A sad day for the cycling family in Northern Ireland yesterday it was, one of their passionate sons was buried yesterday, and I wished I would have known him a little bit better. James Watson, better known as Jimmy, passed away last Monday suddenly and left a gap never to be filled, leaving his wife Rosie and his extended family behind. As one of the founder members of the renowned West Belfast’s VC Glendale cycling club, he was an inspiration to his club, his 5 cycling sons, his 2 daughters, and his grandchildren. His motto ” You can do anything if you really want it” so evident in his family. He was a plumber by trade all his life, raised 7 children during a troublesome time in Belfast, each of them successful in their own ways, and they passed it on to their children which were very evident yesterday. I went early yesterday morning to Belfast to express my condolences to his close family and was invited into Jimmy’s cycling cave at the back of the house. His oldest son Jim explained me a bit about the collection of bikes he had gathered over the years, told me briefly about this bikes, but I only remember a few stories due to the occasion of the day, as my mind was with my own father who left me early in my life, he was also like Jimmy a passionate lover of cycling and planted the *never going away virus* of our beloved sport, and made us who we are! A virus that brings joy instead of the current one who devastates. I took some photos of some beauties and will follow up to get a bit of more info on a later day, as for the moment I leave his loving family to their grief. Our sport and your club are in debt to you Jimmy, Rest in Peace.
