CROSSINGS - Essay by Anne-Louise Willoughby

“Big sky, big road, big desert, little Koko...

At times on the Eyre Highway (all 1,600 plus kms of it), you feel very small, dwarfed by the ‘magesterial’ wilderness that surrounds you, and the shift in colour and light of its moody skies.

The actual Nullarbor Plain is just one treeless segment (I hope to reach it in a week) of the highway, but locals refer, reverentially, to the whole legendary stretch from Norseman to Ceduna, as simply, 'The Nullarbor'.

Walking along it, and particularly often camping in its midst, you can sense the sacred nature of the place, its geographical vastness and stark beauty.

The night skies, riddled with myriad winking stars.”

Tom Fremantle, world walker (2023).

The lure of a desert crossing has enticed travellers for millennia. Psychologist Robert Wicks writes that one of the most fascinating groups of spiritual guides in history was the fourth and fifth century Fathers (Abbas) and Mothers (Ammas), ancient desert monks of the Persian and Northern African deserts.  They didn’t want their perspective to be dominated by the culture of the time and instead sought simplicity and purity of heart. Perhaps the lure of a desert crossing today has, in part, components of the spiritual which at its heart often reflects the desire to break from habit, to escape the chains of modern life. When undertaken by choice, a desert crossing offers an opportunity to return to the fundamentals of the moment when human engages fully with the natural world.

The level of that engagement will depend on how much kit is involved – vehicle, camper, caravan, motorbike, bicycle, or perhaps hardy foot ware as in Tom Fremantle’s case, along with his baby buggy kit holder, Koko. For the adventurer, the athlete, or the traveller en route, the impetus for the crossing will differ in tone. It might also depend on whether there is a goal attached – fastest crossing, first crossing in a certain mode, a fundraising objective, or maybe a group initiative, just the need to get from A to B, or perhaps a self-discovery tour. Whatever the mode of transport or desired end result, there will inevitably be a moment when the grandeur, the vastness, and the apparent ‘emptiness’ of a desert crossing will register. I have crossed the Nullarbor – Oondiri as it is known by traditional owners – a number of times in various vehicles. The moment when the rhythm of the desert landscape seeps into your soul arrives with the acceptance of the distance you must navigate. There are the kilometres on the odometer then there are those in your mind’s eye, the thought flow, and the slowing of the impulses that run your everyday – a desert crossing, in whatever mode, shifts your body’s gears. The ‘emptiness’ is a fleeting notion as the desert leaps into hyper focus and draws you in. I think Kant might have something to add here about the sublime, but that is for you to explore.

Cyclist Arthur Richardson speaks of his love of adventure and pioneering work as primary drivers of his desert crossings in the late 1890s and, as I write, modern day adventurer Fremantle is a few hundred kilometres shy of completing his solo walk across Australia as part of his attempt to walk around the world. Tom is a generous man and ties his wanderlust to great causes raising funds while crossing deserts and circling war zones. He has shared in real time his experience of walking across the Nullarbor – a little different from Richardson’s record of his second crossing published in booklet form in 1900 by his sponsors, the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company, entitled ‘The Record of a Remarkable Ride’. While Richardson’s maps were a valuable pioneering resource, Fremantle had the benefit of the macadam, the roadhouses, truckies, grey nomads, cyclists, and other enthusiastic passers-by. He does, however, have only his two feet to propel him rather than Richard’s Dunlop pneumatics on a new-fangled contraption:

“When I bought a machine in 1896 and learned to ride it,” he remarked, “and three  weeks later expressed my intention of doing what no other cyclist had done across, via Eucla and Port Augusta, to Adelaide, those who heard of it called me foolhardy and, after vainly endeavouring to dissuade me from making the attempt, predicted that I would not succeed. Succeed, I did, however, and to show that the feat was not an impossible one, but merely one which required to be done …”

As Fremantle began his solo walk across Australia, pushing his supplies and meagre camping equipment in the converted baby carrier, he posted on his Instagram page, his virtual travel diary. He speaks to the ideas of isolation:

When Apollo 11 astronaut, Michael Collins, was left manning the spacecraft while his more famous crew mates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, walked on the moon, he was described as ‘the loneliest man in history’. I think he certainly earned this title back in 1969 - and, through that historic moment, he still probably eclipses all others when it comes to human isolation.

