A unique individual, Mick Ives was a force to be reckoned with in the cycling world. Simply put, they no longer make them like Mick Ives.
Mick passed away quietly at Coventry Hospice in the wee hours of yesterday. His daughter Angela and wife Sheila are left behind. Following several heart attacks, Mick was admitted to Coventry Hospital and subsequently the hospice in early October. Mick’s endurance and will to live longer than they thought was possible astounded the doctors more and more. Mick’s heart rate was 100%, but his heart rate was only 20% of what it should have been. During his remarkable cycling career, he relished the challenge of surpassing the odds, even in his final moments.
Mick Ives devoted his entire career to his passion of cycling racing after beginning his career as a draughtsman and working with Sir Alex Moulton on his original bike designs. In addition to winning eight World Masters Cycling titles and 81 British Championship titles, he also won the World Cup Time Trial Championship. Mick, a 65-year-old retiree, made history in 2005 when he became the only cyclist to finish the Tour de France course in less than one day. He is the only male British athlete to have won national titles in all four sports in a single season—road racing, time trial, mountain biking, and cyclocross—and to have competed internationally for Great Britain in these sports.
Mick Ives will never come around again.
Over the course of his four decades in cycling, Mick managed and competed for British Teams. Viscont Cycles, Peugeot Cycles, and Ever Ready are on the road. The British National Mountain Bike Team competed in the first-ever UCI World Mountain Bike Championship in Durango, Colorado, USA in 1990, along with Ridgeback, Scott UK, and Saracen Bikes.
Always well-liked by the athletes, Mick was able to combine his knowledge of effective training techniques with a fun and inspiring demeanour that inspired many professional and amateur cyclists to reach their full potential.
