Cran Street Velodrome, Maryborough

Ultimate Speed on a racing bike, Clifton c.a. 1930 John Oxley Library Image Number 260579 

Bicycle racing was a very popular sport in Queensland. In 1870, the first shipment of tricycles came to Queensland and the first race is reported to have been between a cyclist and a Cobb and Co coach from Brisbane to Sandgate. (State Library of Queensland).

"The Safety bicycle, most like the bicycle we know today, was introduced into Australia in 1891 and cycling clubs boomed in the 1890s with the Brisbane Cyclist published for members in 1890.Tandem pacing, record breaking, century runs, cyclist versus runner and motor pacing were all features of the early years of cycling".(State Library of Queensland)

Coal Miners on bikes. Source: Fraser Coast Image Gallery

Early Push Bike racing. Baker and General Storekeeper H. Christiansen is in the background with hairdresser J. Kruger. Source: Fraser Coast Libraries Images

The Fraser Coast was a very popular bicycle enthusiast area. Maryborough boasted a well attended club. A remnant of these glory days is the Velodrome that can be found in Cran Street, Tinana. This was built around 1960. Not long after its construction, two of the members of the cycle club, Jack Fisher and Cliff Rhodes, died in the worst civil aviation accident that has occurred in Australia. 

This disaster took 29 lives. Trans-Australia Airlines (TAA) Flight 538 crashed into the sea near Mackay, Queensland, about 10pm on June 10, 1960 (Sydney Morning Herald). "It was a clear, moonlit night, though the plane had earlier made two aborted attempts to land because of low fog. It had circled Mackay, waiting for the fog to clear, and simply disappeared after the all-clear had been given"(Sydney Morning Herald). No one aboard survived. An inquiry could determine no cause and made the first recommendation that all large passenger planes should be equipped with flight recorders, or black boxes(Sydney Morning Herald).

The arch over the Memorial Gates at Tinana (since removed) commemorating young cyclists Jack Fisher and Cliff Rhodes.
The plaques on the brick sections still remain.

There are memorial plaques on the gate posts of the Cycling Club Velodrome at Tinana to commemorate Jack Fisher (aged 22) and Cliff Rhodes (aged 16), who were members of the club. They were on their way to a cycling carnival in Mackay. There use to  also be an arch commemorating these young men but it is no longer there.

A second memorial honours two other members of the Fraser Coast Cycling Club - Geoff Minter and Geoff Bandholz. They were killed in car crash in 1965 on their way to a carnival in Bundaberg. A memorial hall was built in their honour in 1966. (Monument Australia, 2019).

Do you know anything about the cycle club? Do you remember this event?

References:
Monument Australia retrieved from http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/tragedy/display/108757-geoff-minter-and-geoff-bandholz on the 29/08/2019.

State Library of Queensland Blog retrieved from http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2011/07/18/cycling/
on the 26/08/2019.

The Sydney Morning Herald 22nd February 2017 Australia's Worst Civil Aviation Disasters retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/national/australias-worst-civil-aviation-disasters-20170221-gui0cn.html on the 26th August, 2019.

Tags #velodrome #maryborough #Civilaviation #disaster #memorial #monument #cycling #bicycle #bike