A Different Route each weekend for 38 years
Sydney Spokes started in 1986 after Allan Hildon placed an advertisement to locate cycling buddies. Four people went on the first ride (Allan Hildon, Peter Wilson, Les Clements & Andrew L). This ride started from Centennial Park’s Paddington Five-Ways gates. Allan, Peter and Les volunteered for the first Spokes committee. But the initial mover and shaker was Allan Hildon.
The name “Sydney Spokes” was Allan Hildon’s idea. The inspiration came from reading an article (in the New York Native in the early 1980s) about a community cycling group called “Different Spokes”. For a couple of years Allan dreamed of cycling with kindred spirits. So eventually he bit the bullet and placed an advertisement in the community notices section of ‘Campaign’ magazine. Allan comments about the response to his ad: “I was quite surprised that anyone actually turned up. I was even more surprised that they kept coming”.
Peter Wilson, Allan Hildon& Les Clements (L to R).
Taken on the night of the 1987 Mardi Gras Parade.
Riding with the Fitness Exchange Float
The first order of business for the new committee was to create a program of rides for each Sunday for 1 to 2 months. From the very early days, the meeting place for many rides was Centennial Park’s Paddington Five-Way gates – it was thought that this was a landmark that most queens and dykes could find. Eventually, Spokes started using trains to access a greater variety of cycling routes. During the first few years there were usually eight to 12 people on the rides including one or two women. The better attended rides had about 22 cyclists.
Sydney Spokes (Photo taken on a very early ride, probably late 1986).
The first committee created, and conscientiously maintained, a mail list of interested cyclists. The programme of rides was regularly printed and mailed to the Spokes mail list. In the pre-internet era this meant photocopying the program, inserting it in envelopes, then sticking address labels and stamps on envelopes.
Allan recalls: “… it makes me laugh to think how primitive the distribution system was – stamps and envelopes no less! I used to surreptitiously type the programme during the lunch break on the only available typewriter in the office where I worked. Les, being Les, owned a primitive computer, and maintained the database (so I suppose you could say he was the Secretary), and I sort of assumed the role of President/Treasurer for about three years I think, mostly because no-one else wanted the role”.
Frank Howarth joined Sydney Spokes around 1986/87. Brett H joined around 1988/89 and with Frank took the club to a new level of prominence in the Sydney community.
Another early feature of the club were the weekend away rides, where about 10-12 Spokesters would invade a regional caravan park and have a grand day out in the countryside. On one occasion about 12 shrieking queens, in cycling drag, invaded a tearoom somewhere near Bowral. Apparently this was quite a shock to some of the old dears feasting on their Devonshire teas until someone authoratively pointed out “it’s alright dear, they’re cyclists”!
Sydney Spokes Style
From the outset the spirit of the club was informal & casual. Spokes aims to focus on social cycling & never bog its members down in bureaucratic committees & decisions. This stuff goes on in the background by the rotating office bearers. But Spokes’ priority is having fun cycling whilst giving gays & lesbians the opportunity to make friends & expand their social circle.
Meetings are always done in a social, fun setting. The quarterly ride calendar is created at the Planning Dinner in a restaurant. The club style is friendly, consensual, easy-going & open.
Spokes 1994 AGM at Frank & Peter’s
(Robert Nash, Ken Ryan, Alvic P obscuring Les Clements, David Smith)
The Bent Spokes Awards were a feature of the AGM lunch for many years in the mid 1990s. Cheering, fun & laughter were a feature of these presentations as contributions & achievements of club members were acknowledged by everyone at the AGM.
Throughout the years there has been a number of long term gay & lesbian romances cemented whilst riding with Spokes. But for most past & present members of Sydney Spokes, the club has offered a tremendous amount of enjoyment messing about on bikes whilst long & enduring friendships are formed.
Sydney Spokes Historical Mile Posts
1987 - The first official recognition of the club – a notice in the 1987 Mardi Gras Festival Guide describing our first Mardi Gras event.
1987 Mardi Gras Winners.
Photo taken at the end of Spokes’ first Mardi Gras festival event.
1988 – 1st Sydney Spokes T-shirt designed. The T-shirt was white cotton & it featured the club name & a small pink triangle overlain with the front of a racing bike.
