Ed Hood’s life was a celebration of cycling, camaraderie, and adventure. A mentor, teammate, and friend, Ed’s passion for the sport was matched only by his generosity and love for life. From supporting budding cyclists with cutting-edge gear and heartfelt advice to chasing race routes across Europe with unyielding determination, Ed’s influence was profound and far-reaching. His stories, brimming with humor and grit, paint a picture of a man who lived for the moments that defined the spirit of cycling. As we remember Ed, we honor a life that inspired readers to ride, dream, and embrace the road ahead.
Martin Williamson – Veloveritas Editor: Ed was a huge part of my life for 45 years, I learnt so much from him and owe him so much; when I was racing in the ‘Junior’ class (u18), Ed was a ‘Senior’, 10 years older than me and was a prodigious time trialist, I looked up to him, asked him questions and sought his advice.
When I was at university I was finally invited to join Ed’s team, named GS Modena (because that’s where Ferraris were made) and sponsored by Ed’s window and conservatory company, Mozolowski and Murray (M&M, purveyors of high quality hardwood kit). It was a great setup for the time, all the clothing and materials you needed, help with expenses, the lot.
Ed loaned me his brand new carbon tri-spokes, let me use his new Polar pulse monitor all year before he had even tried it, coached me, helped me devise training programmes (usually sitting guzzling pasta in Gennaro’s restaurant in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket), took me to races and supported me in every way he could. He helped me to understand how to handle things when they didn’t go my way and how to stay in the moment and remain modest on the odd occasion they did.
Ed Hood with Italian star of the ’60’s and ’70’s, Felice Gimondi at the Tour de France. Photo©Martin Williamson
He showed me how and when to prioritise my studies and my racing and he even invented a job for me at M&M during my summer holiday breaks, making use of my previous work as a draughtsman; I sat with my drawing board in his office and used the polaroid photos the salesmen took when visiting prospective clients to create ‘artists impressions’ of their house and the conservatory we were hoping to sell them. It actually proved to be a pretty effective sales aid but it’s safe to say the more important aspect of my job was to accompany Ed out on the bikes at lunchtimes, on often-very-hard training sessions around Loch Leven.
We often scampered over to mainland Europe to watch races. I remember we drove in one go from Edinburgh to Luxembourg to see the first few stages of the 1989 Tour, the one where Pedro Delgado missed his start in the Prologue and where Greg LeMond took the win in the final TT in Paris.
Another trip which illustrates Ed’s love of cycling and never-say-die approach was in 1994 when Ed and I travelled to Barcelona to watch the end of season classic, the Escalada a Montjuïc, a one-day two stage race in the city’s big park. Since we both had a love of architecture we got their several days ahead of the race so that we could spend some time visiting Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família and Park Güell, as well as mooching around some of the famous spots from the Spanish Civil War, another historical time we were keen students of.
The day before the race we returned to our family-run pensión on the Ramblas and were chatting to the owner, who asked us why we were visiting the city. We explained we were looking forward to the Escalada when he exclaimed “Ah yes! Rominger wins!” Ed explained that, er no, actually, Maurizio Fondriest won last year, when the chap produced a copy of the sports paper Marca from a few days earlier and shows us the back page. There on the back page in glorious technicolour was Tony Rominger in arms-aloft victory salute … the race had been moved forward one week so as not to clash with Delgado’s farewell retirement criterium.
We decided there and then our next course of action; as Ed said, ”we came to watch a bike race so that’s what we’re going to do”. We got back out to Barcelona airport, hired a car and drove for eight hours through the night to Madrid, arriving in the wee hours at one of Ed’s favourite Champagne bars for some, eh… tapas? After a bleary-eyed breakfast we drove a couple of hours up the road via Navacerrada, to Segovia, Delgado’s home town, where later that afternoon he would win his 45 minute celebratory retirement criterium, ahead of Miguel Indurain and lots of other top riders. We had not enough time to get back to Barcelona for our flight home but somehow we made it. A week off work, two flights and 20-odd hours of driving, to watch a short circuit race – and we wouldn’t have changed a thing.
In May 2015, I was driving our press hire car on race route of Stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia, a couple of hours ahead of the race, with Ed in the passenger seat tapping away on his BlackBerry as per usual, heading for the ‘sterrato’ gravel climb of the Colle Delle Finestre, which would be the main feature of the stage.
We were looking forward to getting to the top and taking up our photo positions when we arrived at the bottom of the climb only to find that it was closed to ALL traffic except police, organisation and team vehicles. There was no way we were being allowed to drive up the climb.
Tour de France King of the Mountains for the first week in 2012, Michael Mørkøv presented his leader’s jersey to Ed Hood as a mark of respect. Ed was truly touched by this gesture. Photo©Martin Williamson
In no time a new plan was devised; we’d drive to the finish at Sestriere, find and cross the finish line against race direction, drive on race route in the wrong direction and make our way up the descent from the top of the Colle Delle Finestre. There’s absolutely no way we could have done that in France – the roads are locked down early and NOTHING except the police goes against race direction – but we thought, with this being Italia… and Bingo! We parked the VW 20 metres from the top and treated ourselves to a celebratory coffee with grappa.
I had to u-turn the car at the top so that we were pointing in the right direction once the race had passed, on the gravel single track road with a horrific vertical drop-off should I get it wrong, with hundreds of spectators sitting on the hillside cheering me on, but Ed was as calm as could be as he encouraged me to nudge forwards and backwards “just two more inches”.
There are so many stories like these, but I’ll finish with a very happy one. Ed and I had driven on race route on countless stages on the Tour de France and we loved every minute of it. We used to stop at Kilometre Zero, an hour or two ahead of the race, and just sit quietly for a minute or two, soaking it up, appreciating how fortunate we were to be able to do this.
We loved driving through the crowds, so excited to see anything moving on the road, hearing all their shouts and the different blaring music, and smelling all the barbecues. We often discussed ‘being fans’ for once, just enjoying the party, the publicity caravan freebies, and the spectacle of the race flashing by, rather than putting ourselves under pressure all the time to get the photos, capture the mood, figure out the tactics, and so on the morning of Stage 20 of the 2013 Tour we decided today was going to be the day. We popped into a garden centre and bought a cheap BBQ, then into a supermarket to load up on the meat goodies, and times it perfectly for the caravan passing as the sausages were ready, and we had a great time sharing our cooking with fellow spectators. Ed loved it, ambition achieved!
Ed’s funeral will take place on Thursday 6th February 2025, 14:15PM, at Kirkcaldy Crematorium, Rosemount Avenue, Kirkcaldy, KY2 6HQ, Scotland, followed by tea, coffee and a buffet at the nearby Dean Park Hotel.
PEZ Sez – Thank you for reading, and stay tuned as the rest of us will honor Ed in with our own memories shortly.
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