Obituary by Wolsey founder member Ken Nichols

Mick Pepper

Michael (Mick) Pepper passed away on Sunday 27th July aged 92 years. In the early 1950's Mick was a member of the Ipswich Bicycle Club before locating to London where he had success with the Upton Manor CC. Returning to Suffolk he and his wife Pat joined the Colchester Rovers CC where they became one of the power couples of cycling in East Anglia and further afield. The Rovers were one of the top East Anglian Clubs at the time but in 1972 both Mick and Pat joined the Wolsey Road Club and, together with the addition of a few other local fast men, brought the Club up to an even higher standard and promoting top events.

Mick's great love was Time Trialling particularly the longer distances such as 50 mile, 100 mile and 12 hour events. One of his peak performances was to lead the Wolsey RC team with Colin Kindred and Morrie Bachelor for the Team Award in the National 12 Hour Championship Time Trial in 1981. Mick not only enjoyed racing but was involved in the Club Committees serving as Chairman from 1975 to 2008, then becoming President, organising the Club Annual Dinner and Prize Presentation. Always meticulous with checking times and rules and keeping the committee in order,

He kept a record of his cycling mileage his whole life and passed the 500,000 miles point before he had to give up riding. With reference to the 500,000 miles cycled in his lifetime, he is listed as a current member of the 300,000 mile CC at 17th place with 534,986 miles as shown on following link 300k-cc.co.uk

He was always ready with support for new riders and particularly helpful with lady members with advice and encouragement. A master of not saying too much about his achievements, his cycling record will be hard to match.He also loved collecting (some would say hoarding) all types of vintage bikes, and cycling collectables. His garage, not used for his car, was packed to the roof with his collections.

I first came across Mick and Pat in the 1960's. He would power past me in the local Time Trial on the A140 (known as the goat course), never to be seen again. I would like to say thanks Mick for your dry wit and for correcting me when I got a rule or time wrong. You will be missed in the cycling Community.

Ken Nichols