1991 – 1st Prize Mardi Gras Parade – Best Community Float
Brett Heil was the organiser: Three cyclists (Michael I, Chris and Ken Ryan) who ‘towed’ Reg’s ute with floating ropes of helium balloons. Patrick featured on the upmarket bike raised high on the back of the ute with Sydney Spokes riders down both sides. Other members circled on their bikes. The Channel 9 Sunday Evening News, then the highest-rating program on Sydney television, led its Mardi Gras coverage with footage of the Spokes float.
1991 Mardi Gras Best Community Float
(Ken, Chris & Geoff C on bicycles)
1991 Mardi Gras Best Community Float
(Rod S, Chris M, Stephen W, Ken R, Chris)
1992 – 1st Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Triathlon held at La Perouse. The GLBT sporting culture is developing in Sydney. Sydney Spokes collaborates with other sporting groups to host this event.
1993 – 2nd Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Triathlon held at St. George Sailing Club in Sans Souci/Georges River. Sydney Spokes collaborates with other sporting groups to host this event.
1993 and 1994 – Red Ribbon Rides
The Red Ribbon Ride was part of the Mardi Gras sporting calendar in 1993 and then again in 1994. Ex-President Brett Heil was the organiser of these huge events. The Two Red Ribbon Rides raised more than $80,000 for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation and Spokes became its largest fundraiser.
The Red Ribbon Ride was a major event. Cyclists rallied at 6am at Moore Park before ridding out to La Perouse and back. Marshalls directed and cheered riders along the ride route. There was fan fare as each cyclist rode under the finish-line banner at Moore Park.
1993 Red Ribbon Ride – photo of the crowd. Many people are wearing the limited edition RRR T-shirts
Red Ribbon Ride cyclists were then served a glass of champagne and a fully cooked gourmet breakfast in a big marquee tent. Breakfast was catered by the impeccably groomed Park Hyatt chefs and waiters. Riders enjoyed silver cutlery, serviettes and china crockery. Channel 9 and SBS covered the event.
Most cyclists on the ride were wearing a Red Ribbon Ride T-shirt. The format of the event for both 1993 and ’94 was very similar but the artwork for the ’94 ride T-shirt was better and better.
The Red Ribbon Rides were polished and professional. Their unqualifable success was attributable to the vision and organisational efforts of Brett H and Frank Howarth. Leo Schofield involvement with Sydney Spokes facilitated the participation of the Park Hyatt in this important fund raiser for people living with AIDS. The events were also tremendously successful in raising Sydney Spokes’ profile. In 1993/1994 everyone in the Gay and Lesbian community knew who Sydney Spokes was.
In 2009 Brett H recalls: “Although it was my idea and Frank and Leo helped enormously in the management capacity, the tireless support of so many Spokes members galvanized the club like nothing I had seen before or since.”
1994 - Incorporation as a Club
Sydney Spokes was incorporated on 21.09.1994. This was a priority for President Ken Ryan because incorporation was a prerequisite for opening a bank account and also taking out insurance to protect ride leaders. Prior to this time the club accounts had been maintained in a biscuit tin.
Brett H and Frank Howarth had gone to the 1990 Vancouver Gay Games. There was a plan for Sydney to host the 1998 Gaymes and Spokes would conduct cycling events. Incorporation of the club was also a prerequisite for membership of the NSW Cycling Federation and therefore official recognition of Gay Games race records.
1994 – Arrival of the Spokes Ride to Fair Day was listed on the Mardi Gras Fair Day programme.
1994 – Mardi Gras Parade – Foreplay
Spokes was invited by the Mardi Gras Parade Director to entertain the crowds before the Parade started. He devised the theme of ‘Chiming Cyclists’ and Mardi Gras paid for the bike decorations.
Spokes 1994 Parade Foreplay, ‘Chiming Cyclists’
(Ken Ryan)
1995 - Mardi Gras Parade Prize – Most Outstanding Foreplay
Mardi Gras again invited Spokes to entertain the crowds. In honour of our friends who had died of AIDS, Spokes chose the theme of ‘Spirits of the Night’ and mounted masks on the 30 bikes who rode theParade Route to the Funeral March from Philip Glass’ opera Akhnaten.
