The Bob Spears Articles

Bob Spears memories of the 1913 Sydney and Melbourne sixes

From a series of articles that Bob Spears wrote for the Adelaide News during the 1920s. 

How Bob Spears Won Big Six-Day Race With Don Kirkham

How Don Kirkham, one of the greatest long distance cyclists Australia has known, helped him to win his first big six-day bike race in Melbourne, is told by Bob Spears, former world's champion track rider ,in the second of his stories written exclusively for "The News."He says that this great win only made him more eager to go overseas in search of fame and fortune.

A visit to the United States was planned for 1913. I had bowed to the wishes of my mother the previous year not to accept the invitation of John M. Chapman, the American promoter, who had offered me a contract and two return tickets. And now I set out with the determination to earn enough to provide my passage and a few pounds to keep me going. 

In 1912 J. D. Williams, the American picture magnate, promoted six-day races in Sydney and Melbourne, which were won by All Goullet (now promoting in U.S.A.) and Paddy Hehir (who is associated with Fred Keefe another international, in the bicycle-building business at Footscray). 
The bike shop did move but was was actually in Commercial Rd, Prahran.
Goullet and Hehir won the first traditional 2 man team six day bike races in Australia - prior to their wins, sixes in Australia and overseas were run as one person "teams" and the rider that rode the longest distance was the winner.  Paddy seems to have become a forgotten Australian six day star with six wins to his credit, two in Australia and four in the USA. (author note)

More on Paddy Hehir - http://cyclingscrapbook.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/connections-through-communication.html

The success of these races had induced a promoter in Sydney and another in Melbourne to stage similar events. I had improved a lot as a sprinter, but as I was an unknown quantity in six-day races, most of the aspirants for the "sixer" shied off me when my name was mentioned as a likely partner. I was depressed because I had visions of being teamed up with some mediocre rider, but eventually was overjoyed when the late Don Kirkham came to the rescue."I have been impressed with your riding on the track," said Don. "I do not know whether you have sufficient staying power to last out a week's hard riding on account of your youth, but I know that you have courage and ability and so I am prepared to take the risk."

The Sydney Sports Ground - the scene of Bob Spears first Six Day with Don Kirkham in 1913.
They finished second to Reggie McNamara and Frank Corry.

I shall never forget that great and gruelling experience. In many respects it was a nightmare to a newcomer, but Don Kirkham was an inspiration from start to finish. His words of encouragement acted like magic, for my limbs were very tired. The going was terrific-wind, rain, and then heat-but I was determined not to quit. Suddenly Don would appear on the track to relieve me. saying, "Go on Bob, go and have a good rest. I will keep the field busy for a while."Believe me, the big crowds would be delighted when they saw me changing over from Kirkham, whom they cheered because they realised his great work in nursing me over a trying period and allowing me to conserve my energy. I won the 500th. 1,000th. 1,500th, and 2,000th mile sprints, so I had a great following for the final sprint. Don't think that I am boasting, but, though Reggie McNamara was a great pal of mine, and I was only a kid, as far as cycling was concerned, I believe that if I had had put more heart into the final spurt. I would have won it from "Mac." 

Reg McNamara did later partner Bob Spears in the USA where they won the 1916 Chicago 6 Day together 

Don Kirkham was a happy old warrior, and he was delighted at finishing second with the assistance of a youngster like me. After the race I promised Don that I would win the Melbourne six-day race for him and thus atone for what I considered was my failure at Sydney. "You did wonderfully well." he replied. "You must remember that it is not good for any young rider to strike success at the outset. It sometimes has a disturbing effect and perhaps sweeps a young chap off his feet." 

The scene of Bob Spears and Don Kirkham's 1913 Melbourne Six Day win - The Exhibition Oval

Don Kirkham with partner Bob Spears competed in Australia's first two (2 man teams) Six Day Bikes races in 1913.

