They were both remarkable, in their own ways. There are few more upstanding names. In fact, if I were called upon to design a name for a British cyclist of yesteryear, I would choose Godwin (subliminal references to deity and victory), and offset it simply with Tommy (subliminal references to pinball wizardry). The first Tommy Godwin, born in 1912, had a job as a young boy delivering groceries by bike. One day he rode, and won, a twenty-five-mile time trial on his delivery bike, having carefully dismantled the parcel tray from the front. Getting rid of that, I reckoned, must have been the earliest recorded marginal gain in British cycling history. The second Tommy Godwin was born eight years later, in 1920. He too got a job as delivery boy for a chain of grocers. It seemed, at the time, the natural career path. He rode this heavy contraption up and down steep hills, laden with groceries. It made him strong. Two greengrocer’s boys, then. Two legendary riders. Two Tommies. How British is that?