Perhaps the closest us earthlubbers can come to Collins' unique social dislocation is when we sail alone into the high seas, or scale a remote mountain, or bivouac in the midst of the desert or the jungle.

Certainly, camping alone in the Australian outback is at first daunting: the burr of cicadas, the red earth, the green and bone white gum trees, the exquisitely lit, at times apocalyptic, evening skies.

But, once you have set up camp, often early (it is fully dark by 6.30pm now) and boiled pasta and brewed tea, you relax and savour the moment. Solitude, yes, but not really loneliness. It's been a punishing but positive few days walking the 180 odd kms between the little mining towns of Southern Cross and Coolgardie, including a few wild camps.

The Nullarbor covers approximately 180,000 square kilometres, and the treeless plain about 52,000. At its widest point from Norseman in the west to Ceduna – Tjutjuta, meaning resting place – it extends1,200 kilometres. Three quarters of the Nullarbor is in WA. By the time Fremantle reaches Sydney he will have walked over 3,500 kilometres in a four-month trek. His trusty buggy has received maintenance along the way – the last being in Wagga Wagga at Kidson’s Cycles by team member Rohan who said, “All the cross-country cyclists and walkers end up here – we attract you crazies but always try and fix you up.” Fremantle writes that he met Douglas de la Concha ‘in the middle of nowhere on the Nullarbor’. Concha is attempting a Guinness Book of Records ride to be the fastest round the world cyclist on a one gear bike (covering 165kms a day) and was also a satisfied Kidson’s customer. Seven cyclists crossed Fremantle’s path as he walked the Nullarbor – a round the world rider who had covered 30,000 kilometres from Japan, two Australians, two Germans, a Brit and de la Concha, a Hawaiian. It was a different story for the first recorded crossing on foot, as Fremantle reflects:

"A hideous anomaly, a blot on the face of nature...”

This is how the explorer, Edward John Eyre, described the Nullarbor in 1841, after becoming the first recorded person to cross the vast plain with his indigenous colleague, Wylie.

Now, the 1600 odd kms Eyre Highway, stretching the Nullarbor and beyond, which I have just finished walking, is named after him.

The sky was moody as I crossed into the little harbour but my mood was elated as I thought back to all those days walked and nights camped in the bush: the wind, rain, sun, rainbows and lately frost; the dingoes, wild goats, roos, emus and a plague of mice; the ghost gums and spinifex and mulga stumps; the big jinker road trains, the camper vans and once in a blue moon, bicycles; the red dirt and dirty clouds, the star spangled nights and noon skies of fathomless blue, the pure, if sometimes misty dawns and the rusty dusks.

Yes, it will take time to shake off the Eyre Highway's beautiful grip on my memory.

I can imagine Tom Fremantle sitting down with Scotchie Wright for a chat about being the first cyclist to ride from Fremantle, named for Tom’s ancestor Captain Thomas Fremantle, to Adelaide. Resting under the same night skies of the ancient plain what would they make of each other’s quests? Tom Fremantle has cycled from Swanbourne in Buckinghamshire to Swanbourne in Perth, while not at the pace of Hubert ‘Oppy’ Opperman’s crossing from Fremantle to Sydney in 1937, there would be much to discuss. Needless to say, Oppy and Wright may share this sentiment on Nullarbor crossings from Fremantle:

If my walk was plain sailing, like a steady pulse, it would be very dull. You need the peaks and troughs, the blood and dirt, the sun and rain, the dead on your feet, howl at the moon moments as well as the many blissed out, euphoric ones.

Whenever the walk is tough going, I always try to remember how hugely lucky I am to be doing it. Many dream of such travels but never have the chance: I need to be true to all those dreams.

