KEY POINTS:
Sixty years ago as a young New Zealand cyclist working in London, Bert McConnell asked Princess Elizabeth to dance.
"I seem to recall standing on her shoes a couple of times," says Mr McConnell, 81. His dancing faux pas did not seem to offend the future Queen - today he is honoured on her birthday list, as a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for his services to cycling.
No other cycling aficionado has been to more world championship events in the history of the sport. Since managing the New Zealand team at the 1948 world championships in Amsterdam, Mr McConnell has been to 70 world events - track, road and junior championships.
This year he will travel to Mexico for the junior world championships, and Germany for the road worlds. He has gone to every event with a purpose - always to help out New Zealand teams and riders. His posts have included team manager, delegate to the International Cyclist Union and media liaison - he is always in the centre of the velodrome with a camera around his neck, handing out thousands of "Kiwi pins".
Mr McConnell is also an avid historian. His extensive archives of New Zealand cycling history and world and Olympic championship results, dating to the turn of the 20th century, fill his One Tree Hill home.
His love of cycling began as a young boy riding to school in Taranaki, then working after school in a local bike shop in the late 1930s.
A keen racer, Mr McConnell cycled north for three days to Auckland, where he set up his own bike shop. After reading an advertisement in a British cycling magazine, he headed to London in 1947 to study the cycle trade.
After following the Tour de France, Mr McConnell returned home and set up New Zealand's first multi-day tour - the Wiseman six-day tour - in the 1950s.
Mr McConnell's heart has always been in encouraging young people to ride, and he has set up scholarships for top New Zealand riders to compete around the world.
"I've been there to see every New Zealander who has ever won a world medal," he says, from Alan Miller winning the 1983 world junior championships through to Greg Henderson's gold medal at the 2004 world track champs.
"I'd like to get to 75 world events if my health is okay. It's not as easy these days."
Perhaps his biggest highlight came in 2005, when Mr McConnell's invaluable contribution to cycling was recognised with a special merit award from the International Cycling Union.
