Item ST 32242 Gold Nugget - Mounted, Awarded to Hubert Opperman, Kalgoorlie to Perth Record, Western Australia, 1933

Summary

This souvenir gold nugget was presented to Hubert Opperman, on behalf of the people of Kalgoorlie, by the Mayor of Kalgoorlie, Mr E. E. Brimage. Its presentation was made at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall on the eve of Opperman's attempt on the Kalgoorlie to Perth record, in the anticipation of a record-breaking result.

Opperman was the first to attempt an officially recorded time for this route. W. (Bill) Smith, a former West Australian cyclist, had travelled the distance of 377.8 miles in 53 hours in 1920. However this had been an unplanned ride, undertaken only after he had been stranded at Kalgoorlie after the track races due to train cancellations. He had ridden back to Perth with his two companions, carrying all their own gear. There had been no application for it to be officially recorded at the time.

At the time of this attempt, Opperman was a well-established and renowned endurance cyclist of local and international repute. He was a world record holder for the Bol D'Or 24 hours paced race in Paris in 1928, a winner of the famous 750 mile Paris-Brest-Paris road race in 1931, had raced in two Tour De France teams (1928 and 1931), held the 24 hour motorpace world record (1932), the Sydney to Melbourne unpaced record (1929), the winner of the 690 mile Dunlop Grand Prix (1928) and the Tour of Tasmania (1930). He also had held four Australasian Championship titles (1924, 1926, 1927 and 1929), including three (1924, 1926, and 1929) with fastest time in the Warrnambool to Melbourne road race. He had arrived in Kalgoorlie well prepared to tackle the long stretches of bush track and unmade roads. It was also the first time he used a bicycle equipped with three speed 'Cyclo' gears, better suited for the hilly terrain he was expecting to cover.

Mr Brimage "expressed the sincere hope of the people of the goldfields that Opperman would lower the record considerably." In his reply, Opperman said "he would do his best. The present was typical of the warm-hearted, and golden friendship of the people of this wonderful city. He had been here many times and was deeply impressed with the fine sporting spirit that prevailed. He had been in strict training in hopes of breaking the record. He received great assistance and good wishes from everyone, and encouragement meant a mighty lot to a sporting man." Opperman was targeting a time of under 29 hours.
In describing his journey in newspaper reports afterwards, Opperman had this to say: "It was just plain Hell". For even though it had been fine weather at the start, with a tail wind helping him, he soon punctured. Then he encountered strong head winds, sharp gusts, very badly corrugated roads and sandy stretches under a hot sun that felt like he was pushing a plough. During the night, the wet, dark roads were treacherous, and the cold winds and rain made the ride very uncomfortable.

A crowd of 2000 Kalgoorlie locals watched as Opperman departed on the morning of 8 September. He arrived in Perth over a day later, sunburnt on one side, and having ridden through the night, to be embraced by a crowd of 15,000 people who were there to celebrate his record-setting ride of 25 hours and 37 minutes.

Physical Description

Small gold nugget mounted on brown wooden base. Plaque affixed to one side.