A few words about
the Retroactive Hathaway Award page

This is a what if page - what if there had been a John Hathaway Trophy from the conception of the club in 1979. Who would have been the winners? What would the contenders lists have looked like? Since the introduction of the award in 1997, the Hathaway Trophy contenders list has been a helpful barometer of club riding activity, as well as a means of highlighting the event distance totals of individual club members. I thought it would be fun to see what these lists would have looked like as we move back through time.

Applying the formula retroactively is a bit of a mug's game, of course. For one thing, nobody knew they were competing for anything. Also, in the early years, a few riders typically did all the rides going, and so ended up with the same distance figure. In both 1984 and 1986 there would have been five co-winners. You will notice that in 1989, the year of the first Flèche Pacifique, the round number distance totals disappear, and the era of individual winners [would-be winners, that is] begins.

The annual contender's lists include all bona fide club members whose event distance was 1500 km or more.