Anne-Louise Willoughby

References

Wicks, R.J., Crossing the Desert: Learning to Let Go, See Clearly, and Live Simply, Sorin Books, New York, 2008.

Richardson, A., ‘The Record of a Remarkable Ride’, The Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of Australasia Ltd, Sydney, 1900.

Fremantle, T.F.H., @tomfremantle, 2023.

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/opperman-sir-hubert-ferdinand-oppy-28107 , accessed 19 September, 2023.

The Jubilee Couriers

1951 was the Commonwealth of Australia’s 50th birthday. After battling through a depression, two world wars and facing the rising spectre of communism the Menzies government decided 1951 would be a year to unite the nation and reaffirm all citizens’ allegiance to the Commonwealth and Crown. All facets of Australian society were involved. Cycling was represented in the sporting division, which was chaired by Hubert Opperman MP, arguably Australia’s greatest cyclist, and by now the federal member for Corio, VIC.

The main cycling event planned was The Jubilee Loyalty Despatch Bicycle Relay.  From every part of every state, nominated cyclists collected official loyalty pledges offered by every level of Australian society. From individuals, Mayors and Shire Presidents, officials of clubs, societies, trade unions, churches, principals of schools and colleges, executives of commercial and business groups, and Aboriginal groups.

Starting as trickles of pledges in the most remote parts of each state, the flows merged as they approached capital cities. From as far north as Darwin, and all parts of the previously pro-secessionist West, pledges were gathered in Perth.

At 4:00pm on Sunday April 22nd the five official West Australian relay couriers set out from the Esplanade on their 4000 km journey to Canberra.

Opperman had personally asked noted long distance rider and West Australian Police Sergeant Vic Waltham to head the ride. From the West, Waltham was joined by professional riders Eddie Barron and Ray Felton and two of WA’s best amateurs Chas Renner and Merv Sunderland.

The imposing Sgt.Waltham, all 192cms and 102kgs, was a veteran of 2 Nullarbor cycle crossings and held the solo unpaced east to west crossing record for more than 24 years. Not only was Vic Waltham facing another crossing but he had already just completed the solo courier ride from Darwin to Perth. Mercifully for Waltham, the potential 4760 km journey had been shortened by impassable wet season roads.

With an Army escort and a spotlight equipped Jeep to light the way ahead at night, the five rode and rested in rotation, only stopping to gather more pledges or to be guests at civic receptions. Eleven days of riding, slowed only by gravel roads and bad weather, saw the party reach Adelaide, where, due to poor organisation and the fact that the riders were not being paid, Renner and Sunderland’s journeys finished. Waltham, Barron and Felton pushed on to Canberra without them.

The culmination of the Relay was a reception in Canberra on the steps of Parliament House at 3pm on the 8th of May. Watched by diplomats, politicians and Jubilee officials the Prime Minister R. G. Menzies accepted delivery of 300,000 loyalty pledges and 200,000 pledge cards from school children.

It was estimated that 200,000 cyclists had taken some part in the relay and covered perhaps ‘a million miles’ on ‘the infernal machine’, to quote the PM.

Researched and written by Viv Cull.

Below; photos from Ray Felton’s collection

Below; the actual Rainbow bike that Merv Sunderland rode as a Jubilee Courier in 1951. Merv generously loaned the bike for the duration of our Nullarbor exhibition.

Rod Evans

Rod Evans

Australian Ultra-Marathon Cyclist and Record Breaker

ROD EVANS

Rod Evans was Australian Cyclist of the Year in 1990 and 1994 and was twice awarded the Oppy Oscar for his cycling achievements.

In 1989 Rod broke the Around Australia Cycling Record riding 13,900 kilometers in 49 days 22 hours 31 minutes. In 1994, he broke the world track cycling records for 100 miles, 200 miles, 12 hours, 24 hours and 1000 kilometres. He covered 853 kilometres in 24 hours and 1000 kilometres in 28 hours 12 minutes and 33 seconds. During the first 8 hours of his 1000-kilometre record attempt he averaged just under 40 kph.

