The first bicycle race was on 12th August 1891 at the Horley Show and it included a one mile handicap. There were eight starters and the winner, J Dyke, rode a pneumatic ordinary machine and his prize was a dressing case. The sports continued at the show for another thirty years.
Horley and District Cycling Club was formed in 1888 and they held their first race meeting on Wednesday evening 13 September 1899. The bicycle races were half, one and three miles handicaps and a five miles scratch race for the club championship, which was won by EH Saxton in 16 min 57 sec. There was only a moderate attendance, but after the racing, the Horley Brass Band played and there was dancing.
There was a small flurry of bicycle racing around 1900 when Horley & D CC held races with the local athletic club and harriers.
The Horley Show and later the Gymkhana, included a one mile bicycle race in their sports until around 1924. Bicycle racing featured in the Horley Coronation Fete on 30 May 1953 as seen in this video (cycling starts after 8 minutes).
There was some bicycle racing in the 1960s, Raymond Batsford has posted the two images on this page. Cricket is still played at the ground, which is the home of Horley Cricket Club and the club owns it's ground through its trustees.
