French Race Calendars

When I’d finished reading everything in the Michael Hardcastle canon. Titles such as Away From Home, In The Net and Davey Must Score. These French race calendars became my bedtime reading.

I couldn’t speak French back then. But I’d use the key on the first page to work out the distances and the importance of the race. And then I’d spread out a map of France to locate the regions and towns.

My mum would call the race organisers to get entries for me and my brother. Then there’d be a few weeks wait as stamped-addressed envelopes and money-orders were exchanged. Always seemed to work though.