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				Graham Lawrance - A Cycling Profile.
				Club Riding Graham began his cycling life as a club rider in the mid 50s when he joined South Elmsall Social Cycling Club. He became club captain in 1960 a position he held intol 1964. He tried time trialing and found he was much better at the longer events. His 100 mile trials were very respectable with a personal best of 4 hours 16 mins, a fast time in those days. He also competed in cyclo cross, a sport then in it's pioneering stage.
					Graham Lawrance
				Army Life In 1965 he joined the army and was posted to Malaysia the following year, where chances to cycle were rare. He managed just two rides during this posting. One ride was on a 'sit up and beg'  bike which took all his strength to lift and the other was whilst in Singapore when he took a Rickshaw ride, Graham exchanged roles with the Rickshaw man, gaving him a lift, and paying him for the pleasure. Graham was eventually posted to Germany where he rode, mostly in the Paderborn area, but he also rode in many other parts of the country. In those days, he often cycled home on leave, trailer in tow, a round trip of more than 500 miles. West Kent CTC He did two tours of duty at Woolwich and soon joined the West Kent DA on their rides. He rode with most of the sections in West Kent at the time. During his second tour of duty at Woolwich, he underwent a back operation which slowed him down a bit and prevented him from running for good.
		Civilian Life He left the army in 1987 after serving 22 years and started to ride on his own and with a friend who could only turn out once every three weeks. Tiring of riding alone, Graham formed the Pontefract Section which initially was very strong. He also became a member of the 'Autumn Tints' group and is very active in the Wakefield Cycle Users Forum working towards a more cycle friendly transport infrastructure in the area. In 2002, Graham devised and cycled a 1340 mile ride, 'Round the Capitals',e which passed through Edinburgh, Cardiff and London. In the process, he towed his dog 'Boy' in the trailer and raised £6,200 for the Royal British Legion. The following year, he and 'Boy' rode down to Dorchester for the CTC Birthday rides and came home via the Isle of Wight, Kent and Suffolk, totting up more than 1000 miles. Sadly 'Boy' had to be put to sleep in January 2004, aged 15. The Present Now retired, Graham is still very much active, organising events for national bike week and other local events. He also led one of the successful CTC saturday day rides from the York Rally, leading a large group from all parts of the British Isles and as far afield as the USA. His route was very scenic and interesting one taking in Sherrif Hutton, 'The City of Troy' Hovingham, Castle Howard and Stockton on the Forest.