Was Robbed of 100 Sovereigns

They were words of wisdom and I never forgot them throughout my career. I rewarded Kirkham by winning the Melbourne six-day race before an immense crowd which went crazy with excitement. I think that it was the greatest thrill Don ever got out of the bike game. But victory came our way only because of the courageous riding of Kirkham. I had taken ill one night and had to rest for hours, but Kirkham came to the rescue by staying on the track and keeping his rivals in check until I had recovered. When I dismounted after winning the final sprint I was dizzy with excitement. The cheers almost deafened me. I was sore and weary-ready to fall asleep . . . Then words of encouragement from Kirkham who predicted great things for me. My American trip was now certain, and I had visions of sailing from Sydney to win fame and fortune. The thrill I got when I was handed100 sovereigns for my win was somewhat diminished a few days later. I had put the 100 sovereigns in my suitcase, which I locked and placed under my bed at the boarding house. A few days later I went to get some of my hard-earned money but to my astonishment I found that the bag had been burst open and that the money was gone. I almost fainted as I reeled on to my bed in anguish.

Fancy riding a whole week for nothing. This incident nearly stopped my trip to U.S.A. But I had saved a few pounds, and with a lot of scratching and scraping and assistance of my mother I was able to make the trip. On my return to Dubbo (N.S.W.) after winning the Melbourne race I was hailed as a hero. But, believe me, I was not too happy at my big loss, though I cracked hardy. No one ever knew of the incident, which I am now relating for the first time in print.

More on Paddy Hehir - http://cyclingscrapbook.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/connections-through-communication.html

The career of Mitchell (Major) Taylor has always intrigued me, particularly his two visits to Australia in 1903 and 1904.
Jim Fitzpatrick's book "Major Taylor in Australia" had me totally engrossed. It also introduced me to some of the Australians that have been forgotten from our early track racing history - in particular, Don Walker who was our first professional World Track Championship entrant in 1904. With the Major, other international riders were invited to compete with the "Black Flash" and our local boys during 1903 and 1904.
These events were staged at the Exhibition Oval track in Melbourne, the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Adelaide Oval.
The Major was unfamiliar with our large oval tracks in Australia compared to the banked wooden velodromes of America and Europe. Essentially our "OVAL" tracks were just that, a basically flat or slightly banked racing surface around a cricket or football ground. The tracks of Europe, even the large concrete 500 metre velodromes had straights and banked bends to hold the speed for the dare devil motor pacing events.

Text from the newspaper clipping above;

Major Taylor, the champion of the world, at present racing on the Sydney Cricket Ground has an unrivalled record on the path. What everyone is asking with interest just now is: Will Don Walker wrest the championship from him before his departure from our shores?

The world's champion is a magnificently built man, with a line physique, wonderful constitution, and a happy temperament and iron nerve. No combination of adverse conditions in a race ever affect his riding, and his marvellous skill on the bicycle make what would be to other riders situations of danger and difficulty mere trifling inconveniences. An instance of this was the manner in which he recovered himself after brushing Lewis' wheel in the sprint in the final of the quarter-mile championship.

Australians will be delighted if after having met and defeated the champions of all the countries of the world, he should meet his Waterloo in Don Walker, and Australia add another to the long list of splendid achievements which her sons have made in the world of sport and, judging by the performances of Don Walker on Saturday, this is quite within the bounds of probability.

Melbourne's Exhibition Oval track was built in 1891 and it was only in 1893 that the League of Victorian Wheelmen was founded to foster the professional ranks of racing cyclists. The first Austral Wheelrace was held in 1886 on grass at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This new track on the edge of Melbourne's city precinct was easy walking distance or a short cable car ride to watch the great feats of the Major and his international and local competitors. Some of these meetings during the Major's two visits drew crowd's estimated to be as much as 30.000 spectators, all decked out in their best attire for an exciting night of top racing.

The Sydney Cricket Ground - the venue of several of the Major's appearances.

Melbourne's Exhibition Oval track.

The third venue that the Major competed at was the Adelaide Oval. The oval was actually more of a "D" shape much the same as the Bendigo track of today with the finishing straight but the rest being a large sweeping oval.

The Major with Australian Don Walker. A warm friendship developed between the two during the Major's two visits.
Walker was one of the very few Australians that was a true competitor for Major Taylor.

An early photo (1895) of Don Walker 3rd placed and George Broadbent 1st placed at the Adelaide Oval.
This would have been one of his very early races as far as I can determine and he possibly retired not long after returning to Australia after the 1904 World Championships.

