iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A stab at relaunching my Substack after getting a bit distracted over the summer! thebicycle.substack.com/p/the-beginn...

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Another eBay find and another step closer to piecing together my great-uncle Bill’s story. In 1939 Bill commissioned the design of a new power assisted bicycle - and they were launched at the 1939 Good Friday races.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My Paris-London 1947 collection is almost complete!! I had a bad photocopy of this but now have the original Cycling issue - includes my great uncle’s last article. A man of vision, greatly missed in his day, but now buried in time and overlooked by cycling history…my attempt to change that

Front cover of Cycling April 17 1965
Paris-London Bill Mills’ last story

Paris-London - the race that made a profit

men
who eld_racing
Graham ff Cross. es. Right: s Graham
s unwittingly, elers' " hilly nti- and pro-
oncerned with rivals,
Webb,
. he had to in the second
me trial, and
ng
miles in ew in recent ange in his oused round ped
course,
tfordshire.
Seauchamp cent
and
Wheelers,
rith
such things
Jon
—all three on their current win.
FAREWELL TO
BILL MILLS
goodbye to Bill Mills, doyen of Britain's cycling journalists.
WEin the manner he would have wished, plenty of flowers and not
much sentiment.
The address in the West Norwood crematorium chapel, left nothing to be desired.
"The man is
gone before his
Man of vision
time, but. we have left the precious gift of memory."
It is fitting that this should be the way we remember Bill-a gathering of cyclists and colleagues clustered together on a bright spring morning, to see him off.
Present
Terrry
were
his wife
W. J
and
Billie:
daughter
Sonya:
his his
son father,
Mills senior;
sister,
Mrs. W.
G.
his brother Len; his
man;
Mr.
Bayman and Mr. Bay-
and Mrs.
E.
Chippendale
De Laune CC: Ted Beavis, V.T.T.A : W.J Bailey, former sprint champion of the world;
J. B. Wadley, editor of SPORTING CYCLIST;
Alan Gayfer,
editor of
CYCLING:
Green,
SPORTING
Roy
CYCLIST; Mike Duffield
and Roger St. Pierre, CycLINg; Peter Bryan, managing editor
Go
Magazine
Ltd.
and
former editor of the BICYCLE; John Dennis and
Jim
Wallace,
both formerly of the
BICYCLE; Rex Coley, former editor of the BICYCLE: Les Jones, editor.
Express News
Services; Ken Pragnell, B.B.C.; Sidney Salt-marsh,
the SUN;
Ron and Kath
White,
Highgate CC and DAILY ExpResS; Norman Sheil, B.C.F. national coach: Stan Butler and
Alan
Gordon,
Norwood Paragon; Chas
Messenger,
British
road team manager;
Peter
Middlesex Clarion;
Ken
Hill,
Clifford
De
Laune:
Eddie
Wingrave,
Old
Kent CC; Brian Fogg, formerly with CYcLe
SPORT: Frank Armond, North Road CC:
Jack and Olive Carrick, Catford CC; F. S.
Johnson,
Balham
CC and
VTTA :
A
Dobson, Priory Wheelers; Mr. and Mrs. H.
Greenwood; Mr. H. C. H. Stacey.
Tribu…

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Turns out I had the image in my possession all along!! Sunday Quiz: How long did it take carpenters to build Olympia’s Six-Day cycling track in 1934? #trackracing #vintagecycling #cyclinghistory

The 1934 Sux Days Race Track Under Construction-

Taken from an article in The Bicycle, 1936

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Digging into 1930s six day track construction- this image from France - no place or date though.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Possibly a shot from the 1934 Olympia Six Day race - the dates are a month out. The photo press mark is dated 17/6/34 but the race took place a month later in July. I can’t explain the anomaly and as the track didn’t exist in June this date can’t be right. Human error or not the Olympia event?