Spokes getting ready for the prizewinning 1995 Foreplay
Receiving award for Most Outstanding Foreplay
at 1995 Mardi Gras Awards night,
Sydney Town Hall (Ken Ryan, Kate Rowe)
1995 - Sydney Spokes joined the NSW Bicycling Federation. The Federation was willing to help Spokes run the Gay Games races if Sydney won the bid for the 1998 Gay Games.
1995 - 1st design of the Spokes Jersey becomes available. Featuring three wide, vertical bands and the feminist colours of green, white and violet.
Spokes’ Official NSW Cycling Federation Jersey
(David Smith, Robert M, Kate Rowe and Phillip H)
1996 - Team Sydney Gaymes Cycling Races (part of the Mardi Gras Festival, February)
Start of the men's cross country race,
1996 Gaymes, Heffron Park
1996 - Spokes Parade Entry - ‘Aussie Icons’
1996 Mardi Gras Parade float "Aussie Icons"
1996 Mardi Gras Parade float "Aussie Icons"
1997 - Four Spokes Riders participated in National Mountain Bike Championships held on Mount Majura in the ACT (Michael Johnson, Rob D, Jon Herron, Ken Ryan). Spokes was affiliated with the cycling federation at this time.
1998 - 2nd design of the Spokes Jersey becomes available. Green, white and violet in an elaborate and effective design.
1997 competition for the new Spokes jersey
(Richard, Robert M, Alvin P, Jon Herron)
1998 - Sydney Spokes 1st web pages went live (Sept 1998). This was sitting on a OneTel dial up account user page.
1999 – 2002 – Three years of fund raising to finance the hosting of the Gay Games cycling events and social calendar for visiting cyclists.
2002 - Sydney Spokes hosted the Gay Games cycling events
2002- www.SydneySpokes.com Website Launched - after the club registers its domain name. Spokes is now able to publish its newsletter and ride guide online.
2003 - Pdf's of the Spokes quarterly calendars get e-mailed to members. A small list of about five people still get their copy via snail mail because they don’t have an e-mail account.
2003 - Fair Day stall hired by Sydney Spokes. This becomes an annual commitment of the club. In 2004 the club also offer valet parking for cyclists attending Fair Day. The proceeds of the gold coin parking fees are donated to 2010.
2003 - On 31 March Bicycle NSW approved Sydney Spokes as a BUG (Bicycle User Group). For maximum impact and instant recognition “GAYBUG” was used as the name for BNSW affiliation. The lesbian members grumble about why LesoBUG wasn’t used instead.
2006 - 3rd design of the Spokes Jersey becomes available. This jersey features the freedom colours in horizontal bands.
History of Spokester Participation in the Gay Games:
1990 - Vancouver Games – Brett H & Frank Howarth
1994 - New York – Ken Ryan & Kate Rowe
Kate Rowe with medals won
at the 1994 New York Gay Games
1998 - Amsterdam – Kate Rowe, Michael Johnson & Rob D
2002 - Sydney Spokes hosted the 2002 Gay Games’ cycling events
History of Spokes Cycle Tours:
1991 - Mudgee to Sydney via the Hunter Valley (organised by Bicycle Victoria)
1991 - Great Ocean Road
1992 - Mt. Kosciuszko to Sydney
1993 - Flinders Ranges to Adelaide
Ken Ryan, Philip H, Ron G, David Smith, Kate H,
Liz M, Geoff C, Lachlan, Roger W, Glenys Wilson
1994 Northern Rivers region of NSW
1996 East coast of Tasmania
1997 Thredbo to Buchan (off road, mountain bike tour)
Michael Johnson, Jon Herron, Rob D, Ken Ryan, David Smith
1999 - NZ Tour – 2 separate groups (one women's tour and one men's tour)
1999 Tour of NZ South Island (Donna Richards,
Ron – Minneapolis Spokes, Ken, Michael I,
Stephen W, David Smith, Jon Herron,Michael Johnson,
Robert Nash, Phil B -
San Francisco Different Spokes)
2000 - Tweed Heads to Sydney – NSW Big Ride
Anthony Green, Ross (Melbourne Spokes),
Ken Ryan, David Smith