The first bicycles arrived in the colonies in the 1860s and Australians were quick to embrace this new technology. French-designed velocipedes were the first human-powered wheeled machines here. Typically built with 2 or 3 wheels shod in iron or wood, these machines had no brakes or gears.

The first bicycle race in Australia is believed to have taken place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1869, although some claim velocipedes were ridden in contests in Sydney two years earlier.

The high-wheeler, known later as the penny-farthing, arrived in Melbourne in 1875. They soon confirmed the speed, excitement and potential of the bicycle. High-wheelers featured rubber ‘cushion’ tyres, so were more comfortable than velocipedes, but were still difficult to manage. Riders sat more than 2-and-a-half metres off the ground. A fit cyclist could sustain speeds of between 16 and 25 kilometres an hour.

By the late 1890s the ‘safety’ bicycle offered people a cheaper and more comfortable ride and the cycling craze had taken hold. Riding schools and touring clubs formed and cycle racing became a big business.