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Reposted by Angela Mills-Bannon

Feargal McKay @cycologies.com · 01/08/2026

The Tour de France Femmes rolls off today + @clodaghfinn.bsky.social in the @irishexaminer.bsky.social has the story of Mayo's Millie Robinson 🇮🇪, 'The Greatest Woman Cyclist of Them All', who won a precursor of today's #TdFF2026, 1955's Tour Féminin aka 'the First Tour de France Femmes'. #SpeirGorm

irishexaminer.com

Clodagh Finn: The Mayo woman who won the first Tour de France for women

The memory of the last time the Sam Maguire went west, 75 years ago, is etched in local consciousness, yet a remarkable international win by a Ballina cyclist just a few years later remains little-kno...

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Reposted by Angela Mills-Bannon

Tim Bonville-Ginn @timbonvilleginn.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Decathlon-CMA CGM announce that they will launch a women's team next season! The team will start out in the ProTeam division of teams with 12 riders on the roster. Seen as a key part of all the sponsor's strategies going forward, this is a big step. decathloncmacgmteam.com/en/decathlon...

decathloncmacgmteam.com

DECATHLON CMA CGM LAUNCHES ITS WOMEN'S TEAM

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I got hooked on the World Cup. Now that’s over it’s back to the pages of The Bicycle - flashback to 20/7/1937 when the paper reported Charles Holland’s retirement from #tdf @letour.stadio.top - so close yet so far - a bit like the England football team

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Invited by Desgrange to follow the 1939 #tdf - my great uncle Bill ended up timing a stage - and nearly botched it! I’d like to think he clocked the tour’s first mountain time trial up l’Iseran - his article doesn’t confirm which stage it was #TheBicycle

I HAVE done more than follow the Tour.
.... the I have timed it! On one of the time trial stages a breakdown to an official car left the promoters short of a timekeeper. Having only that morning been displaying my Henderson timepiece I was promptly roped in to assist, although I protested strongly that I had no qualifi-cations, not even R.T.T.C, approval, apart from possession of the wateh!
My figures seemed to meet with approval (I didn't hear of any rider protesting afterwards!), although at one time some

confusion was caused because I had written out the result sheet using the English " 7," which to the French looks like a one, their figure seven having a short stroke across the middle when written.

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Reposted by Angela Mills-Bannon

Feargal McKay @cycologies.com · 07/06/2026

Augusta Fornasari, who won the second edition of the Corsa al Mare, was a member of the Italian resistance - a partigiano, a partisan - during the war. Take that, Gino Bartali. A long shot, @footymac.bsky.social but has she crossed your radar?

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

As the frenzy builds for the Grand Départ - a nod to my great uncle who made a British entry into the #tdf possible - and declared by Jean Leulliot to be the first English journalist to have followed the Tour in 1939: L’Auto 1/8/1939

Mills, first English journalist to have followed the Tour, advocates for 200 km time trials.Our English colleague Mills, editor-in-chief of The Bicycle, has been following the Tour de France since Marseille. We asked him what he thought of the Tour, which he was following for the first time."I cannot find the adjectives, even in English," he told us, "to express what I felt. It is more than magnificent, it is more than everything. What I found most beautiful was the passage of S. Maes through the Casse Déserte, at the summit of the Izoard.This goes beyond anything one can experience."But Mills is more qualified than anyone to talk about time trial races, since all races in England are held in this manner:"We don't like that very much, apparently, in France," he told us, "but I stopped today in a small village, halfway through the time trial, and several people came to chat with me. They all told me they preferred this to a mass-start race. The spectacle lasts longer for the spectators.

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Reposted by Angela Mills-Bannon

ᴄʏᴄʟᴏᴢ @cyclozparis.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Ferdinand Charron, 1893 🚲🚴🏼‍♀️ #bikesky #bike

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Reposted by Angela Mills-Bannon

Mike @ksmikey.eurosky.social · 16/06/2026

Message from @raynerfoundation.bsky.social Please repost And any help “Hi all, looking for help! We are short of volunteers for the Etape du Dales charity event on Sunday 5th July. We are looking for drivers for the sweep vehicle and at the Moorcock feed station. 1/

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

The dangers of using AI for research but I love that I called Gemini out and it admitted it completely made up the existence of a so called article that Bill wrote 🤣

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I’m just back from Paris crisscrossing Bill’s 1947 Paris-London route. I feel like I’ve done enough (for now at least) to revive the race’s legacy and was wondering where to take my research next. Then this popped up in my inbox from a @cyclingweekly.com reader. Linking Bill to Stallard’s BLRC.

