Sidney Herbert Ferris (c. 1908) was an English long-distance cyclist who broke the records for Edinburgh-to-London,

Land's End to John O'Groats Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days; the record ...

, and 1,000 miles in 1937. Sid Ferris won the North Road 24-hours Time Trial three years in succession and was a member of the winning Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Club team in the Best All-rounder Competitions of 1930 and 1932. His achievements were celebrated in 1937 when '' Cycling Weekly'' awarded him his own page in the '' Golden Book of Cycling''.

Personal life

Sid Ferris' parents ran a cycle business at Hounslow and were reportedly known to the cycling fraternity as 'Mum and Dad Ferris'.Time trialling forum - Sid Ferris
/ref> Sid Ferris had only one eye, so he wore a patch over his left eye. Sid Ferris was born in Lambeth October 1907. Married Eileen Newman in 1935, they were married for 58 years. They had two daughters Pamela and Jennifer. Sid died in August 1993 ( six weeks after the passing of Eileen.)

Harry Ferris

Sid's brother Harry (H.E.G.Ferris) ran 'Ferris Cycles', the bicycle shop and frame building business at 220 and 521 Bath Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, and was a successful amateur cyclist for 30 years. In

Cycling Magazine A cycling magazine or bicycle magazine is a magazine with news and reports on bicycles, cycling, and the bicycle industry. Bicycle magazines may feature new bicycle tests and comparisons, which describe advantages and disadvantages of similar mode ...

, 1952, he advertised sophisticated "low temperature silver brazed" frames. He was known for his own unique designs and shapes. Harry was also a competitive cyclist, in September 1934 he broke the record for the 211-mile 'London-Bath-London' with a ride of 12 hours 2 minutes 23 seconds on his own design/build of tricycle.Classic Rendezvous, profile of Harry Ferris
/ref>''Cycling Magazine'' 1952 Harry Ferris competed in solo, tandem and tricycle events from 1928 to 1959. He won several Gold awards from the '

Charlotteville Cycling Club Charlotteville Cycling Club is a cycling club in Guildford, southern England. The club incorporated in 1903, saw a national record broken in 1934 by Harry Ferris and organises the Guildford Town Centre Races, which have taken place since 1984. ...

' (

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

) mostly for Club Records. Between 1925-1934 he also won Gold Medals from the 'Vegetarian and Athletic Club' including '210 miles on a Tricycle in 12hrs, and London to Bath and back. From 1932/33 Harry won Gold awards from 'South Western Cycling Club' in Solo and Tandem classes, these included a gold 'Southern Roads Medallion' for 12hrs. He won Silver awards from 'The Calleva Road Club', 'Southern Roads', 'Southern Counties Cycling Union', 'Southwest Roads Club', 'Charlotteville' and the 'Vegetarians & Athletic Clubs' among others.Lawrences Auction Catalogue, Harry Ferris Memorabilia
/ref>

Career

Ferris rode for the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Club from the 1920s. In 1930 he won the Anerley B.C. 12-hour time-trial with a score of miles. A talented all-round rider, he competed in events from 25 miles to 24 hours. He was a member of the winning Vegetarian team in the Best All-rounder Competitions of 1930 and 1932 and he achieved 11th in the individual classification in 1933. Ferris won the North Road 24 Hours Time Trial three times in succession in 1932, 1933 and 1934. Ferris turned professional in 1936. He was recruited by Raleigh Bicycle Company, along with Bert James and Charles Holland, to regain long-distance records and to promote Sturmey-Archer hub gears against the new "continental" derailleur gears. In June 1937, as a training ride for the Land's End to John O'Groats, Ferris covered the 379 miles from Edinburgh to London in 20 hours 19 minutes, beating the previous record by exactly hours. Unfortunately, this record breaking achievement was subsequently not recognised by the R.R.A. because an assistant had broken a rule. (See October below) His long-distance cycling career peaked in July 1937 when he gained the two longest records on the books of the Road Records Association—the Land's End to John O'Groats and the 1,000 miles—from Australian cyclist Hubert Opperman. Ferris covered the 870 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats in 2 days 6 hours 33 minutes, beating Opperman's time by 2 hours 28 minutes. He continued to complete the 1,000 miles in 2 days 22 hours 45 minutes, 3 hours 7 minutes ahead of Opperman. The ride was completed without sleep. His record stood for 21 years. In October 1937, when Ferris' first Edinburgh-to-London time was disallowed, Raleigh rushed him to Edinburgh on the night train for a second attempt. The prospective long night ride involved a challenge for Ferris' one good eye, which had already been strained on the Land's End to John O'Groats, but his bicycle was fitted with the new Dynohub and he endured 15 hours of darkness to break the R.R.A record. In 1938 Ferris gained the R.R.A. 24-hour record with a distance of 465.75 miles, (461.75 miles) riding from Edinburgh to the South Coast and demonstrating the qualities of Raleigh's Dynohub.

Equipment

In 1937 Ferris' Raleigh bicycle was equipped with Lauterwasser handlebars, and Sturmey Archer AR close ratio, three-speed hub gears, and latterly. the newly invented Raleigh Dynohub. This was the last Land's End to John O'Groats record that was set with hub gears rather than derailleur gears.

Commemoration

The Golden Book

Sid Ferris's achievements were celebrated in 1937 when '' Cycling Weekly'' awarded him his own page in the Golden Book of Cycling.

Cigarette card

In 1939 Ferris was celebrated nationally when W.A. & A.C. Churchman issued a

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible ca ...

of him in action. In a series of 50 cards called ''Kings of Speed'', he was featured on card no. 33 titled ''S.H. Ferris''.

References

Sources

Sturmey Archer heritage

External links

UK National Archives, Raleigh Bicycle Company. An online index to an offline archive located in Nottingham. Contains documents by and about Sid Ferris.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Sid 1900s births 1993 deaths English male cyclists People from Hounslow Sportspeople from the London Borough of Hounslow Cyclists from Greater London