Summary

Ticket to the first Austral Wheel Race in 1887 representing one of the major sporting and cultural events in Melbourne in the late nineteenth century. This Melbourne Cricket Ground Grand Stand ticket allowed entry to attend what is now the oldest-known track bicycle race still held in the world.

The Austral Wheel Race was first held in 1887. It was arranged by the Melbourne Bicycle Club, at that time the longest established cycling club in Australia, and run on the grass at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on high wheel [penny farthing] bicycles. The prize was apparently a walnut cabinet containing 152 pieces of silver and cutlery valued at 200 pounds sterling. By the 1890s the Austral Wheel Race was the most valuable cycle race in the world and attracted cyclists from around the world. In 1901 the race fell into disrepute when after the American entrant 'Plugger' Bill Martin won the race from scratch, there were claims of race fixing involving notorious Melbourne identity, John Wren. The race has been run continuously on an annual basis since its inception. The race held in March 2008 was at Vodafone Arena at Melbourne Park. Other venues have included the Royal Exhibition Building grounds, Olympic Park, the Brunswick, Coburg and Northcote velodromes, and Melbourne Park.

Physical Description

Rectangular white paper ticket with pink and gold decoration and text.

Significance

This ticket, giving access to the Melbourne Cricket Ground grand stand for the viewing of the first Austral Wheel Race in 1887, represents Australia's most famous and most valuable cycle race in the nineteenth century, and marks the debut of this significant event in the cycle racing calendar, an event which is still run today. Melbourne was the cycling capital of Australia in the late nineteenth century, and this ticket reminds us of the importance of the Austral Wheel Race in both Australia and Melbourne's sporting and cultural life in this period. By the 1890s, tens of thousands of spectators, including many women, would turn out for this race each year. The close relationship of the event with the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a venue usually dedicated to cricket, highlights the popularity and influence of cycling at this time. Thus, this ticket is historically and culturally significant as an artefact of a key event in Melbourne's history.

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