A tribute to John Else 1935-2025

A member of Cycling UK (then CTC) for most of his life, John enjoyed a very fulfilling life centred on cycling and his family.

John was brought up in south London and was involved in many activities including the Boy Scouts, first as a Scout himself, then as a Scout leader, helping to encourage young lads from the London suburbs get an enjoyment and appreciation of camping, hiking and simply being outdoors.

This was an attitude that stayed with him throughout his life: keen to help others find enjoyment or success. It was during this time he started cycling – a sport that he would stay with for his entire life. His first cycling club was the Sorian RC, and he proudly remained a member for many years.

During the 1950s, he embraced his time in National Service, travelling to Germany and Cyprus. He managed to carry on his cycling in Germany, taking part in racing at the camp and touring around the German countryside.

By this time, John had met Barbara. (Barbara sadly passed away in May 2025). She’d been a Girl Guide, and then a Cub leader at the same place John was a Scout leader. But more importantly she was a cyclist.

Their courting days were spent mostly cycling. Usually south of London into Surrey, Kent and especially Sussex – an area they remained very fond of for the rest of their lives.

Family cycling

They married in 1959 and had two children, David and Jacqui. This didn’t stop their cycling activities, simply adding child seats and a sidecar for trundling around the Surrey and Sussex lanes.

John and Barbara jointly won an award at the Sorian RC for service to the club, illustrating the way they were happy to help and organise at club events – an attitude they kept throughout their lives.

Over the following decades, John was an active member of the Chippenham Wheelers and took part in all aspects of the sport: time trials, road racing, criteriums, track, cyclo-cross and so on.

John was always keen to help other people get involved and enjoy cycling. He organised a great many races and other cycling events, and over the years held just about every post on the committee.

He was also active in organising regional and national events – especially based around coaching and training advice for new riders entering the sport or those who were seeking to improve. He was a coach for more than 50 years and was awarded a medal for long service.

But John’s greatest reward was getting thanks from the cyclists he’d coached as youngsters or beginners who then went on to perform at a high level. He even got thanks from those who didn’t go on to great things for the time and effort – almost always unpaid – that he put in on their behalf.

Leisure cycling

But it wasn’t all about racing. John also loved the relaxed and leisurely side of cycling. He was a life member of the CTC, won the National BCTC one year, and organised the famous Birthday Rides based in Chippenham.

He enjoyed off-road cycling as well, (when it was called rough stuff), long before gravel bikes or even mountain bikes were invented. He was also a keen audax rider, taking part in all distances up to 600km.

In his later years, John joined the Malmesbury Cycling Club and enjoyed their relaxed old-school mid-week meet-ups. He was still riding out to meet them in the café in Sherston aged 88.

On top of this personal enjoyment, his dedication and long service to cycle touring were recognised nationally when he received a CTC certificate of merit.

Despite his massive list of achievements, and his impact on a great many people over many decades, John remained quiet and modest. He was happy to just get stuff done and help other people, without the need for a fanfare.

These characteristics – quiet and modest – were mentioned frequently in the many sympathy cards and messages received when John left us. Another term frequently mentioned was John being the epitome of a ‘clubman’, taking part in all club activities over many years.

More than a cyclist

Although many people knew John from his cycling activities, there was much more to his life than just cycling.

He was well-read. While not so much into novels, he enjoyed reference books on pretty much anything, which meant he was very knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects – from exploration in Antarctica to canals of the 1700s. He’d have been great on any pub quiz.

He also had a broad world view. He read the newspaper most days and delved into the details on the foreign pages as much as UK news. He also did the crossword every day and loved other puzzles like Sudoku. Even in his final weeks he remained sharp and witty.

Among his other interests, when he retired, John took up silver-smithing and joined a local drama group. One of his other dramatic skills was organising the family mummers play every Christmas.

Travel was another great interest. He and Barbara travelled all over the UK and Europe, often in a campervan and usually with their bikes. Further afield, they spent a couple of months backpacking in New Zealand and loved it so much they went back in did it again a year or two later. They also travelled in Africa several times with David and his wife, Corinne.

Back at home, he was always keen to keep up with technology, starting with an early Amstrad back in the 1980s, working through various desktops, laptops and smartphones over the years. During the Covid lockdown, he had no trouble setting up his iPad and tuning into family video gatherings on Zoom.

His priority and other great interest were Barbara and their family. Following bringing up David and Jacqui, they welcomed the next generation: Jacqui and Andy’s children Lydia and Tom, and David and Corinne’s Sarah and Michael. They helped to support the middle generation but never interfering. More recently they were delighted to welcome great-grandchildren Josh and Lyra.

John will be greatly missed by all his family and his many friends in the world of cycling.