John Reuben Geddes was born on the 13th of August 1936 in Liverpool and started cycling when he was 15 and a half after he met a man who put him into a cycling club. When he was a junior, riding on the Bootle track in Merseyside, Eddie Soens came up to him and said, "How would you like to go to the Olympics?" and it all started from there. When he was 19 he got picked for the Olympics and rode there when he was 20. John represented Great Britain in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and won a bronze medal in the Men’s Team Pursuit cycling event with teammates Tom Simpson, Donald Burgess and Mike Gambrill. Also in 1956 John won Bronze in the Amateur Pursuit at the Copenhagen Worlds. In 1957 he went into the army for two years National Service and in 1958 represented the England team in the Road Race and 10 miles scratch races at the Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) in Cardiff.
John was a professional who excelled in his sport and was a member of 10 professional teams in his illustrious career, reaching his pinnacle at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. His achievements didn't stop there. He won numerous stages in National and World championships and he also won multiple stage victories on the UK Milk race. He met his future wife Jean at a cycling dance in 1959, three years after he had brought home a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics. Jean, a member of the Billy Martin dance team, forgave John his 'two left feet and the couple married in 1962. John recalls, "When we met, Jean was dancing, and I was cycling in England. In 1959 I went to France to be a professional and was there until September. It wasn't like it is these days. I went out there with £100 and I came home still with £100 and I'd lived for eight months, as they covered my living costs. My bike parts were from Harry Quinn. He was a big bicycle dealer in Liverpool and he provided all the bikes. Eventually in the year that I was finishing cycling, I went to ride for Harry Quinn." Jean added: "They didn't get many handouts. When he started cycling I think he got free meat from the butchers in 1956."
Upon the completion of his professional career, John had a long standing ambition to get the general public 'on their bikes'. In 1978 he opened his first shop in Widnes, Cheshire, supplying amateur and professional cyclists with the equipment that they needed at affordable prices. The name John Geddes Cycles grew in reputation, giving honest, reliable advice for all grades of cyclist. His glowing reputation lives on to this day although John has now taken a well earned rest from the day-to-day running of the business, his name still has a great standing in the cycling community. His shop in Widnes is now accompanied by a sister shop in Whiston.
Sadly John Geddes died on 16 May 2026, aged 89.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2026/08/merseyside-for-sport-brian-harris.html
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