Remembering Jonathan Gales

Jonathan Gales Memorial Fund - Update, July 2024

Thanks to everyone who's donated so far to support making racing more accessible to young people in the community and celebrate Jono's life

After a competitive tender process we have used the first part of the funding to buy 5 Condor Italia RC Disc Road Bikes that can be loaned out to riders looking to get into racing and training on the road who might otherwise be unable to afford a high standard bike to ride and race. We are grateful for the generous offers we received from several manufacturers across the industry making the funding go further and ending up with some really good quality, great looking race bikes - you can come down and see them on display at the Dulwich Paragon Open Track Meeting at the Velodrome on Saturday 6th July from 2pm

2 of these have already been loaned out to young riders to compete in the London Youth Games - their first road race. Both first came to Herne Hill Velodrome with their school, initially riding mountain-bikes on the junior track, before progressing to fixed wheel track bikes on the main track and competing in a school track competition in March. The support the memorial fund provides helps remove the barriers to young riders entering and progressing within the sport, and fills some of the gaps in existing programs and pathways to help make cycling accessible to all.

Our next steps will be to promote the support available to more clubs, schools, community groups and potential riders across South London. We'll identify others who can benefit from the support, make it easy for people to find out about and apply for, and look to grow the fleet of bikes as demand for them and potential beneficiaries are identified.   

Jono's fundraiser has been featured in Cycling Weekly and the Jersey Evening Post.

Thanks to everyone who has donated this week of Jono's birthday to take us over the £10k mark, this means we can now start costing up the bikes. More updates to follow!

THE JONATHAN GALES MEMORIAL 25KM SCRATCH RACE

Last Saturday saw the inaugural event as part of the Dulwich Open. It was a fitting evening to launch this fundraiser; a beautiful evening at the track. Jono would have loved it - it truly was his happy place.

Photo by Max Clarke instagram.com/maxclarkephoto

THIS SATURDAY AT HERNE HILL

A TRIBUTE BY KEIR SUTTON

I first met Jono in 2014 at one of the road bike sessions at Herne Hill Velodrome for aspiring racers. As with other people who regularly attended, we had a few things in common; namely that we quite liked going fast, were highly competitive and had very little (no) experience in the world of bike racing.

Fast forward to the following year. We had both started racing and having been bitten with the racing bug, we were both spending a great deal of our free time indulging our love of riding bikes. As I spent more time with Jono, both training and ‘recovering’, I found that he was someone whose company I really enjoyed. Jono was a precious combination – fun, intelligent and witty, with a very wry sense of humour.

Hearing Jono’s achievements on the bike being highlighted by others is somehow befitting, as he was incredibly modest. From Bafta winner to talented musician he remained very quiet about his abilities and achievements.

Many of you may have memories of Jono at the Dulwich HHV sessions, doing his turn on the chain-gang and then sitting alongside you whilst doing 500 watts smiling, waiting for you to somehow pull though. As I said, a ‘wry’ sense of humour. Jono’s finest win (outside of pushing me into 2nd place at the Dulwich World Championships 2018) was of course beating Ethan Hayter to win the Tour of the Hopfields National B race in 2018. Obviously, it was a story worth telling a few times. The thought of Ethan (World Track Team Pursuit Champion 2 months prior) loudly exclaiming ‘f**k’ as Jono dropped him on the final climb still makes me smile.

I know that Crystal Palace Crits and everything that surrounded them were some of Jono’s fondest times. Late spring and summer evenings, hard racing with mates on the best circuit around followed by evening beers. As Ed from Four Boroughs pointed out, we were usually the last in there having squeezed all we could out of the evening, with a gentle roll down our respective hills taking us home for the night.

The loss of Jono is a genuine tragedy for the huge number of people whose lives he touched in one way or another but particularly for his wife Claire, their two-year-old son Fin and their unborn son. Jono leaves an irreplaceable hole in their lives and knowing that his boys won’t get to enjoy growing up with him is for me easily the most tragic aspect of his loss. 

Jono was a star in every aspect of his life. He was all you could hope for in a friend. It is true that you never fully appreciate what you have until it’s gone. So next time you find yourself on a warm summer’s evening enjoying a beer or two after a ride, raise a glass to Jono and let your mates know what they really mean to you.