Bathurst Cycling Club

Information from the notes of former Bcc female Champion Heather McFarland and Bathurst Historian Theo Barker.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 champion, Toireasa 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.

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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.