History of the Austral: The Austral is born

The Austral Wheelrace owes its longevity and classic status to the Melbourne Bicycle Club (MBC). However, much misinformation subsequently clouded the correct details of that beginning.

The dramatic explosion of cycling in Melbourne came when the cumbersome velocipedes were replaced by the new 'ordinaries' arriving mainly from England in 1875.

These new machines which were labeled as penny-farthings were much more practical to ride and certainly more efficient speed-wise. That immediately created the desire for one owner to go faster than another and the MBC was created in 1878.

Cricket was the only other major sport at that time and astute members of the powerful MBC formed an alliance with the Melbourne Cricket Ground which provided them a very well-established venue with a 440-yard grass track around the perimeter.

The public supported the MBC promotions at regular meetings with attendances of 20,000 spectators.

This gave the MBC the confidence to promote a special super-rich meeting.

The earliest Austral program in the archive is from 1908. The winner was M. McPherson from 280 yards.

The Intercolonial Cycling Meeting was conducted on Saturday, January 30, 1886.

It featured a three-mile handicap, 12 laps of the 440-yard grass track on penny-farthings with a handicap limit of 500 yards.

Needless to say that with such overlap there was considerable confusion as to who was leading but in the end C. Dwyer from 40 yards was declared the winner. It was an amateur race and first prize was a Ronisch piano to the value of 90 Guineas.

The MBC decided to run another super meeting on Saturday, November 13, 1886 and it was named the Drummond Trophy.

Again a three-mile handicap, it was won by W. Brown (England) from 230 yards, with prizes to the value of £200.

These special meetings drew crowds of 30,000 people and the MBC used the last November meeting as justification to in future run this as an annual event and the name would be Austral Wheelrace.

This new race was then run on Saturday, November 19, 1887.

It was wisely reduced to two miles and was still valued at £200 to win, which included a walnut cabinet of silver, and was won by H.H. Lambton from 210 yards.

Unfortunately, for much of the Austral’s life, it has been wrongly said and shared that the first Austral Wheelrace was in 1886 and was worth a grand piano.

The Austral Wheelrace is the longest continuous running track cycling race in the world.

More interesting information: Harry Lambton would win the Austral again in 1892 from 200 yards. For the first three Australs, it was an amateur race with cash first paid in 1890. They raced penny-farthings in the first six stagings and changed to the 'safety' bicycle in 1893.

Feature picture: The alliance between the Melbourne Bicycle Club and the Melbourne Cricket Ground created the Austral Wheelrace in 1887, drawing crowds of up to 30,000 spectators.