ROD’S INTRODUCTION TO CYCLING

Rod commenced ‘long distance’ cycling the week he started primary school. Rod’s primary school was one mile (1.6 kms) from his home on the family farm. At age 4, on his first day at school, his father took him to school by car. On his second day at school, his father took him to the end of the driveway, pointed him in the right direction and left him to ride to school. Rod rode a chain driven tricycle with solid rubber wheels, with a small lunch box wired to the back of his seat.

At age 12 Rod started school at The Geelong College, 17 kilometers from home. He soon gave up travelling by bus and started riding to and from his school in Geelong.

While at school, Rod read Russel Mockridge’s book, My World on Wheels. Mockridge had attended the same school as Rod and, before his death in a bike race in Victoria, was a world champion cyclist dominating cycling in Australia in the late 1940s and 50s. Mockridge was also a dual Olympic Gold medalist, racing in Europe on the track and road and had competing in the Tour de France. Rod was inspired and wanted to become a competitive cyclist.

After reading Mockridge’s book, Rod entered a bike race run by the local Geelong Amateur Cycling Club. He won. A few weeks later he entered the Victorian State Road Championships. He came last. Over the next few years, he won a series of races including State titles on the road, the South Australian Kangaroo Island Tour and championships on the track.

Just as his cycling career was emerging, in the late 1970s, at the age of 20, Rod fell ill with glandular fever. He was sick for several years and did not return to cycling until the mid-1980s.

When he returned to cycling, he found that he could no longer match the racing speed and endurance of other cyclists. He gave up on his ambitions of winning a world championship, or even winning a local race, and he started to gravitate to his other love of cycling – riding long distances. Long distance riding was already in his DNA. In 1974, as a 16-year-old, he had used his school Easter break to ride from Adelaide to Geelong (780 kilometers), covering over 200 kilometers each day despite being weighed down with heavy panniers and a backpack. That ride inspired in Rod the joy of hard long-distance riding. In the 1980s he returned to his passion of long-distance riding.

AN ACCIDENTAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE AROUND AUSTRALIA CYCLING RECORD

In 1983, Rod rode from Melbourne to Sydney to attend a garden party. On the road he met four Danish cyclists who were preparing for an attempt on the Around Australia Cycling Record. They asked if Rod would be interested in joining them as they wanted to add an Australian team member. Rod declined as he felt that he was still too weak to match them over such a long-extended ride. The following year, in 1984, these cyclists set a new Around Australia Cycling Record of 80 days.

The idea of the Around Australia record stayed in Rod’s mind, and as his strength returned, he started to think about making his own attempt on this record. While he no longer had an interest in bike racing, on the few times he raced he would often wake up at 4.00 am and complete a hard 100 km ride before the race started. On one occasion he rode over 300 kms to compete in a race. He was now more interested in using racing to build his endurance than using his endurance to build his racing.

In May 1989 Rod set off from Forrest Place in Perth in an attempt to break the Around Australia record. The outcome was something that he had not expected. He lowered the record by 30 days.

He believed that he had now found another way to realize his dream of becoming a champion cyclist. He started to plan an attempt on the world 24-hour track cycling record. His training again included long distance rides. He completed a 1000-kilometer Audax ride in Bendigo Victoria on a fixed wheel bike. On another trip east he rode from Adeliade to Sydney and return to Melbourne, again on a fixed wheel bike.

He came to his 24-hour record attempt in June 1990 strong and fit. As luck would have it, 3 days before his record attempt he contracted the flu. He still attempted the record but was only able to cover 788 kilometers – which failed to beat the world record although it did break Sir Hubert Opperman’s Australian 24-hour record (and former world record) which had stood for over 50 years.

Later that year Rod re-commenced his training. Unfortunately, in November 1990 he had an accident at the Midvale velodrome and shattered his left leg. Over the next 2 years he underwent 5 operations and extensive rehabilitation to restore the strength in his leg. 30 years later he still has one leg significantly smaller and weaker than the other.

