Gold Museum, Ballarat ~ Showcasing Ballarat's history

Follow the Great Bike Trail and win a gold chocolate medal!

We are celebrating summer and our new cycling exhibitions by inviting kids and families to participate in our Great Bike Trail activity.

Five cyclists outside Loveland Bros bicycle store, North Ballarat, 1900 (Courtesy of Museum Victoria)

Explore our cycling exhibitions, Freewheeling and On Your Bike!, and answer questions from our Great Bike Trail booklet along the way. Get a gold chocolate medal when you’ve answered all the questions.

Booklets, pens and chocolates can be collected from the Gold Museum Information Desk located in the entrance foyer.

The Great Bike Trail will run everyday between 3pm and 4pm from December 26, 2015 to January 26, 2016.

Written by Snjez Cosic, Gold Museum Curator

Early days of cycling in Ballarat

Europeans had been developing variations of the modern-day bicycle since the 18th century. By the 1860s, a commercially successful and fully operational bicycle was taking Europe.

Ballarat’s press closely followed the growing bicycle movement, reporting on the latest developments from overseas and locally.

First velocipede race at Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1869 (State Library of Victoria collection, IAN14/08/69/161)

There was much interest in Ballarat by the time the two-wheeled phenomenon reached town. One of the first bicycle sightings was in 1869 when a group of cyclists rode their velocipedes to Buninyong. One reporter called the new vehicle ‘a sort of treadmill on wheels’.

Bicycles soon became a fixture of Ballarat’s social and cultural life. Velocipede races were held at local sporting carnivals, festivals and agricultural shows.

They were also given away as prizes at local fundraising events and fetes. Ballarat cyclists, such as foundry worker James Ivey, established themselves as regular winners of velocipede events held in Ballarat and Melbourne.

Velocipede, circa 1870s. This velocipede was owned by Athol Kelly who rode it in vintage bicycle races up until the 1990s; hence the modern additions such as brakes. (Gold Museum collection, 99.0014)

The velocipede was nicknamed ‘the boneshaker’ because of its iron wheels, stiff frame and difficult steering system.

Ballarat locals were intrigued by the appearance of the velocipede.

In 1869, a crowd of 500 onlookers gathered opposite the Ballarat Post Office to see a rider propel his velocipede down Sturt Street. One onlooker described the vehicle as a ‘buggy the man worked by himself’.

Not everyone welcomed the new addition to Ballarat’s roads. Reports of collisions between cyclists and horses were used by media commentators to highlight the dangers of two-wheeled vehicles.

To learn more about the early history of cycling in Ballarat and Australia, visit the Gold Museum to see On Your Bike!and the National Museum of Australia’s Freewheeling: Cycling in Australia.

References

‘BCC Athletic Sports Meeting’, Ballarat Star, 22 October 1869.

‘News and Notes’, Ballarat Star, 27 April 1869.

‘News and Notes’, Ballarat Star, 21 May 1869.

‘News and Notes’, Ballarat Star, 8 June 1869.

‘News and Notes’, Ballarat Star, 19 June 1869.

‘News and Notes’, Ballarat Star, 23 June 1869.

‘The Velocipede Nuisance’, Ballarat Star, 10 November 1869.

‘To the Editor of the Star’, Ballarat Star, 28 June 1869.

‘Velocipede and Other Races’, Ballarat Star, 11 September 1869.

Come along for a ride at the Gold Museum!

The Gold Museum is hosting two new exciting exhibitions celebrating the history of cycling in Ballarat and Australia.

On Your Bike! Cycling in Ballarat is a celebration of Ballarat’s love of cycling. It is a journey into the development of Ballarat’s cycling movement from the early velocipede to the 20th century racing bicycle.

The first bicycles in Ballarat were met with a mixture of bemusement, curiosity and criticism from locals. Since then, this two-wheeled vehicle has captured our hearts and become a fixture on Ballarat’s roads and tracks.

The important role of Ballarat’s bicycle manufacturing industry is also highlighted. Ballarat became a hub for bicycle manufacturing from the 1890s as the mining and metal industry declined. Former metal workers and miners moved into bicycle production, making Ballarat one of the strongest bicycle manufacturing centres in Australia.

By 1907, there were 11 companies in Ballarat’s central business district catering to the town’s cycling needs.

On Your Bike! showcases historical bicycles, photographs and bicycle accessories from the Gold Museum’s collection and private collections held by Ballarat’s bicycle collectors.

On Your Bike! is on display until Sunday April 3, 2016.

Freewheeling is a touring exhibition from the National Museum of Australia which will be shown in Victoria for the first time at the Gold Museum.

The exhibition explores the story of over 140 years of cycling in Australia and shows how bicycles have brought millions of people joy, excitement, freedom, even glory.

The exhibition captures the spirit, the passion surrounding cycling, and the machines that have made this possible.

From the introduction of the first human-powered, wheeled vehicle known as a ‘boneshaker’ in the 1860s, to penny-farthings, ‘safety bicycles’, mountain bikes, tricks bikes and light-weight racing bicycles, people have sought adventure and the pleasure of moving around under their own power.

Freewheeling is on display until Sunday January 31, 2016.