OBITUARIES A farewell to Audax stalwarts, Dave and Liz
Arrivéewinter/spring2020
Two legends of the Audax world passed away in December last year – Dave Pountney of Kidderminster, and Liz Creese of Willesden. Their impact on the sport can be gauged by the many glowing tributes from fellow riders, left on the various websites registering their passing.
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DAVE POUNTNEY – the ‘cyclist’s cyclist’ Dave Pountney had been a Kidderminster CTC committee member since 1965 and was a mainstay of the club, having held at various times the positions of secretary, treasurer and magazine editor. His other achievements included riding Paris-Brest-Paris in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1991. He was also the first rider to complete an AAA card, back in the 1980s. But to his friends and fellow riders, Dave was much more than just another rider. Dan Howard, chair of Cycling UK, said: “Dave supported and influenced so many of us, and he’ll be really missed.” Philip Whiteman of Beacon RCC added: “Dave was instrumental in the creation of the Kidderminster Killer and Elenith Audaxes. He was a stalwart of Kidderminster CTC, and an accomplished ‘mile-eater’. Over the years many hundreds of cyclists participated in his Audaxes and will remember his great humour, and the care and attention he gave to riders.” Towards the end of his cycling career, Dave was awarded a Certificate of Merit by his club in recognition of his lifelong work. The citation reads: “He joined the Kidderminster club in 1959 but didn’t start cycling until 8am on 10 March, 1965. We know this because as well as being an avid cyclist, he was also a meticulous diary keeper, having logged all of his miles.” The citation added: “There are many members today, still cycling through Dave’s encouragement and guidance. The sense of achievement he has helped young riders accomplish should not be underestimated.” After his death was announced, many riders flocked to comment on the Yet Another Cycling Forum (YACF) website: “He was a cyclist’s cyclist. I had the privilege of being severely tested on some of his events.” “Thanks for reviving me with beans on toast at Kidderminster on my first ever 660.” “Thanks for all the Eleniths, Dave… and the jelly babies.” “A really nice man who always had time to stop and chat whenever we met on the road.” “It was Dave who inspired me to take up cycling, thanks to his inspirational writings in Cycling magazine.” “He was such a cheery chap – such a great guy, such an inspiration, such a loss.” Ultra-cyclist, Steve Abraham, who knew Dave, added a personal tribute: “Riding through the night on my way back from Chester on my first 600, the Windsor-ChesterWindsor, was a struggle. It wasn’t easy staying awake, but I knew I’d soon be back at that control at the scout hut in Kidderminster. “It was run by a man who somehow knew exactly what everyone needed on a ride like this. This was Dave Pountney. He’d done this type of thing himself and had lots
of experience. It made a very big difference. “The following year I entered an event called the Elenith. At the time I didn’t know much about Dave, but soon realised that the man running the start and finish from that scout hut was the same guy who’d organised the Kidderminster control on WCW. “Meeting Dave became a part of my Audax riding experience – and the more I rode and met other riders, the more I learned how much Dave had done as a rider. No wonder he knew how to look after us all so well. He was more than just a rider. He was part of the architecture of cycling.” Dave’s wife Charlotte said: “It’s great to know that Dave was so widely respected and will be missed by so many. He loved organising the Elenith and the Killer, and was really happy to introduce so many to his favourite cycling area, Mid Wales.” Dave was also an accomplished amateur photographer. His Flickr page had nearly three million views. His motto was: “If it moves, photograph it. If it doesn’t move… photograph it.” The last picture he posted was a portrait of himself and his bike, with typical humour he added the words: “Signing off for a time…as I am cashing in quite a few of my lifetime’s ‘donations’ to the NHS.” Dave Pountney died on 12 November, 2019, after a lengthy period of bladder cancer. He passed away peacefully in hospital, with his wife Charlotte and sister Claire by his side. LIZ CREESE – the Marmite Queen I first heard the name Liz Creese many years ago when I learned she was riding a 200km permanent – just to get to the start of another 200km event, writes Steve Abraham. This was one of Liz’s rides during the year she achieved her Audax points record. Her 222 points might not sound exceptional nowadays, but back then, it was different: No DIYs, and no permanents were allowed to be repeated – and there were fewer of them. There was no GPS for easy navigation – we all relied on written instructions. There were fewer events, too. The Audax season didn’t really start until March, and ended pretty much in September. Riding a 200 in mid-winter was exceptional and was almost never done. Riding a 600 off-season was pretty much unheard of, too. This means that Liz amassed her 222 points in about half the time that the points chasers of today do. During her points chasing in 1995, she became a popular talking point on events – how quickly she was accumulating points. She made good use of Pete Coulson’s permanents between Lincoln and Winchester. It was a cunning ploy. An out-and-back route that could be ridden numerous times and count as not being the same route within Audax rules, if you started or finished at different control points to other rides. Liz rode it so much that he dubbed it “The Creese in the Road.” Liz also liked to ride fast and was usually among the fastest finishers. I remember Pete Coulson commenting that she’d ridden one of his routes from Northampton to Lincoln and back – 300km in 11 hours. That included stops. During her points-chasing year, I joined the Easter Arrow team focused on getting Liz her four points. I still
remember the ride. It was an ambitious weekend for me because at 3am on the day before I rode Dave Hudson’s 300 from Worthing. Unsurprisingly, Liz did too. Just another week of points-chasing for her. I remember her saying that her favourite distance was a 400. She could get up, drive to the event that usually started around 10am, rattle off about 300km, get some sleep, then ride 100km to the finish before driving back home in good time. She knew the benefit of getting good sleep on rides and that’s how she did it. Ride fast, get as much good sleep as possible so she could ride fast the next day. It also helped that she was excellent at following a route sheet and often led bunches through complex networks of lanes. She often seemed miffed that people wondered at her skills. She memorised several lines of route sheet at a time while others read a line, took a turn then had to find the next line on the route sheet. It also might have helped that she’d probably ridden the event several times before. Although she knew the wisdom of sleep, night riding was inevitable. She was fond of getting a group together for a night time sing-song. That was her way of getting through a night. She was never keen on the hilly rides and didn’t mind admitting it. That doesn’t mean she couldn’t do them. I remember her riding an Elenith, and you couldn’t gain as many points in a season as she did back then without riding the Bryan Chapman. Fuelled by the Marmite sandwiches that gave her the nickname, “The Marmite Queen,” she was one of the all-time top points chasers of AUK. It’s not just her 1995 season. She became the first AUK to gain the 100,000km award. It was all done in eight years at a time when 100 points in a season was about as common as someone getting over 200 now. She stopped riding Audax not long after her 100,000 award. Elizabeth Ann Creese, known to all as “Liz”, died on 5 December, 2019, aged 77, ten months after learning that she had stage four cancer. Liz, a long-standing member of Willesden CC, was responsible for creating the Rocco’s Rocket memorial ride in 2013, a year after the death of her partner, Rocco Richardson, also an accomplished cyclist.
Steve Abraham is currently planning a 600 event in August as a tribute to Liz Creese. His idea is to use a modified version of the now obsolete “Creese in the Road”, as devised by Pete Coulson. Starting in Milton Keynes, it will join the original route at Thame, then through Berkshire down to Winchester and back to Milton Keynes at the halfway point before the northern loop, skirting Northampton, into Leicestershire and Rutland, up to Lincoln then back to Milton Keynes. More information will be announced on the Audax rides Facebook page.
