Peter Graham
Multiple national hill-climb champ and promoter
Lancashire legend Peter Graham, who lifted his first RTTC National Hill-climb Championship in 1958 and went on to win nine individual and team medals between then and 1965, died last week, six days short of his 88th birthday.
Most of his open wins were on courses familiar to North West cyclists – Nick o’ Pendle, the Rake, Peaslows Hill and Winnats Pass – but he would travel when necessary and won the first of his three national titles in the Chippenham and District event at Bathford, with another in the classic Catford CC event on Yorks Hill.
Although best known as a climber during his golden years, when he rode for West Pennine RC, Graham was the complete all-rounder who was at home on the road, in time trials or on the track, and was equally happy behind a microphone as in the saddle. To a more recent generation, he was perhaps best known as the organiser of the annual Lancashire RC climb on the short but fearsome Rake course at Ramsbottom, where his own record of 2min 18sec for the 947 yards took three decades to beat.
As a promoter, he was something of a showman, attracting sponsors with deep pockets, enabling him to offer £1,000 prize lists and Rolex watches for course records, leading to the event being dubbed, in his words at least, “the richest bike race in the world.”
He was a regular and enthusiastic competitor at the Isle of Man week, and it was there that he was invited to join the commentary team. Keith Boardman, father of Olympic pursuit champion Chris, recalled: “His commentary following Chris down the mountain was great. He was a lovely modest bloke, and a talented climber – stylish, too.”
Bury Clarion’s Peter Roscoe, who had known Graham since 1951, praised his lifelong love of cycling and its camaraderie. “Peter’s enthusiasm was such that he encouraged others to race, including myself,” he said.
Dave Gretton, who was himself winning hill-climbs by 1972, said: “Pete was a great cyclist and clubman. I remember him encouraging me after an event on Winnats – as I lay on the floor, breathing very heavily!”
Graham would claim that, during a 40-year racing career, he beat five past or future world champions – Tom Simpson, Eddy Merckx, Hugh Porter, Reg Harris and Mark Cavendish, though Cav was only 13 at the time, in 1998.
But his win over Simpson in the very last BLRC National Championship, the hill-climb on the Mam Nick course in Derbyshire in 1958, was genuine enough and underlined his potential.
Simpson was unhappy with the result, as Graham recalled in a 2016 Cycling Weekly interview: “At the race HQ he just nodded and didn’t say a word or shake hands. He just buggered off.”
Graham, who had suffered several falls in the past year, spent his last five weeks in a nursing home. He leaves his partner of 25 years, Anne, and three grandchildren. A daughter predeceased him.