Peter Carolan
While his family’s business Whitneys Jewellers celebrates 100 years this week, Peter Carolan reflects on the many hours he also put in at Victoria Park No.1 oval cycle track, where he made a name for himself as a sprinter.
Were you part of the Dubbo Cycle Club?
In those days it was only a professional club, not an amateur club. There was no such thing. We used to ride for money. We weren’t allowed to go to the Olympic Games or anything like that because we were professional.
The amateurs came into it when the Olympic Games were on in Melbourne. It boosted a lot of interest in the sport. The Australian League of Wheelman was the professional body. Then, because the kids coming on couldn’t represent at the Olympic Games, they all switched back to amateur.
What kind of prize money were those races offering back then?
There used to be a big racing carnival at Bourke at Easter. I won a big race there the one year and it was £110 for the winner. That was about 20 times your wages.
Were you only racing in the local region?
No. I used to go to Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia. I represented NSW in 1959 in South Australia at the Australian Titles.
There used to be a big carnival at Christmas. We used to go down there every year. They used to start at Davenport, Launceston, right down the east coast, a full carnival for a week. I’d race every second night.
I did the Nyngan-dubbo 100 cycling classic too.
What were race nights like in the ‘50s and ‘60s at Victoria Park No.1?
The racing was always on a Saturday night in Dubbo. The main race was a five-mile scratch race, (and it was) the last race of the titles contested. (Also on a Saturday night) the pictures would come out from the Monarch Theatre across the road, where the Civic Centre (Dubbo Regional Theatre) is now.
When the pictures would come out, No.1 oval would be packed. There was standing room only, all around it. In those days I guess there was nothing else to do.
Who were the other riders in your day?
There were some good riders. There was Malcolm Kilfoyle, the Gersbach boys from Wellington, they were all good riders. Gus Dawson. He’s a good man. He dedicates a lot of time to the club. Another chap I ran into a few days ago, he’s in his 80s, he was the Australian Champion from Dubbo. Neil Peadon. He was a road rider. The Horder boys too, they were good.
There’s a lot of history behind that No.1 oval there.
Was it a wood track or bitumen?
When we were riding, the track was dirt; clay. It was river clay and they used to roll it. It was a very fast track. I don’t remember which year they put in the bitumen. It was in my era, but when I first started it was all dirt track clay. It was faster than bitumen. They used to have one at Bourke the same. It was made out of white, sort of, gypsum. It was extremely fast.
Gee I had some skin taken off there! I ended up in hospital a few times. The bitumen was worse than the dirt actually. You could feel it burn into you.