Nearly 2 years after his accident, Rod re-commenced his bike training. In September 1992, despite limited training, he participated in the Great Bike Ride, a mountain bike stage race from the eastern most point of Australia, through the central Australian desert, to the western most point. The race attracted an international field. Despite the difficult sandy conditions, the race stages covered more than 200 kilometers each day. Rod was one of only six riders to complete the race.

In 1993 Rod started training in earnest. As part of his training, he rode across Australia three times. In November 1993 he crossed the Nullabor desert riding a mountain bike from Tarcoola to Kalgoorlie following the transcontinental rail line. In February / March 1994, he rode a road bike (which he still rides today) from Perth to Geelong in Victoria and return to Perth following the Eyre Highway.

His training paid off and in May 1994 he broke the world track cycling records for 100 miles, 200 miles, 12 hours, 24 hours and 1000 kilometres. He covered 853 kilometres in 24 hours and 1000 kilometres in 28 hours 12 minutes and 33 seconds. He averaged just under 40 kph during his first 8 hours of riding. Regrettably, power metres did not exist at the time of Rod’s record attempts, however there is the possibility that Rod had built significant strength. In training he was able to include intervals riding at 50 kph for around 2-3 kilometres despite riding a heavy training bike with mudguards and 1 ¼ inch high pressure tyres.

THE BIKE ROD USED FOR THE AROUND AUSTRALIA RECORD

The bicycle used by Rod to break the Around Australia Cycling Record was originally built for Rod’s father, Peter.

Ken Evans (winner of the 1972 Sun Tour) built this bike for Peter Evans (no relation) to ride in the 1980 World Veteran Road Race Championships. Peter crashed out of the World Championship race, putting the bike through a wire fence, but while racing in Europe he won the All Nations 5-race series in Hartberg, Austria and the last stage of the Veteran’s Tour de France.

In 1982, as part of an “over 50’s” promotional ride with Cecil Cripps, Peter rode the bike across the Nullarbor from Perth-to-Brisbane. He completed the 6,000 kms in 44 days, riding for between 4 ½ hours and 8 hours each day at ‘racing speed’.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE AROUND AUSTRALIA BIKE AND RECORD ATTEMPT

Rod’s Around Australia bike is still largely unchanged from the way the bike was set up by his father. The only change Rod made to the bike when he borrowed it from his father for the Around Australia Record was to add Scott Triathlon bars – the use of triathlon bars been a recent innovation at the time in the world of long-distance cycling. The frame has since been repainted in its original red colour, and new arm rests have been added that replicate the design used by Rod in 1989.

The crank length is 180mm. Both Rod and his father Peter rode 180mm cranks believing that this gave them a leverage advantage – something that has now been proven to be incorrect. Despite the use of tri bars, the seat was positioned 80mm behind the centre bracket, reflecting the more relaxed positions of that era. Lighting was provided through two battery charged clip on lights. These lights barely lit up the road which made riding at night difficult. One night Rod crashed into a mob of cattle sleeping on the road near Katherine in the Northern Territory, when he failed to see them because of his poor lighting.

The pedals with straps and toe clips used on the bike were the pedals used by his father. Clipless pedals were becoming more common; however, Rod chose to use the original pedals. The shoes that were worn when riding these pedals however were leather and didn’t have the fit of modern shoes. Rod suffered from horrendous blistering on his feet and at one stage during his Around Australia record attempt rode in slippers.

Generally, there was an overall lack of technology. Although the bike was fitted with an electronic speedo, there were no mobile phones of GPS maps. Rod navigated by following the road signs by the side of the road. He had no way to contact his support crew – who were two Canadian backpackers who had volunteered to help. He often had to stop and wait so his support crew would know which road he was using and not lose him. The only way the support crew could find Rod was to ask passing motorists. At night the crew would leave a witch’s hat beside the road to indicate where they had turned off to find a caravan park or stop for the night.

Clothing was also a problem. The rain jacket worn by Rod was a heavy canvas-like Gortex jacket that came down to around knee length. Not only was it heavy, but it also caught the wind. Rod rode for nearly 2 weeks in constant rain between Ceduna in South Australia and Brisbane in Queensland. His warm clothing consisted of knitted woollen hats, woollen arm warmers and woollen jumpers.

