Bryce Preston

Bryce Preston was the pride of Horowhenua cycling. The Levin man, named New Zealand Track Cyclist of the Year in 1968, won five national track titles – the sprint in 1969, 1970, 1973 and 1974, and the 1000m time trial in 1969.

Though the tandem wasn’t contested at national level in his time, Preston and Max Vertongen formed a world-class tandem combination, Vertongen on the front and Preston at the back.

Preston, who trained to be an electrician and later worked for many years for the Power Board, represented New Zealand at the 1970 and 1974 Commonwealth Games. He was a specialist track rider, though he did have one 2nd placing in the national road championship.

In 1970 in Edinburgh, he competed in the sprint, the 10-miles scratch race and the tandem.

He won his first heat of the sprint in 12.2s, was beaten in the second round but progressed via the repechage route in 13.2s. In the third round, he was beaten but again survived through a repechage victory, in 12.4s. He was then eliminated by Australian John Nicholson, the eventual gold medallist, 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

Preston was 5th in the 10-mile scratch heat and 5th in the final, in 20min 53.9s, a strong showing. The gold medal went to Canadian Jocelyn Lovell in 20min 46.7s.

Preston and Max Vertongen went close to earning a medal in the tandem. They beat the Trinidad and Tobago pair 2-0 in the first round, were edged out 2-1 by Canadians Lovell and Barry Harvey in the semi-final, and lost 2-0 to the Welsh duo of John Hatfield and John Breswick in the bronze-medal ride-off.

In 1974 at Christchurch, Preston rode in just the sprint, where he eventually finished 7th. He beat Hatfield in his first round heat in 12.33s, rode well to get past Geoff Cooke of England in 12.48s in his second round heat, next beat Trinidad and Tobago’s Noel Luces in 12.36s and was then eliminated 2-0 in the quarter-finals by Jamaican flyer Xavier Mirander, the eventual silver medallist.

In the ride-off for the 5th to 8th placings, he finished behind his countryman Paul Medhurst and Australian Greg Barnes.

Preston moved from Levin to Wellington, then settled in Christchurch, where he maintained his interest in riding, winning national titles in various masters age divisions.