Ernest Victor Mills (10 April 1913 – 10 October 1972), commonly known as Ernie Mills, was an English amateur cyclist who, with his teammate Bill Paul, set the British 12-hour record on a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

in 1934 and re-established it in 1936 with a 'world's best performance'. In 1937, in Italy, they set the world one-hour tandem record which stood for 63 years until September 2000. The

Addiscombe Addiscombe is an area of south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south of Charing Cross, and is situated north of Coombe and Selsdon, east of Croydon town centre, south of Woodside, and west of Shirley. E ...

Cycle Club teammates set 20 world and British records at both short and long distances. Mills represented Great Britain at the

1936 Summer Olympic Games The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and won a bronze medal in the

Team Pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

.Sports Reference, Ernie Mills
/ref> At the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney Australia, he won a bronze medal in the 1,000 metre Time-Trial In 1937 ''

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is a British cycling magazine. It is published by Future and is devoted to the sport and pastime of cycling. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".

'' jointly awarded him and Bill Paul their own page in the

Golden Book of Cycling The ''Golden Book of Cycling'' was created in 1932 by ''Cycling'', a British cycling magazine, to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administrat ...

Personal life

Mills lived in the Addiscombe area near

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, London.

Career

In 1934 Mills was paired with his teammate, William George (Bill) Paul, (' stoker') (1910 - 29 January 2003) also from the Addiscombe Cycle Club in Croydon. Initially they had been on opposing tandem teams but together they covered over 30 miles in one hour in 1936 and won a 10-minute pursuit race in less than four minutes. Together they set the British 12-hour tandem record in 1934, and, after losing it in 1936 to both G.A.Birtchnell and C.G.Taylor, and later C.C.Melhuish and H.G.Chapman, Mills and Paul then retook the record in September 1936 with a 'world's best performance'. In 1936 Mills and Paul set a British record for a 30-mile ride on a tandem, covering the distance in 1 hour 5 minutes 3 seconds. He represented Great Britain at the

, and won a bronze medal in the

along with his colleagues

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performan ...

, Ernest Johnson and Charles King. In 1937 Mills and Paul set the 'World Tandem Hour Record', 31.06 miles (49.991 km), at the

Velodromo Vigorelli Velodromo Vigorelli (from 2001 officially Velodromo Maspes-Vigorelli) is a semi-covered velodrome in Milan, Italy. It is currently used mostly for American football events, in fact, surrounded by the track, there is a standard size football f ...

(Velodromo Comunale Vigorelli) track in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

owned by 'Vigorelli Cycles'. The trip had been funded by readers of ''

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

'' magazine. This record stood until Sept 23rd 2000 at Manchester Velodrome when it was beaten by Simon Keeton and Jon Rickard of Rutland Cycling Club. Mills represented England at the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney Australia, where he won a bronze medal in the 1,000 metre Time-Trial behind the Australians Bob Porter and Tasman Johnson.GB Athletics, Commonwealth Games, Cycling
/ref> He finished fourth in the road race and also competed in 10 miles scratch event. As of 2011 Mills and Paul's 1938 100-mile tandem record at Addiscombe Cycle Club of still stands.

Commemoration

Addiscombe Cycle Club

Mills is commemorated every year at Addiscombe C.C. by an array of awards presented in his name for all sporting categories, road, track, ladies, juniors and the open time trial. * Open Events Trophy, E.V.Mills Memorial Trophy donated by Club subscription and awarded to the winner of the club's Open 25 miles time trial.Addiscombe CC, Virtual Trophy room, Ernie Mills
/ref> Currently held by Peter Tadros of InGear Quickvit Trainsharp * Time Trial Trophy, E.V.Mills Racing Fund Trophy presented by Ernie Mills and awarded to the member who attains the runner-up position in the Club Championship table. * Track Trophy, Sprint Championship Trophy presented by Ernie Mills for the winner of the club's Sprint Championship. Currently held by Steve Broomfield of Addiscombe CC * Junior Path Trophy, presented by Ernie Mills and awarded to the Junior recording the best track performance. Currently held by Thomas Hawkes of Addiscombe CC * Ladies Sprint Championship, presented by Ernie Mills and awarded to the winner of the club's Ladies Sprint Championship.

The Golden Book

Mills & Paul's achievements were celebrated in 1937 when

awarded them their own page in the

Cigarette cards

In 1939 Mills and Paul's efforts were celebrated nationally when

John Player & Sons John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...

issued a Cigarette card of them on their tandem. In a series of 50 cards called ''Cycling 1839-1939'', they were featured on card no.45 titled ''Tandem track position''.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Ernest 1913 births 1972 deaths English male cyclists Sportspeople from Croydon Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Cyclists at the 1938 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games