The cake shop at Cobbity provided awesomly good cake and coffee to fuel the final leg of the journey.

I took these panorama photos on May Farm Rd showing magnificent views to Mt Hunter. Normally in February these hills would be brown, but our very wet and cool summer has provided the look of an English countryside.

Panorama of MayfarmRd on CleVR.com

Panorama of Other Side of Mayfarm Rd on CleVR.com

If anyone knows where the velodrome was located and/or has any further information about the cycling history of the area, I would love to hear from you?

My brother, Mike Wise remembers the velodrome well:

Yes Sal, it goes around the outside of the sports ground oval – don’t know what state it is in now but the bitumen was fairly cracked and lumpy in late 50′s early 60′s.
It made N’dera Sports ground a great venue for Aussie rules etc because of the number of people who could be accommodated on the track. I have ridden around it many times but never in a race.
Have sent a copy of you email to Clem Tompson who was a champion bike rider when he lived in Narrandera.

Here is the reply from Clem:

The top Photo of the Bike riders on the velodrome was taken 1947    the rider on the left of the photo is a very good friend of mine  Dudley Foley from Narrandera.  The blonde bloke in the photo  is Norm Foster from Griffith I think . This  night   Norm Foster was on scratch Dudley had a little bit of start on him and they were both in the final of the half mile I think it was in the dying days of the Narrandera Easter Monday Sports Carnival which went for a couple of days . This photo must have been taken over the weekend some time  there does not seem to be any body around.   Dudley carted Foster in the final and  Foster won the final, they travelled the distance in record time.  I think it was the next year Wagga was allocated the Easter Carnival by the governing body thus the  end of Narrandera Easter Monday sports. Wagga put on the Sports Carnival the next year 1948.  That year Dudley Foley won the Half mile final and the main race of the day the Wagga Wheel Race so won both of the main races of the day leaving his city  opposition to fight for the crumbs of minor placing’s . The 3 mile Aces Darby was next. The Hammond Brothers from Sydney  pretty good riders who were expected to get some money out of their trip were getting a bit sick of this Narrandera kid from the bush taking it all off them. So in the Aces Darby they broke away from the field about half way through the race and  they were likely to keep their break as they  were both long distance riders however they  got a break over the main bunch, that is all accept  Dudley Foley, he was sitting on them and little doubt what he was going to do to them in the finish. Wagga track was a big track only 2 laps to the mile on one of the  laps there was a cloud of dust around the back of the track and Dudley Foley was on the ground and out of the race.  No cameras those days. Dudley was such a crowd hero that day that doing something like this ,was like hurting Black Caviar and the crowd erupted and the police  had to intervene  to settle things down. Shortly after this Dudley finished second beaten by only inches in Australia’s biggest and richest cycle race , The Melbourne cup on Wheels at the Essendon Velodrome in Melbourne.
Will send the photo with Dudley in it too him , see if he can remember who these blokes are, he is my age so the old brain has trouble sometimes bringing these things back, the hard drive is becomes a bit fragmented over such a long period.

What a fantastic piece of history. Those anonymous photos are coming to life, I can’t wait for the next installment!

Re the photo of the Narrandera Velodrome.  Have been in contact with Dudley Foley the year was 1947 Rider next to him is Len Maydwell  from Young and all the others were from Young. I thought the blonde bloke was Norm Foster from Griffith Dudley says it is not .  All the other riders in the photos  were from Young. Although Norm Foster from Griffith  was there at that race meeting however is not him in the photo. Think the races were probably around the same time. Those blokes standing in white were judges one picked 1^st and one picked 2^nd and one 3^rd.
All in white were officials of some sort such as starter Referee.
Cant see the riders in the race photos to pick who they are, could be a final I think. I could be in these photos myself as I was around at this time.

Regards Clem Tompson

 

Some of the Wollondilly Community Health Staff and BARBUG members who Participated in 2011 Ride To Work

For their efforts the community health centre won the Community Health category for the highest proportion of staff participating in the Local Health Districts Ride to Work Day Awards!

Bargo Bicycle User Group members with staff from the Wollondilly Community Health Centre receiving their award from the Health Promotion Service of South Western and Sydney Local Health District.

Cycling has many health benefits like fitness, weight and stress management; environment benefits; fun and a great opportunity to meet new people.

The Bargo BUG organise rides and cycling activities in and around Wollondilly. The rides are open to anyone with a roadworthy bike and a helmet.  We encourage new riders to join and learn to ride with confidence. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

For more details contact Bargo BUG on Ph 4684 1444

Austcycle, Australia’s national provider of accredited cycle training will be on hand to help improve your skills.

You will learn about conducting a basic bicycle check, learning the correct riding positions, braking, balancing and cornering, changing gears, riding on hills, stopping and turning.

