The history of the Shepparton Cycling Club

The origins of the Shepparton Cycling Club can be traced back to the 1920’s when there was both an amateur and professional club. The professional club was started around the mid 1920’s and the amateur club was started in 1929. During World War Two both clubs went into recess until 1948 when they combined to reform as the Shepparton Cycling Club.

From the late 20’s racing was conducted on a sand track around Deakin Reserve football ground which was eventually sealed with bitumen in the late 1930’s. The Deakin Reserve track was very dangerous because of the lack of camber on the bends, this lead to the death of two riders who misjudged the bend. One of these riders was Carl Koblauch champion of Denmark who raced on the Shepparton track at the new years day carnival in 1951. Carl had narrowly beat Bob Jane (who was to become the famous race car driver) when he failed to negotiate the bend after the finish line and veered off the track into a light post and died instantly.

Works for the velodrome were started in 1978 after a petition was signed and a council meeting held. As a result of this the club was leased land by the council. Seventeen thousand cubic yards of dirt was moved from the nearby housing commission area where construction had just commenced. However this was not enough so a further five thousand was taken from the centre area. A huge fundraising effort was undertaken by Bruce Johnson to raise funds for the velodrome. Local businesses were asked to donate a yard of concrete with the largest donation of $3,000 being given by Ducats Milk.
The velodrome was completed 5 years after works began and the first race was held there in 1983.
              
The Shepparton Cycling Club boasts an enviable racing pedigree of four Olympians;
John Thorsen- Montreal 1976, 4,000m Team Pursuit
Stephen Fairless- Seoul 1988, 100km Team Time Trial
Shaun O’Brien- Barcelona 1992, 4,000m Team Pursuit (Silver Medal)
Brett Lancaster- Sydney 2000, 4,000m Team Pursuit
 - Athens 2004, 4,000m Team Pursuit (Gold Medal)
 - Beijing 2008, 4,000m Team Pursuit, 4,000m Individual Pursuit

Current and former professional cyclists including Brett Lancaster, David Tanner and David McKenzie have been members of the SCC. The SCC has also been home to Steven Pate 1987 world sprint champion and winner of 4 Austral wheel races as well as countless Australian and Victorian champions.

This account of the history of the Shepparton Cycling Club was written with the help of Don Fairless.