When gentlemen were at the forefront of cycle racing
Source:Sundaytimes
In 1951 as part of the heritage of the colonial airmen who started the Royal Ceylon Air Force, the sport of competitive cycling was introduced to Ceylon. Known simply as the “Flying Wheel” the cycling club of the Royal Ceylon Air Force had on its roll such illustrious names as Lennox De Kauwe, Frederick Ryde and Maurice Coomaravel, gentlemen who were at the forefront of the sport of cycling. In the 1960s the latter, Coomaravel, had the distinction of being the three-time champion of the Tour De Lanka, the premier racing cycle race of the time.
In 1970s and the 1980s, Leading Aircraftman Chandra Perera and Sergeant G.H. Henderson represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Games.
In the 1980s, under the stewardship of the then Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshall Walter Fernando, under the chairmanship of Wing Commander Joe Jayaratnam, the Sri Lanka Air Force Cycling Association received four Peugeot Racing Cycles, as an incentive to the sportsmen who had excelled in the sport. At the time, no other cycling club or association had bicycles of the calibre of the legendary Peugeot, with Mavick spares and tubeless tires black alloy rims, turbo seats etc. so that at most races fellow competitors stood by to watch the cycles forgetting in the process to ride the race. Needless to say the Sri Lanka Air Force Cycling Club rode to easy victory in more than 20 races with rarely a challenge. Squadron Leaders Satharasinghe and Manamperi served as secretaries during this period.
Air Vice Marshal Elmo Perera took over the reins of the cycling club in the latter part of the 1980s. Air Commodore (then Wing Commander) Channa Gunaratna served as the secretary, Corporal Srilal Wijethilake, Leading Aircraftsman Jayantha Fernando, Corporal K.S.K. Fernando, Flight Sergeant Anton Fernando and Sergeant Athukorala represented the Air Force Cycling Association. This team carried home the trophies for the Lakpohora Savariya, Sampatha Savariya, Gam Uda Savariya, Development Lottery Savariya and the Tour De Lanka. The likes of A.N. Sumanaweera, Boniface Perera, Leslie Rupasinghe proved worthy opponents to the Sri Lanka Air Force Riders. These prominent riders would later admit that the Sri Lanka Air Force riders were the only threat in their path to victory. Warrant Officers Kulasekera and Karunasiri, Sergeant Wanigatunge deserve a great tribute for being the real wind beneath the wings of the victorious Sri Lanka Air Force riders because of their untiring efforts in support of the riders.
In 1990, when Ranasinghe Premadasa was the Prime Minister, the Sri Lanka Air Force participated in the biggest ever race in the history of cycling in Sri Lanka, the Sixteen Day Sama Savariya organized to take the message of peace to the corners of the island. The Sri Lanka Air Force Cyclists led by Sergeant Athukorala earned a resounding victory with L.A.C. Balachandra Hendry coming in at the lead and five members of the team finishing in the first ten.
Flight Lieutenant Perusinghe, Pilot Officer Avindra Miranda and Sergeant Dudley Gunasekera individually and the Air Force Camps in Weerawila, Koggala, Amparai, Hingurakgoda and Anuradhapura provided invaluable support.
In 1995 under the auspices of the then Air Commodore D.G. Perera with the then Squadron Leader Shantha Dias serving as the Secretary Cycling, the Sri Lanka Air Force Cycling Club saw the infusion of new blood in the form of a number of new riders who had shown their mettle in various races before. Leading Aircraftsmen Dinesh Chanaka, Chandana Kandanarachchi, Gamini Indralal and Rohan Chaminda Seneviratne were three of the diamonds in the rough that were thus recruited and polished to championship calibre under the tutelage of Janaka Athukorala, who by then had taken up duties as the coach.
It was in 1998 that the club brought up the idea of organizing an islandwide racing cycle race to Chairman Cycling and then Base Commander Ratmalana Group Captain Channa Gunaratne, who got the blessings of the Commander, Air Marshal J. Weerakkody. With the sponsorship of Sirasa the first Guwan Papedi Savariya was conducted between Colombo and Galle. – D.P.S.A. Dias
(Secretary Cycling, Sri Lanka Air Force)