On these to visits to Australia, The Major and his petite wife were warmly welcomed in Australia - a complete contrast to his situation in America where segregation was still prevalent. During the Major's 1904 trip his friendship with Australian grew to the extent that he was invited to America and stay at the home of Taylor to prepare for the 1904 World Track Championships being held at the Crystal Palace, London.
Unfortunately for Walker, he was eliminated in the early heats. The Sprint crown that year was won by American Iver Lawson who had also been racing in Australia during the 1904 season with fellow countryman Floyd MacFarland. Possibly one of the reasons that Walker and Taylor formed a close friendship was because Walker refused to be influenced by the ganging up tactics instigated by MacFarland. With the Major being so quick and his refusal to join the "Jokes" in the races, MacFarland would employ other riders to block the Major whenever possible. There was also that underlying racial tension with the Americans against the "Black Flash".
MacFarland with his "Jokes" earned a reputation as a top handicap rider and won much prize money in Australia. He extended his stay in Australia racing in most states including WA for the Westral Wheelrace.
MacFarland was also instrumental in the building and promotion of cycling at Melbourne's Saucer board track where the Victorian Arts Centre now is located.

Having researched a little of Major Taylor, Don Walker, Iver Lawson and Floyd McFarland, there is probably another three future blogs awaiting to be written. Hopefully I can publish future posts sooner than this one.

I suggest you get hold of a copy of Jim Fitzpatrick's book - Major Taylor in Australia and also a copy of the DVD based on Jim's research.

Lost and Forgotten Tracks and Velodromes

Here in Melbourne and the regional towns around Victoria there are both lost and forgotten cycling tracks and velodromes. I've come across many in my time as a cyclist, even raced on some that do not exist any longer.

The gates to Parkdale Cycling Track and home to the Mordialloc Cycling Club.

One such track brings back memories of my very first State Track Championship as a 14 year old. I rode past it today (9/3/2014) in fact. Parkdale Track was a sealed asphalt track around a footy oval on Nepean Highway and home to the Mordialloc Cycling Club. I decided to take a look at it as I must have passed by thousands of times in the car and on the bike since that State Championship in 1964.
I remember during the 60s, the other "Kids" I raced against from the Mordialloc Club in those years were David Kelso, Geoff Cunningham and the Whiting brothers.

Today it is home to Cricket and Football and very little sign of the track remains. There's that slight banking that the old track had but today its no more than a slight sloping of a grassed surface. Unbeknown to me at the the time, I discovered that the track was actually established in 1934. So thirty years later I was competing on the same track - little did I know at the time its history.

When I rode there it didn't seem to be much of a track but after doing some research today, I discovered that it was in fact a very important part of Victorian track racing history. The major track of Melbourne at the time, the Exhibition Oval had seen better days and was used for Speedway events. The Exhibition Board track was yet to be established and the Motordrome was not suitable for Championship events other than motor pace. The Parkdale track therefore was used for those State Championships while Melbourne searched for a new venue.

Below cuttings are from the mid - 1930s

The Mordialloc Carnival Committee were a driving force to establish the track.

T Johnson - That's Gordon Johnson's Father.

Oppy campaigned for the local council to build a Bike track in Parkdale

The Saucer Track and the board tracks that followed.

Track racing has alway's intrigued me, particularly its early history. We've had such a history of great track riders and track racing. American and European riders would come to Australia in their off-season  to be rewarded with great financial returns, particularly in the early 1900s. At the beginning of the 1900s, SA, NSW and VIC observed the cycling prowness of Major Taylor, the "Black Flash" against fellow Americans Lawson and McFarland on the big oval tracks at the Sydney and Adelaide show grounds and in Melbourne at the Exhibition oval track. These meetings drew crowds in the tens of thousands and contemporary photos show the crowds more than ten deep.

Through the years, I'd heard rumours of board tracks in Melbourne prior to the Exhibition Board Track that replaced the oval track. Many remember and talk glowingly of the North Essendon Board Track which was the Exhibition track relocated to near the train station. I'm told by those who raced and went as spectators that special trains were allocated to take spectators to the more prominent meetings.

This page (top left) from the Australasian Sketcher, June 17, 1882 depicts cyclists competing in what was the very first 6-Day Bike Race in Australia on their Penny Farthings

Then of course the Olympic Velodrome was rebuilt after the 56 Games from Olympic standard when it was actually a wood track with a concrete covering. I'm sure many riders of my era would be carrying their bike over their shoulder in readiness for the warm-up session. The sound of those vertically slanted boards rattling gave the venue a unique atmosphere that can't be replicated on todays smooth in-line wooden tracks.