After the demonstration, a short ride around Picton Botanic Gardens, followed by a sausage sizzle lunch.
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Picton

Picton Botanic Gardens

Where: Picton Botanic gardens

When: Saturday 5th November 2011

Start: 9:am

To register please contact Beverly Garrick, Sydney South West area Health Service on 4683 6025
or Leanne Ledwidge, Wollondilly Shire Council on 4677 1188

Choke point: Tahmoor cyclist Alan Willock has been advocating for a cycle network in Wollondilly for the last three years. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Living in Wollondilly means spending at least 100 minutes travelling every day, according to Transport Data Centre statistics. Michael Cox reports.
Wollondilly has the worst transport record among its regional neighbours, statistics from the Transport Data Centre’s 2007 household travel survey show.
The average resident spends more than 100 minutes in travelling time each day compared to Wingecarribee residents who travel just over an hour, according to the most recent figures available.
On average each Wollondilly household owns more than two cars.
Wingecarribee residents own less than one car per household.
Wollondilly Council has allocated an extra $100,000 towards developing a bicycle network for commuters, recreational users and families in this year’s budget to provide alternative transport measures.
Areas where cyclists need to merge into through traffic are referred to as “choke points”. And Wollondilly Council’s infrastructure and planning manager Dick Webb said Wollondilly had too many of them for cycling to become an alternative form of transport at the moment.
Cycle works recently finished on Remembrance Drive Tahmoor cost more than $150,000 to construct.
Mr Webb said the shared cycleway was one part of making Wollondilly more cycle-friendly.
He said support infrastructure including bike racks and toilet and shower facilities would be ideal.
Mr Webb said the council was considering merging its Alternative Transport Committee, Transport Forum and the Economic Advisory Group’s sub-Transport Committee into one transport advisory group.
The amalgamation means a wider range of alternative and public transport problems may be addressed and a focus could be placed on establishing shared cycleways.
“There will be less duplication across three groups,” Mr Webb said.
“Remembrance Drive has been historically not designed for cyclists,” he said.
A member of the Bargo cycling group BarBugs, Alan Willock, said he avoided using Remembrance Drive because he had a close call with two buses.
The 56-year-old Tahmoor man said he would prefer to ride via Thirlmere to get to Picton than to ride his bike on Remembrance Drive.
The transport committee is focusing on establishing a Picton/Tahmoor route for bicycles because the road was not wide enough for cyclists.
“People say they’d love to cycle but they’re too scared to get on the road — and I don’t blame them,” he said.
Mr Willock said the state and federal governments needed to contribute more to cycle networks.
“Councils can’t afford to put paths like this one (Tahmoor’s new path on Remembrance Drive) on every road,” he said.

Tweeted by: @roadcc: This is superb! Found on Shutt VR’s site who in turn found it on Carlton Reid’s www.quickrelease.tv

An invisible airbag for cyclists’ head, shaped as a collar worn around the neck has won one of the world’s largest monetary prize for design.

To see full story go to: The Telegraph.co.uk

Tweeted by: @CyclingRightNow

What terrific news!

Friday, 12 August 2011

Men’s National Road Series – Goulburn to Sydney, September 18-19, 2011.

The New South Wales State Government will partner the historic 170km Goulburn to Sydney (Camden) Cycle Classic (est 1902) which will be hosted by the Macarthur Collegians Cycling Club on the 17th & 18th of September promoting the Goulburn Mulwaree, Wollondilly, Camden and Campbelltown regions to a broader Australia wide audience.
State member for Wollondilly, Jai Rowell has lobbied for $20,000 funding assistance from the Premier’s department to continue the history of this iconic sporting event that has assisted many Australian cyclists as a stepping stone to their international careers. Cycling has been receiving world-wide recognition since the victorious salute of Australian Tour de France winner Cadel Evans in Paris last month.

“New South Wales has an event that is older than the Tour de France and we have a unique opportunity to use sport to promote our towns and show off our area.

The event ambassador, Simon Poidevin has led the push to raising over $800,000 that has assisted our local charities like the Odyssey House Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre Families Programme, the Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation ,Youth Solutions and Goulburn’s Palliative Care,” Member for Wollondilly Jai Rowell said.

The race has a unique history starting in Goulburn, Australia’s first inland city and finishing in the birthplace of Australia’s wool, wine and wheat industries, the historic town of Camden.

This year a short time trial will be held at Goulburns’ Victoria Park from 11am on Saturday the 17th of September with the historic 170km classic commencing on Sunday the 18th of September at 7.45am.

The historic race departs Goulburn and follows the Hume Highway to Berrima and passes through Mittagong, Bargo, Tahmoor, Picton and the Razorback Range before finishing to a friendly Camden welcome at 11.15am.

Media enquiries: Simon Poidevin 0411 206 790 – Paul Hillbrick 0412 842 730.

6th August 2011
The Royal Netherlands Army have had a Bicycle Corps since 1894. In 1917, the first Bicycle Music Corps was founded.
The Fanfare Band continues the traditions of that music corps. In uniforms originally issued in 1914, and playing on the period-correct bent instruments and riding vintage bicycles.  For more info go to their website.

Uploaded to YouTube by: Redshott1
via @roadcc