From growing up in an orphanage to becoming a top cyclist

By Frederick Halley

THE thought of being one of the top cyclists ever to emerge from his country of birth, Guyana, wasn’t even a dream when Dennis Medford’s mother was forced to take him to the Plaisance Orphanage at the age of five. She simply could not have afforded his upkeep and those of his other siblings.

Born in Alexander Village, Greater Georgetown, Medford’s school, St John’s Primary, was a stone’s throw away from the orphanage and by the age of 14, he called it quits from the educational institution in search of a job.

The now-69-year-old Medford, who migrated to Canada in 1974, recalled walking from the orphanage in Plaisance to the John Fernandes Wharf in Georgetown, armed with a job recommendation which he was advised to hand over to the now-late Bonny Fernandes.
Obviously impressed with his stature, Fernandes immediately employed the youthful Medford who made a pledge to his mother that he would assist her to provide for his other brothers and sisters, being the eldest of five.
It wasn’t the type of job Medford had envisaged since, according to him, it was very boring. To offset the boredom, the effervescent lad said he started to run behind the trollies in the building instead of standing on them and saw this as a form of exercise and a means of training.

CHANCE ENCOUNTER
During those days, Fernandes was a top cycling official and one of the main sponsors of cycling in Guyana and at one of the meetings, held at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, Bourda, Medford was invited to assist in placing the pegs around the circumference of the ground.

So confident in what he had seen, the then 16-year-old boasted to Fernandes that he felt capable of beating all the cyclists on show, even telling the popular businessman that “it was a piece of cake.”

Fernandes subsequently agreed to fulfill his wishes, allowing the “upstart” to participate in the day’s closing event, the 3000 metres on a borrowed cycle. Medford grasped the opportunity and shot to the front in the initial stages of the race. However, it wasn’t the dream ending he had hoped for, as he was pulled in by his more experienced counterparts and placed last in the event.

An obviously confused Medford eventually rode the same cycle home without the consent of the owner and Fernandes on that Saturday evening but took it back to work on Monday, explaining to the latter that he was sorry for any embarrassment caused.
Fernandes promptly enquired of him if he really wanted to take up cycling and after answering in the affirmative, offered him his brother’s (Chris) cycle to commence training with the firm promise that’s once he wins his first race, the bike will be his for the keeping.

FAST LEARNER

Medford soon achieved that feat and based on another promise, this time on winning four races, was the recipient of his first racing cycle, obtained from D.M Fernandes, compliments of Bonny Fernandes.

Up until then, Medford’s intention was to pursue a career in track and field or boxing but on the advice of Fernandes, made the tough decision to stick to cycling. According to him, Fernandes’ explanation was, as an athlete, you weren’t guaranteed many tours in that era while in boxing there’s every possibility “you could get punch drunk.” It’s a decision, Medford assured, he hasn’t regretted one minute.

Medford was soon a prominent member of the Continental Cycle Club, whose president was Fernandes. He started out in the ‘C’ Class and by the end of the first year, graduated with flying colours to the ‘B’ Class. It wasn’t long after, when he made his ‘A’ Class debut, at the world famous Bourda sward.

He put on an impressive performance on the first day of a three-day meeting at Bourda where he won three of five races – 3000, 5000 and the Devil Takes The Hindmost and placed second in two other ‘A’ Class events. Medford was promoted to represent Guyana in the International events on the second day of the meeting, which featured riders from Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, England, Suriname and Colombia.
Medford recalled winning the 5000 metres but was eliminated in the match sprint by top T&T cyclist, Roger Gibbon and Barbadian, Kingsley Reece.

MOVING ON UP
In what he considered to be one of his most outstanding performances, Medford romped to a stunning win in the day’s (third day) curtain-raiser, the 25 000 metres event, which also saw local riders occupying the first four places. In the process, he ended up lapping the entire field.

Medford, who disclosed that he didn’t have a preference for track or road races, subsequently represented Guyana in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago with huge success before venturing to the Commonwealth Games in Edingburgh, Scotland in 1970, where he described the competition as extremely stiff. According to him, he was also forced to compete in the road races despite the fact that he was equipped with a track bike.
Onto the World Championships in Montreal, Canada in 1974, Medford was pitted against then-world champion France’s Daniel Morelon in his first match sprint and followed this up by facing another stalwart rider in Denmark’s Fred Pieterson. Needless to say, he lost to both riders.

Medford seized the opportunity to stay in Canada and according to him, his main reason was, he had made a promise to his mother to play a major role in his siblings’ future and felt this was an opening.

Despite this seeming infraction, Medford was still selected to represent Guyana at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. However, his dream of showing off his wares disappeared when Guyana joined 28 other countries to boycott the games when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to ban New Zealand, after the New Zealand national rugby union team had toured South Africa earlier in 1976 in defiance of the United Nations’ calls for a sporting embargo.

DARK HORSE
Medford, who said he got the alias “Dark Horse” because of his unannounced and sudden style of “bursting” to the front, only competed for another year in Canada before calling it quits competitively. Nevertheless, he has never been out of a racing cycle since then and finds time to do daily chores, all decked out in his racing outfit.
Among the big names to feature during his reign as one of the best cyclists to emerge from Guyana were: Neville Hunte, Archie Britton, David De Freitas, Aubrey Bryce, Bruce Camacho, Mike Rogers, Victor Rutherford and Kenneth Joseph.
Medford, who still bemoans the fact that Guyana is still to have a banked track, showered praises on the late Bonny Fernandes who he said was totally responsible for his development in the sport.

Medford, who spent 33 years as a millwright/mechanic at Upjohns Pharmaceutical Company and boasted he never missed a day from work, is anxiously looking forward to his 70th birth anniversary on August 31.