I'm still searching the internet to prove that our very first board track was built within the Exhibition buildings during the late 1800s for a very special event. Supposedly from the scant feedback to date, it was built for the very first 6-Day bike race in Australia - not a 6-Day race as we know it today.

These were hardy riders - no rest for them. It was a one man event on Penny Farthings.

Jack Rolfe, winner of the early single man six day bike races rode a singer,
 similar to the Singer above.

Advertisement promoting the 6-Day bike race in the Exhibition Buildings.
 Commencing December 5, 1881

Excerpt from the Melbourne Museum website;

The Exhibition Building was the focus of cycling events from 1882 when the Australian Cyclists' Union organised a 'Bicycling Tournament' at the Exhibition Building. The event attracted 250 cyclists from metropolitan Melbourne bicycle clubs. The tournament included 'trick' riding as well as a six-day Champion race. All of which were done on penny farthings!
The placings for this 6-Day bike race were;
New Pavilion, Nicholson Street, Melbourne 
1. Jack ROLFE;  J PRESS; 3. C IRISH

The article below is from the South Australian Advertiser - April 15, 1887.

Visiting cyclists from the England were contracted to race in "the Colonies" and this excerpt confirms that they raced on an indoor track at the Exhibition buildings, Melbourne's first.

CYCLING.

During an interview one of our representatives had with Messrs. James and Wood some ideas were elicited from them as to their movements in the colonies. Their first race was at the Highland sports at Sydney on New Year's Day; the next at the mixed meeting on February 12; then at Bathurst on January 26, and at Melbourne on Saturday last. They ride here on Saturday next. Their next venture is in the great six days' race in the Exhibition Building on April 25, at Melbourne. 

Towards the end of the 1880s there was talk of another indoor velodrome inside the Exhibition Buildings but my research to date can not confirm that the project ever eventuated.
Petersburg Times, June 23 - 1899

A Melbourne syndicate is talking about running a series of in-door cycle contests inside the Melbourne Exhibition Building. A special banked batten will be laid if the patronage of the L.V.W. can be obtained. It is proposed to run some twelve hour contests, two hours a. night, also some long distance races. Indoor racing has long been a winter sport in England, and there is no reason why similar contests should not be successfully run in the Melbourne Exhibition provided a suitable banked track is built.

THE SAUCER TRACK

If you look closely towards the back left hand side of the illustration you can pick out the Saucer Track as it was known.  

The second board track in Melbourne that I'd heard rumours of was on the south south side of the Yarra River on a site that is today the Victorian Art Centre. It was known as the Saucer Track
My research has been a little hazy but what I have been able to confirm is that it was on the Princes Park site as it was known back in the first decade of the 1900s. Initially it was used for both cycle and motor cycle racing. The photos below show individual motor cyclists at the Saucer track. Races were run in a pursuit manner with the riders starting on opposite sides of the track.
Although I have located some articles on cycling races being held on the track, the Exhibition oval track was more popular at the time with capacity for larger spectator crowds.

The Sydney Mail – Jan 1, 1908

Splendid progress is being made with the wooden saucer cycle racing track that is being erected at Prince’s Court, Melbourne. The contractor has over 100 workmen engaged in rushing the work along, and there is no doubt that it will be finished in good time for the opening meeting on January 11. A recent inspection of the new track amazed the writer who had no idea that the saucer track as it is termed in America, was to be such a gigantic affair. A glance at the batten track conveys a good idea of speed possibilities and one can easily realise that 60 miles an hour can be obtained on a track of this description by fast motorcycles. The surface is constructed 2 inch Oregon battens running with the track which is 18 feet while banked up to 12 feet on the turns and tapering off to 4 feet in the two straights. At the turns the banking is so steep that it would be almost impossible to crawl up on one's hands and knees but, it is just the thing for exciting and speedy racing. Around the inside of the wooden track a 2 feet strip of flat cement has been laid down from which contestants start preparatory to sweeping up on the banked track. Brilliant lighting is to be installed and every provision made for the comfort of spectators and racing cyclists. The track is oblong shaped, eight laps to the mile, the measurements being 150 feet wide from outside edges of trade and about 306 feet long. Massive structures are now being erected around the arena which will provide comfortable seating for 5000 spectators, every one of whom will be able to see the racing which should prove a real factor in popularising the sport. All told the costs of the new track will be open for training purposes the first week in January, will be about £2500. It is proposed to hold frequent meetings on the saucer and the promoters intend making a big effort to bring back the old time interest in cycle racing and judging from the programmes they intend putting forward, comprising cycle, tandem and motor-cycle racing, they have every chance of success.