Food was basic by modern day standards. Rod drank water during the day. He started the day, often around 3.00 am, with 6-8 Weetbix. Lunch and dinner were usually a large bowl of pasta. During the afternoon he would have a pie and a coke as a ‘pick-me-up’. Rod also supplemented his daily diet with sandwiches made by the support crew. One day, after hearing the support crew complaining about the number of sandwiches they were making, Rod was surprised to learn that each day he often snacked between meals on a full loaf of bread made up into various types of sandwiches.

UNEXPECTED INSIGHTS FROM THE AROUND AUSTRALIA RECORD ATTEMPT

Rod describes his Around Australia Record attempt as a ‘baptism of fire’.

He says that one of the things he was not expecting was how quickly fatigue would accumulate and the impact this would have on his riding. When combined with head winds and rain, and not having the benefit of a day of rest to recover, he found the constant grind of the Around Australia record was much harder than he had expected. In setting the new record, Rod rode an average of 278 km each day for nearly 50 days without a rest day. Before the record attempt he was able to complete a hard 300 km training ride (at what we might now describe as hard temp pace) without too much difficulty. He therefore expected that riding 250 kilometres per day would be relatively easy. What he found was that riding this distance every day, without having a rest day, was easy for the first 5 days, but then it got much harder. By day 9 it felt very hard.

The other unexpected challenge he encountered was the impact the support crew had on how far he could ride each day. He started the ride believing that the cyclist was the most important part of the record attempt. During the record attempt he came to understand that the support crew is the most important part. He found that an Around Australia Record Attempt is much harder on the support crew than on the rider. The support crew faces a lot of stress; finding the cyclist during the day, guessing what the cyclist wants, finding a place to stop at night, dealing with the media and driving into the late hours and starting early in the morning. This was made even harder during Rod’s ride because there were no mobile phones or GPS tracking. When Rod undertook his ride, he had a very small, young, and inexperienced support team. They did an excellent job, but it was extremely hard on them. When Rod’s father joined the support crew halfway through his record attempt, the addition of just one extra person allowed Rod to ride days of up to 400 kms each day against his earlier daily rides of 200 – 250 kilometres. The cyclist can only ride as far each day as the support crew have the energy to let him.

WHY RECORDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE BROKEN

While better and faster equipment, better training methods and better fuelling and rehydration options has had a massive impact on how far and fast cyclists can ride, Rod believes that expectations also play a key part in records being broken.

When Rod broke the Around Australia record the expectation was that 200 kms per day, day in day out without rest, was a hard ride. His ride of 49 days was seen as a ‘superman’ effort. Yet only 16 years later, in 2010, Peter Heal rode around Australia solo and unsupported in 48 days and 23 hours – a day faster than Rod’s supported ride. Three years after Heal’s ride, in 2013, Reid Anderton rode around Australia supported in 37 days I hour and 18 minutes, over 12 days faster than Rod.

Rod’s 24-hour record has also been substantially lowered. In 2021 Christoph Strasser rode 1026 kms to set a new indoor track cycling record. He had already seen from his own ride in 2017, of nearly 942 kilometres, that breaking the 1000-kilometre barrier was possible. In 2021 Christoph rode 173 kilometres further than Rod Evans’ 1994 record. His average speed, including stops, was nearly 43 kph.

Rod believes that as riders set faster times the expectation of what is possible changes, and this allows future riders to find ways to ride even further and faster.

DID THESE RIDES EFFECT ROD’S HEALTH

The answer is possibly yes.

After completing his 1000-kilometre record attempt in 1994 he travelled to Penang for a holiday. He took his road bike. While in Penang he ventured out each day and rode around the Island, about 70 to 80 kilometres. During the ride he would often draft behind the motorbikes on the roads. One day a motorcyclist pulled him over. They were an official with the Malaysian Cycling Association. When they found out who Rod was, they asked if he would race that weekend. He won the race, but there was a feeling that something was physically wrong with him. Shortly after he got home from Penang, he could barely summons the energy to walk around the block. He was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – the same symptoms he had in his 20s. It is difficult to know if the strain of his cycling triggered or contributed to his condition, but it may have. He was also later to have prostate issues, which the doctor said might have been caused or exacerbated by the saddle he used when riding.

