‘Barry’ shouts Cheryl in an affectionate but exasperated tone. We were in the middle of the Essex countryside on a long pootle and Cheryl is remonstrating with him to slow down. She is faithfully backmarking the ride. Barry could never be put down. That’s what was so good and so frustrating about him. He was uncompromising and unstinting in his campaign efforts. I have never seen anyone who will work to the nth degree to get something achieved – be it a small but ever so vital ramp along one tiny stretch of the Thames Path through to the series of Healthy rides being run by Southwark Cyclists.
One mile leads to many more cycling miles. This was my experience when I first met Barry 7 years ago. I had never thought that I could cycle all to the way to Woolwich but I learnt that through Barry you could. More and more (I’ve put in a ‘Barryism’ here).
His rides have been some of the most memorable of my life: from fording a bicycle packed ferry in Burnham-on-Crouch, exploring the Dickensian mysteries of the Hoo peninsula and marvelling over the industrial heartland of the Thames on one of his signature after-workers. It would not be over-dramatising the fact that Barry appreciated the natural and cultural embodiment of our land and he was eager to share these delights to other folk. He was an ardent birdwatcher and adored nature and the elements.
There are some classic Barry anecdotes which I think people will look back on with fondness. A couple of years back a new cycling shop was launched in Deptford. The cycling rep from Greenwich wanted to get directions to the shop, by car. This was a definite no-no in Barry’s eyes and needless to say that the cycling rep got short sharp treatment from him.
I am not forgetting Dunwich here. Together with Patrick Field from the London School of Cycling he was the heart of the Dunwich Dynamo. The most iconic event in the London cycling calendar, this overnight 120 miles ride from London to the seaside in Suffolk is a kind of Shangri-la for the UK cyclist. It is summed up rather well by Barry. ‘The adrenalin buzz, the experience, the achievement, the smiles will cling forever. That rare and precious human collective/supportive thrill is fabulous. Unmissable. We should rule the world’.
This year is going to be a sad one but for all of us attending we will be thinking about Barry and those dear to him as we traverse the blackened route with those red blinking lights ahead of us.
Diolch yn fawr Barry!