During the 1930s, Melbourne’s third wooden velodrome was built at the Exhibition Buildings in a similar position to the old oval track that had served the Melbourne cycling spectators so well from the late 1800s. The establishment of this wooden velodrome only had a short life at this venue before being forced to move to the North Essendon venue.

The move was purely instigated through political reasons and pressure from an underworld figure with strong ties to the local politicians of the time – that subject I will leave for another post in the future.

Below is an excerpt from the Referee Newspaper which was devoted to sport, similar to the "Sporting Globe" in a more recent past.

Messers. Jack Campbell and Jack Lukey, to whose enterprise owes its first board cycling track since the demolition of the old Saucer which was established years ago, where now is the Wirth's Park, have reason to be satisfied with their opening meeting.

The Exhibition Board Track.
Behind the riders is the Melbourne aquarium which was annexed to the Exhibition buildings.

Plan of the Exhibition Buildings and the track.

Nino Borsari, Cecil Walker, Charlie Ritter and Bill Moritz
at the Exhibition board track.

The relocated track to North Essendon was serviced by a train station nearby and from what I've heard, special trains were in service when there were large meetings at the Velodrome. With the advent of Melbourne's successful bid for the 1956 Olympic Games, Cycling and the fifth board track would be located  in central Melbourne.

The relocated Exhibition board track at North Essendon.

Riders at North Essendon board track

This fifth board track actually started life as a concrete surface on a wood base. The 1956 Olympic Velodrome was built to the then Olympic standard but later dismantled and rebuilt to 250 metres.
The boards as the Exhibition and North Essendon Velodrome ran opposing the riders so that they would rattle as the riders travelled around the steeply banked track. As the spectators were arriving at the track they would hear this rattling din as the riders were warming up. It was like a Mexican wave of sound.

Melbourne Olympic Velodrome as a rebuilt board track. Behind the track is the Dog track that caused the demise of the velodrome as the area was required as a car park. The track was eventually dismantled in 1972.

Sid Patterson victorious at the Olympic Velodrome.

As a 15 year old, I had the opportunity to ride in the opening events which Promoter Bill Long added to his program for us budding cyclists, some of whom went on to be future champions of the sport. Two from an old program I still have include John Trevorrow - 2 times Sun Tour winner and Australian Road Champion, and John Nicholson - 2 times World Sprint Champion.

As kids, after our events we remained in the centre if only to watch our heros at close quarters. There were no VIP areas back then and we all just sat on the grass within the steeply backed velodrome.
Nearby could be four times World Champion Sid Patterson or one of the many overseas imports that Bill Long brought to Australia. There were Italians, Faggin, Teruzzi, Turrini, Cardi that come to mind.

With additional attractions such as pop concerts, boxing and running at the Velodrome, Bill Long couldn't save the track from those who wanted more parking space for the dog racing patrons and cycling moved to the concrete banked velodromes of Brunswick, Northcote and Coburg.

Melbourne's Hisense multi-purpose arena.

It wasn't until three decades later that Cycling returned to Melbourne's inner precinct at Olympic Park. It took Melbourne's successful bid for the 2006 Commonwealth Games for a new indoor 250 meter board track to be built. Ironically the track is just opposite the location of the previous Olympic board track and the dog track has long gone - more parking space was required for Hisense multi-purpose arena.

Since the establishment of the arena, it has hosted cycling events for the World Masters Games, 2006 Commonweath Games and the UCI World Track championships of 2010 and 2012.
Unfortunately due to the costs involved in setting up for cycling, the velodrome is only used for major international events.

DISC or Darebin International Sports Centre offers Victorian track cyclists a training and race venue where they can hone their race skills.

Leading up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games a second indoor board track was built as a facility for lawn bowls and as a training venue for the international cyclists. Today it is in constant use for training and major track racing events such as the historic Austral Wheelrace and the Melbourne Cup on Wheels.

So if I've missed a board track built in Melbourne, I figure that my count is seven. Today in Australia we now have six indoor international standard indoor board tracks. Tasmania, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth all have one with Melbourne having two.

In future posts I might take a journey on Victorian outdoor tracks and the major carnivals associated with those tracks. Wangaratta, Echuca, Bendigo, Charlton, Geelong are among the many.

