Mr Cycling – a man of honour and integrity

JACK MILNER
  

“If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?” – Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.

It was an opportunity lost and one I will regret, especially once I heard that Basil had passed away a couple of months ago.  

What was relevant to me about that evening was the high esteem in which Basil was held. He was called “Mr Cycling” by everybody, and referred to as a man with a heart of gold. One often hears these epithets about people once they have die, but the true test is when one is held in such high esteem when still alive.

Thanks to Stan Kaplan, Johnny Koen and Cycling News, I am able to convey the role Basil played in the world of South African cycling.

He was introduced to the sport by his lifetime friend Arnold Chatz. He turned out to be an extremely capable cyclist and represented South Africa at the 1957 Maccabi Games.

Basil was the major shareholder in Deale & Huth, the founder of the South African cycle trade and the importer/wholesaler/retailer, at that time, of virtually all of the foremost brands in the world.

In fact, on a blog in which people wrote notes of condolences following his death, one person noted: “I bought my first `serious’ road bike from him at Deale & Huth. Also upgraded through several bikes and bought my first track bike there! At the time I thought there were no other bike shops!”

His international travels in the business realm introduced him to some of the greatest riders in the world, including Eddy Merckx, Gianni Motta, Bernard Thevenet and Felice Gimondi.

Basil kept cycling in South Africa in mind when he met those greats and gladly made use of his contacts to lure these international stars to participate in the inaugural Rapport Tour events.

Basil was widely recognised as the very first development officer of cycling, into the then black community, through his enormous such efforts with the mines’ sporting bodies in particular.

His commentaries at Hector Norris Park and at the SA Track Championships for many years, were nothing short of legendary and was arguably the greatest South African cycling commentator of all time.

Fellow legend, Jack Lester, one South Africa’s best cyclists of all time, who honed his career to the inspiration of Basil’s commentaries, was recently quoted in Cycling News: “He could turn a pram race into a Formula One grand prix!”

He always appreciated quality bicycles, which were not readily available in South Africa and one of his dreams was for people to get pleasure out of riding a bicycle, where everything worked smoothly.

“As a result, I pioneered a cheaper bicycle built with local carbon steel tubing and fitted with good quality equipment which we imported. The only bicycles that were available in the upper market were built of Reynolds 531 tubing at that stage and were very expensive,” said Basil.

He added that this had had a significant effect on the cycling industry, which was at that stage beginning to see the rise of the “fun rider”.

“Although I regarded myself as a ‘pukka’ racing enthusiast, I could see the potential in attracting more riders on the competition side and saw the fantastic developments of Pedal Power in the Cape.”

The accessibility of quality equipment and the birth of events like the Cape Argus, soon changed the face of cycling.

By the time Deale & Huth Holdings listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1987, it comprised four divisions – D&H (retail), Cyclotech (wholesale), Hansom Cycles (complete cycles and framesets) and Cyclomode (clothing). It was officially the biggest cycling outlet in the southern hemisphere.

Shortly thereafter, Basil and his brother and fellow shareholder, Ivan, sold their company to a large conglomerate, which unfortunately ran into financial problems and was liquidated two years later. The closure of the parent company also sounded the death knell for the much-loved iconic Deale & Huth brand.

Basil always attributed his strength in large part to his wife, Adele. “With all the ups and downs in my life, and even more so in recent years, I don’t think I would have survived without her.”

The couple have a son, Jack, who now lives in the United States and a daughter, Helen, who is locally based. They also have a large host of grandchildren, who gave grandpa Basil loads of naches.

“Basil will be most sorely and dearly missed by all and we all wish him only tailwinds and downhills, to wherever his new travels take him,” said cycling great, Johnny Koen.