Information from the notes of former Bcc female Champion Heather McFarland and Bathurst Historian Theo Barker
Bathurst has a great history in cycling with the Bathurst Cycling Club one of the
oldest clubs in Australia. In fact it is argued that one of the first ever Bicycle
races in Australia was held at the Bathurst at the Racecourse on New Years day 1870,
only a matter of months after the first competition in Australia which occurred in
Melbourne in 1869, and not long after the first organised pedal cycle race in the
world, which occurred in England in 1869.
Bathurst then also claims to have the first
cyclist in NSW, when W.R. George contracted a Blacksmith to build him a machine that
was reported as the first built and ridden in NSW by the Sydney Morning Herald. Typical
of the rivalry that build up over the years with neighbouring Dubbo, they too claimed
the first bicycle in NSW when George Roth argued that he was the state first cyclist
on a bicycle made of wood.
The Bathurst Bicycling Club first appeared in 1884 when
cycling appeared on the program at the Highland Gathering in December of that year.
That decade the Amateur and Professional Administration Bodies would both formed,
which would course must unrest in the Bathurst cycling clubs for the next century.
Till the Bathurst Cycling Club would play a promenade role in the amalgamation of
the Amateur and Professional bodies in Australia when the Pro Club joined the Amateur
Club in 1985 under the control of the Amateur Body. See attached brief history of
the Bathurst Cycling Club attached.
Local residents and Bathurst Club Members are
among the sports most respected performers, with Bathurst and Central West Area famous
for producing top class cyclists. Highlighted in modern times by the New South Wales
Institute of Sport, ear-marking the district as a High Performance Area for the sport
of Cycling in early to mid 2000 decade, acknowledging the performances of Olympian,
world champion and Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Mark Renshaw, Para Olympian
and Junior nation championToireasa Gallagher (nee Ryan), and Oceania Junior Champion
Dean Windsor. Even when in the early years while the club was forming in the 19th
century, one of the earliest “Amateur Champions of the World” – Herbert Cortis settled
in the area after amassing an amazing record in England in late 1880’s.
Stretching
from Herbert Cortis to Mark Renshaw the Bathurst Cycling Club has many champions
to boost about, with this web site hoping to acknowledge many of its stars in the
future. The Web Site also planning to acknowledge events and memorable feats of the
area, such as Sir Hubert Opperman phenomenal Unpaced Road Ride between Dubbo and
Sydney in 1938, where he rode the 265miles in 12hours 54mins, and recorded a time
of 6hr 48min for the last 132mile between Bathurst and Sydney, (note - pre Highway
when the road between Bathurst and Lithgow was a weaving and winding cement track).
Its should also be noted that Opperman broke the Australian 12 hour straight course
Record in that ride amassing 248.6miles in the 12hours
Members Links
Mark Renshaw
Dean Windsor
Blair Windsor
Tim Guy
TH Imports