The biggest impact of his record attempts was possibly on his mental state. He came back from the Around Australia record attempt very buoyed and positive about life and what people might be able to achieve and how they might achieve it. Interestingly, his attitude to material wealth had also changed. When he returned home from his Around Australia Record attempt, he was surprised how much joy he got from opening a fridge and seeing a can of coke. If he had a can of coke in the fridge and access to a hot shower, he felt wealthy. Even today he finds it hard to avoid the feeling of being wealthy if he has access to a hot shower and a can of coke.

He did come back from his Around Australia Record also with some amusing mental scaring. For years after returning from his Around Australia record, he had difficulty riding in the rain. The days and days of riding in the rain and cold during his Around Australia Record attempt, when he was wet to the skin and his hands and feet were frozen, had a lasting impact on him. It was only 30 years later that he could again comfortably ride in the rain – albeit with a much better rain jacket.

With thanks to Rod Evans

Below; Rod rode this Kenevans bike that had been his father’s. The bike was recently restored, by a WAHCC member, to the state it was in for the record attempt.

Vera Harding & Anna Keenan - The 'Lucas Girls'

Vera Harding’s hairdresser wages wouldn’t go far toward allowing her to see more of Australia. Hiking cost money and only got her 610kms from Mt Magnet to Perth. Sponsorship from bicycle manufacturer Malvern Star achieved a solo 2200km ride from Mt Palmer to Perth via Wiluna and Geraldton.

Vera’s yen for travel found new expression in a plan to ride across Australia.  Her companion was to be Anna Keenan, adventurous daughter of Russian émigrés.

Bill Lucas, governing director of Lucas Cycles, had a nose and talent for publicity. Approached for the loan of a secondhand tandem by the pair he instead offered them a new lightweight machine for their 1938 crossing.

So on Saturday the 17th of September 1938 a rousing send off from a huge crowd in Forrest Place started Vera and Anna on their 9500km odyssey to Sydney and return. They wore Lucas ‘team’ uniforms, of brown and gold reflecting the colours of their tandem, christened Miss Westralia. The tandem, festooned with canvas bags, carried nearly all the girls’ needs with additional support provided by Charlie Roberts astride his motorcycle outfit.

It’s possible that Bill Lucas underestimated either the popularity of the ride or the girls ability to complete it.

Initially supported by lone motorcyclist Charlie Roberts, Lucas enlisted Perth motoring celebrity Aub Melrose, navigator for Hubert Opperman’s 1937 crossing, and his wife Gwyn to offer further support from Kalgoorlie.

East of Kalgoorlie Vera and Anna came across a stray dog which they naturally took under their wings. Christened Tandem Pete he became an integral part of their story.

The story of the ‘Tandem Girls’ became huge. Closely followed by the press and as one report said “being received and entertained by Mayors and Lord Mayors, Mayoresses and Lady Mayoresses, presidents of Shire Councils and chairmen of Roads Boards, amidst cheering multitudes”.  The ‘Girls’, being female trailblazers were scrutinised very closely. The public learnt that they were attractive; they didn’t drink or smoke; what they weighed; how tall they were;  their hair colour; that they carried a full beauty kit; their views on fashion and that neither of them had a young man.

After a weeks rest in Sydney, Vera, Anna and Tandem Pete began the journey home. Nullarbor veteran Aub Melrose “dipped his lid” to their “stout hearts, pluck, fortitude and courage for insisting on finishing the job they’d set out to do”. Averaging 160kms a day they suffered particularly over the “tortuous, sandy, fly and insect-infested track from Rawlinna to Golden Ridge”. After 28 days Vera, Anna and Tandem Pete were escorted through cheering crowds into Forrest Place in Perth to a reception from the State Premier Mr Willcocks before a crowd of thousands.

Viv Cull