The Brighton Stanley Wanderers Cycling Club, which has produced many national as well as local cycling champions, has as a member W. J. (BIll) Mills.
He started racing for the club in 1924, and eventually became the club's road champton, dominating Sussex long-distance road sport for several years.
Among his successes….were the One Hour record at Preston Park (which he held for many years, the 50 and 100 miles Southern R.R.A. tandem records (ir partnership with Eric Smith), and his many wins in Bussex 12-hour events.
But, in 1931, Bill Mills decided to turn professional and try his luck in the International events abroad. Here he found a totally different type of racing,the technique so different, and the opposition so formidable, that he had to start " learning to ride all over agaln." But the Brighton boy stuck to It, riding a in such classic events as the Paris to Roubaix, Circuit of Parls, Parls to Angers, and Paris to Tours. Bit by bit he improved…But he knew that he had started too late at this difficult sport ever to reach the front rank internatlonally.
Returning home, Mills determined to provide opportunitles for British riders to try, in their own country, the thrills of "massed start " racing, in the hopes that one day a team of British riders would be able to go abroad with every confidence of bringing back international honours.
In partnership with Vic Jenner, of the Charlotteville C.C., he promoted, in 1933, the first massed start race In this country. Held on the famous Brooklands Motor Track, It was won by Jack Salt, of Liverpool, from Bill Burl, of London…
Racing on the Isle of Man T.T. course and Donnington Motor Circuit followed, but the British riders had & lot to learn, and the time was not yet ripe for them to venture, racing, on the public roads.
Prominent among the riders at the early Brooklands Trials was Percy Stallard,
When war broke out, Mills had to divert his energles elsewhere, and Stallard took over where Mills left off.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

A good read - I rode the 9 stages of TdFFaZ 2025 (obvs not in the pro race) - Stage 8 was aptly the Queen. I was a bit broken after Col de la Madeleine! The translation may lose some French historical meaning but to me, the endurance it demands mirrors the historic reigns of Elizabeth I and II.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

The logistics of crossing the channel during the 1947 Paris-London stage race. Border control had never stamped so many bikes. It’s not any smoother 79 years on post-Brexit!! 1974 #tdf saw customs chaos when riders were detained in immigration- hope there’s a plan for #tdffaz & #tdf 2027!!

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

And 79 years ago today Paris-London reached its grand finale with Brit George Fleming crowned as the winner. Bill immediately started work on Paris -London 1948 but it was pulled at the last minute. A shameless plug to read the full story in my article in Cycling Weekly 🤪

The riders departing Lens Stage 2 - BUT magazine 28/5/1947

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

On this day 79 years ago it was Stage 2 Paris-London 1947. The race was created by my great uncle Bill as pre-Olympic preparation for the 1948 London Games. Screenshot from the 1947 race programme. Full story in this week’s @cyclingweekly.com !

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

I may be biased but Paris-London was a triumph - it deserves a place in sporting history. Here’s Bill’s original report of the 1947 race which brings each stage to life. The neat and well-equipped French team rolling up to the start line and the chaos of day 1 is a classic underdog story

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Really pleased to have my first article published in Cycling Weekly today. It covers a forgotten race in British cycling history and my family connection to it. Grab a copy if you can and let me know what you think! A big thanks to @cycologies.com and @cyclingweekly.com for your support 🙏🏼

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Do not read the ALT text - means you have to read it - but it’s of it’s time and I’m a big believer of NOT sanitising history in order to understand today

of.xn--its-so0a

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

In 1947 the promoters of the Tour de France appointed Bill Mills, of THE BICYCLE, to select the individuals for the 5 man British team. A British manufacturer was found to equip them. We know a team didn’t come to fruition until 1955. I wonder what happened?

