Some very sad news just reached me from Tyneside, Russell Thompson
formerly of GS Metro and last year a member of Berwick Wheelers, died
in his sleep, last thursday. He was 41.
Many of you will know and/or will have raced with Russell who was an
extremely competitive,aggressive and voiciferous(!) rider in countless
Scottish races stretching back 12 years or more. His last Scottish
event was a creditable 7th in the Peebles APR as listed below.

For me, this was also the last time I seen or spoke to one of the
nicest people i have ever met. I cant come to terms with the why's and
how's regarding his death. Apparently, there will be an inquest and
the funeral is expected to be next week, should 'all be welcome' then
I will update this post with dates and times in the offchance someone
besides myself would want to go down(please email if so)

Russell only really started racing when he was 27 or so and quickly
rose to the top of the sport. In the days when it was Pro/Am he was in
the thick of things with the Paul Curran's and Shane Sutton's of the
90's. One of his best results (in North East RT colours) was 9th in
the Lincoln GP in 91 (I think) which was stripped of him and widely
publicised due to an inappropiate nasal medication given to him by a
doctor. He served his ban and came bouncing back to prove his innocence.
As far as I know, he never won a race up here but his seconds and
thirds to the Border Fox and co. robbed him of that elusive scottish win.

The man was not just one of my best friends but also like an older
brother to me. He first befriended me in 96 to give me a lift to my
first Scottish Race - Anderside Classic(in which he was either 2nd or
3rd), he then became my employer as a labourer for his own landscape
gardening business. He gave me countless more lifts, and work. We went
drinking together, on occasion, played 5-a-side, went to his wedding
etc etc etc. Sorry to drone on but, except for old relatives, this
aint happened to me before and im taking it pretty bad.

He took a year or two off his 'normal' work to build his own Dream 4
bedroomed house on the Scottish Borders. His meticulous desire for
doing things right saw him dismiss the shoddy work of the so-called
stone masons and take on the entire project himself. Perhaps the
stress and effort put into building his home,ultimately concluded in
his death - who knows.

He leaves his wife of 8 years, Sue, and children Edward and Olivia,
our prayers and thoughts are with you.
Russell, rest in peace - we will NEVER forget you.

Graham Mc - if u are able to head down, let me know. I told Andy M and
he cant believe it.





George Pennel Memorial APR 27th August 2005
Pos. No Name Team Time
1 51 Ben Abrahams Velo Ecosse 02:07:06
2 53 Evan Oliphant Recycling.co.uk st
3 47 Andy Matheson MRCC 03:39
4 23 Lawrence Tring ERC 03:41
5 14 Nic Gowrie PCC 03:50
6 49 Steve McEwan Pedal Power 03:52
7 30 Russell Thompson Berwick Wheelers st
8 46 Lee Whitelaw ERC st
9 32 Gregor Brown ERC st
10 50 Michael Mallen SCU Private Member st
Edited by - madmicky on 14 Dec 2005 02:11:17