Leiston Aces

Here's a blast from the past. Continuing the theme established by the Francis Bacon painting below, this is a picture from my cycle speedway days, when I used to ride for Leiston Aces. Look at those bikes! This was way back before single speed bikes could ever be considered vaguely fashionable. I remember my bike was given to me by a bloke my dad worked with: check out the straight front forks! I don't recall whether they were supposed to give me any kind of advantage, but I wasn't a great advertisement for their beneficial qualities if they did have any. It was all about gating as I remember and in this picture Dean Freeman, whose Dad was the landlord of the Royal Standard, is making a flying start. To my left is Robert Adams - he was in the Fifth Element you know, and was also the bassist in the band we formed at school, The S-Men, as well as the original line-up of Heave. On the starting line, having just let the tape fly, is the legendary Eric 'The Shout' Cracknell, and one of his sons, I think Mark, is to my right. In the background is another Leiston legend, Skid the window cleaner, recently seen on TV during Leiston Town FC's FA Cup run. I reckon this picture was taken in early '78, which doesn't do much for my punk rock credentials. If you look very carefully though, you can just make out a Stranglers badge on Robert's jacket.