THE British team of five riders for the month-long Tour de France, which starts from Paris on June 25 and ends on July 20, will be officially invited through the National Cyclists' Union, but the promoters of the event have appointed Bill Mills, of THE BICYCLE, to select the individuals who will make up the team. The promoters have also reached agreement with a prominent
British manufacturer to equip the team.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Hardknott hairpin - I finished my first #FredWhitton! Lost count how many times I looked up on the route and thought wtf?! How on earth am I going to get up that? Insane climbs but what an event to be a part of! The organisers, supporters and volunteers are incredible❤️ and scenery 🤩

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Reposted by Angela Mills-Bannon

Cool Bike Art @coolbikeart1.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Legendary cyclist Beryl Burton training on the Yorkshire Moors, June 1961. Amongst a host of accolades, she rode 277.25 miles (446 km) in 12 hours in 1967, creating a record that wasn't topped by a woman for 50 years - nor by a man for two years. Happy #BicycleBirthday, Beryl! May 12 (1937-1996)

Low-angle photo of a woman with curly hair riding road bicycle on road with cars behind her.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Someone kindly shared this with me - it’s the gear system that Bill used in Paris-Roubaix 1932 youtu.be/KrU9ZMkQuLo

youtu.be

My new Italian 1930s vintage racing bike at the V-CC Delamere Downhill

YouTube video by CarTraction

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

I now have in my possession an original 1932 Le Miroir des Sports featuring my great uncle in Paris-Roubaix - love an eBay find ❤️

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

There are some characters in Bill’s story that keep cropping up - one of them is this chap, Belgian cyclist Jean Aerts. Amateur and World cycling champion, won Bill’s Crystal Palace race, also rescued a girl when fleeing the Nazi invasion. I like his story - will be doing a bit more digging!

It appears that Aerts was without his usual racing machine, and actually made his escape from the bombarded town on an old crock which he found lying beside the road.
And, it was not his own daughter whom he carried on to Paris, but a wounded child he found abandoned by the roadside. (His children are both safe in France.)
"Figure to yourself," said Aerts,
"that, at the precise moment when I was flying along, all out, waiting any moment for the roar of
'planes over my head... I punc-tured!

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

My feed was so filled up with the men’s race I actually had to search for a women’s post. So I’m glad to find this one. There’s inequity with the TV coverage but something also wrong with algorithms.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Bill’s Paris-Roubaix memories racing against the Belgian’s in 1932 and my favourite pro-rider winning yesterday got me looking into how many times Belgians have taken the title www.procyclingstats.com/nationrace/b....

procyclingstats.com

Statistics for Belgium in Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France

There are 42 riders from Belgium that have won Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France. Cyrille Van Hauwaert was the first winner for Belgium of Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France in 1908. has scored the most point...

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Reposted by Angela Mills-Bannon

Tonke @tonke.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Wout 🫶🏻 #ParisRoubaix (📸 by me)

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Also excited to share that I’ve had my very own Davina McCall ‘Long Lost Family’ moment. Social media has connected me to Bill’s step son - so I have a new family member and some more of Bill’s memories, including this one - a photo of his good friend Sidney Saltmarsh, cycling journalist

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Just discovered another race where Bill was part of Oscar Egg’s team. The 240 km Circuit de Paris 5/5/1932. Out of 133 starters, only 24 officially finished, meaning 109 riders retired - Bill grabbed a lift back to Paris in a lorry after puncturing and a long chase after the leading pack

THE name of one of the entrants in the six days' race, which starts at
Olympia, next Sunday at midnight,
Bresciani, of Italy, may mean nothing to you as yet, but it recalls to me the Circuit of Paris race of 1932.

Bresciani and I were both competing in it and both punctured at the same spot, just outside Melun.

For weary miles we relayed each other in a vain attempt to catch a field which was travelling, thanks to fav-ourable winds, at 27 m.p.h. At a village call-d Crécy.
gracefully
retired, and returned to Paris in a passing motor-lorry. discoursing, in a vile mixture of French, Italian and English, on Edward III.'s victories in France, the battles of Crecy, Agin-court and Poitiers. and-anti-rimar. the complete failure of English road. men in international cycling events.

Equipe Oscar Egg-Wolber. -
58. Sieronski;
59.Thallinger ; 60. Félix Baud; 61. Altenburger; 62.
Mills; 63. Brossard.

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Angela Mills-Bannon @genkigalcycling.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

And this is Bill’s article about his bone-shaking experience of Paris-Roubaix 1932

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