Trevor Silvera: A Blissett Wheeler Remembers

“Go See Harold Blissett”

Trevor was 20 when he joined the Blissett Wheelers.

He had wanted to ride with more experienced cyclists but wasn't yet considered ready for that level. He was referred instead to Harold Blissett, the Jamaican cyclist and bicycle manufacturer behind Blissett Bros. Cycle Works Ltd. and the Blissett Wheelers.

That referral changed the course of Trevor's cycling life.

Trevor remembers coming into Harold's cycling world and finding more than a club. There was a bicycle shop at Torrington Bridge, training, road riding and a group of young cyclists developing together.

Harold gave Trevor a Blissett Speed Iron bicycle. Trevor also remembers Harold providing vitamins to the riders.

There were rides with food and drink, laughter and good times—but there was serious cycling too.

Harold sometimes followed the riders on the road in a vehicle, providing support while they trained.

Ronald “Baboo” Hitchens was also an important part of those days and, as Trevor remembers it, was integral to the road training of the young cyclists.

The Wheelers

More than six decades later, some of the names still come easily.

Trevor remembers riders including Junior Mills, Carlos, Bedford, Simbal, Mike, Bubba, Bob, Xavier and David, among others.

Some riders eventually moved on, including members who went to the Phillips Cycling Club.

And some simply stood out.

Trevor particularly remembers Mike as an exceptionally strong cyclist, a rider with impressive acceleration and endurance.

These weren't names Trevor learned from an old club roster. He knew them. He trained with them. He rode with them.

That distinction matters because much of the history of clubs like the Blissett Wheelers was never formally documented. It survives in the memories of the people who were actually there.

Trevor Silvera is one of them.

The 1966 Commonwealth Games

One of Trevor's strongest cycling memories comes from 1966, when Kingston hosted the British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Trevor remembers competing on the track. Harold was pleased with his performance, although Trevor recalls that Harold also had thoughts about the racing tactics.

Then came the road race the following morning.

Trevor was already tired from the previous day's competition. His bicycle was steel, heavy and too large for him.

The race became a battle.

On a hill, Trevor was dropped. Later, he crashed into a hillside.

He broke his left arm.

More than half a century later, the details remain part of his cycling memory—not simply the race or the injury, but what it was like to compete in that period on the equipment available to them.

When a Bicycle Was Steel

Trevor remembers the old Blissett-era bicycles as steel machines.

They were not the featherweight carbon bicycles familiar to today's riders. You felt the bicycle underneath you. Riding one demanded something from the cyclist.

Trevor can appreciate the difference because he has lived long enough to ride through both eras.

Today's bicycles can feel, as he describes it, almost like part of your body.

The equipment changed dramatically. The cyclist didn't.

Still a Wheeler

Trevor's memories give us something photographs and old records cannot. They give us the people.

They tell us that the Blissett Wheelers were not simply a name attached to Jamaican cycling history. Young men came together to ride, train, compete, eat, joke and test themselves against one another.

Harold Blissett helped make that possible. And Trevor Silvera was there.

Today, at 84 years old, Trevor is thousands of miles from the Jamaica where those rides began. He lives in the Philippines. And he still rides.

More than 60 years after becoming a Blissett Wheeler, the young cyclist who walked into Harold Blissett's world never really left cycling behind.

The old steel racing bicycle has given way to modern equipment. Jamaica has given way to the Philippines. The young man of 20 is now a man of 84.

But put Trevor Silvera on a bicycle and one thing becomes immediately recognizable.

The Wheeler is still there.