presented the young Rayner guys to the crowd and gave them a taste of cycling celebrity and a few moments in the spotlight.


Cardiff's Junior Tour of Ireland winner Luke Rowe enjoys his moment in the spotlight.

The highlight of the evening for many was the auction of cycling memorabilia, which saw guests battling it out with wallets and purses to outbid each other. Team Discovery mechanic Alan Butler has been a great friend of the Rayner Fund, and over the years has procured and donated some fabulous items for the auction. This year was no exception and the signed Tom Boonen World Championships jersey in an oak frame, which Alan donated raised a staggering £1,400. Their was frantic bidding for the auction items which ranged from a Graham Baxter Sporting Tours holiday in Spain, to an Eric Vanderaerden Tour de France signed Green jersey.


Russ and Dean Downing and their table guests are about to be entertained by Sir Jimmy Savile.

Spotted in the crowd was SuperTramp saxophonist John Helliwell, who is an avid cyclist with the Settle World Wide Wheelers, and a friend of dinner organiser Stuart Holdsworth. The 600 guests included many big names in cycling. Russ and Dean Downing and their guests support the Rayner fund and enjoyed the evening, and Re-Cycling team boss Charlie Jackson completed his season of winning form by taking home a raffle prize.


Rayner committee man Derek Smith feels the strain as Boonen's jersey reaches £1400.

The annual dinner is an expensive event to organise, and without the generosity of the guests giving time, donations and hard cash the Rayner Fund would have difficulty in running this very special event. The organisers believe they will have raised in excess of £15,000 from the dinner.

One part of the dinner that was looking to be a dismal failure, was the Sunday morning bike ride from the Majestic Hotel. By midnight on the Saturday night there were no names on the list, that's if you ignored the childish scribble that looked like Valverde and Tony Bell on a tandem.

 

Click here for more photos from Andrew Kennedy >>>>

Related Links:
Rayner Fund website: www.daveraynerfund.com
Photo Prints: andrew@kennedyimages.co.uk