St Ann man claims world record

... 'I'm the only man alive to see 4,000 races,' says Aston Fletcher

Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer

OCHO RIOS, St Ann

IT IS unclear if there is a category in the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of cycle races seen over a given period, but 86-year-old St Ann businessman Aston Fletcher is claiming no one can beat his number.

"I am saying that I believe I am the only person alive now to see about 4,000 cycle races," Fletcher told The Gleaner in a recent interview. "I've been to cycle sport for six years straight, from 1945 to 1950, during that time I missed only four meetings. I have seen about 4,000 races in those six years."

A breakdown of the figures reads: 12 races each week for 52 weeks for a total of 624. Over six years the total is 3,744 races.

"Bear in mind, cycling ran on holidays too, so when you put those holidays with it, it's roughly 4,000 races I saw within that time," said Fletcher.

A search to find a category to fit the achievement at the official site, www.guinnessworldrecords.com, failed to find a category to fit the achievement. Another important point would be Fletcher's ability to prove his claims. But, asserted the self-acclaimed cycling fanatic: "I'm saying I don't think anybody in the world can beat that record!"

Fletcher's love affair with cycle racing began back in 1945 at the Townmore racing track near Torrington Bridge area in Kingston where the likes of Fletcher's idol, Frank Minott, along with others such as Noel Phillips, Sydney Blisset, Desmond Silvera, and Hugh Cunningham, rode on a dirt track each week.

Fletcher recalled when cycle champion Sydney Blisset was away and Minott came to prominence in his absence.

Many bets were taken as to who would win when the two eventually clashed on the track.

Fletcher recounted: "When Sydney came, Sydney came second, Minott beat him and it (the beating) continued until (and included) the Governor's Cup, that's a championship race."

Minott won the inaugural Governor's Cup race in September 1945 and on two other occasions, and was crowned national champion on those three occasions.

Racing at Townmore was dealt a death blow when the National Stadium opened in 1962. But Fletcher believes cycling at Townmore was the best and most exciting period in Jamaica's cycle racing and will never return.

"They abandoned Townmore and build the stadium and didn't ask a little man like myself or others who know something about cycling. They abandoned Townmore and built a concrete track at the stadium and there cycling went. The riders said they weren't riding on any concrete track because the concrete is dangerous, you know. And you don't get the fun on the concrete that you would get on the dirt track."

But memories of racing at Townmore, and especially of his hero, Frank Minott, will forever be etched on Fletcher's mind.

Fletcher's Toyota Hilux pickup sports customised licence plates with the word 'Minott'. A picture of the former champion is also on the sides of the vehicle.

"The whole thing cost me 60-odd thousand between the licence plate and the signs," he explained.

He then reiterated: "I think watching those races is a world record. Anybody who can come up to beat that record, phone me at 974-6747."

Photos by CARL GILCHRIST