Jack Hoobin - the Forgotten World Road Champion

We all rejoiced when Cadel Evans won the World Road Championship and why shouldn't we. It was an amazing effort by a true Champion. Newspapers across Australia announced  that we now had a World Road Champion, most proclaiming him as the first. Sure, we've had many World Track Champions but never a World Road Champion. But that's not the case - those knowledgeable in the sport know that our first World Road Title holder was Jack Hoobin, albeit during the time when there was a title for both Amateur and Professional cyclists.
As a racing cyclist back in the late 1960s, I was actually aware that Jack Hoobin was our very first World Road Title holder but was never aware of the circumstances leading up to his victory. These Australian Cyclist magazines on loan to me from Jae Omara of Omara Cycles has opened up new knowledge for me - hope this post does the same for you.

The cover of the magazine that segments have been reprinted below.

From the pages of Australian Cyclist December 1950.

"Those of our readers who have followed the cycling career of Jack Hoobin through these columns since he first flashed into prominence in 1946 would not have been terribly surprised at his world title because since that first open road race win in 1946, Jack has showed an aptitude for overcoming adversity and an  unconquerable spirit which has carried him into victory on more than one occasion.

In case some of you may have forgotten some of those incidents, let us skip briefly back through them - in fact let us go right back to the time when Jack first learnt to ride a cycle which was when he was four years of age on a small cycle with 12 inch wheels and solid tires (it's still in the proud possession of the Hoobin family).

Perhaps elder brother Ted Hoobin can be thanked for first attracting Jack's interest to cycle racing. Ted became champion of the Cheltenham club when 16, and Jack, accompanied by their father used to be a regular barracker for Ted.

Not yet into his teens young Jack decided to have a go in a juvenile 3 mile race and going flat out for the first 3 miles collapsed over the line exhausted but an easy victor. Jack still lays claim that the three-miler was the hardest race of his career.

Then followed a few more wins with Ormond juveniles, then a win on the board track when 17, and his enlistment in the army at 18 towards the end of World War II when stationed at Balcombe Camp, a distance of some 35 miles from his home, Jack use to ride home at night and back to the camp again at 6 am. Not only that, but he used to go AWL in order to race on Saturdays. 
1947 saw him make his debut on the mark of honour, and it was during this year that we saw the first glimpse of the real Hoobin.

Following fastest time honours in the VACU 50 mile and 75 mile Opens, Jack started in a 100 mile scratch race with a selected field.  Just after the halfway mark he rode away from the field but punctured 20 miles from the finish. Undaunted Jack continued to ride on the flat tyre and many followers still talk about how Hoobin rode up the notorious Wheelers Hill on the flat tyre whilst, a prominant rider in Jack Berry of Carnegie club in hot pursuit of Hoobin had to walk up.  Of course, Jack Hoobin won not only this event, but the following week, the "Sun" classic of 125 miles and one week later the Victorian 125 mile Championship with a brilliant sprint. In the Australian Championships that year he fell and sustained a broken wrist.
The following year immediately prior to his departure for the Olympic Games, he won first and fastest, fastest time, and fastest time again respectively in the first three open races of the season.
His sixth placing in the Games road race in face of terrific odds, mainly due to inexperience against the tough Continental cyclists; his 10th placing in the 1949 world championship race in Denmark in spite of illness, strange conditions in a strange country and a severe crop of boils; and his wins in many of the English road classics during his preparation for the 1950 title, in spite of falls and punctures and the teaming of the English riders against him; are all typical of that Hoobin determination to win at all costs. But to quote Jack again, "In Europe that is the only slogan the cyclists know to win at all costs".

Jack Hoobin gave a lot of credit to Alf Strom as a mentor and wrote the following in Australian Cyclist;

“Alf Strom apparently took a fancy to me and, in his blunt manner told me that if I did as he instructed me, the world title was mine. He packed me off to England in January to get 15,000 training miles into my legs by the end of May, have a couple of races, then return to Belgium. It was during this period when in London that Charlie McCaffrey and his wife gave me a second home and nothing was too much trouble for them.

On my return to Belgium, Alf instructed me on which races to ride in, where I could study the riders who would be my strongest opposition. He gave me strict instructions not to show my best form and on one occasion when I showed signs of rebelling against this latter order, for I was rearing to make a name for myself with a few wins, he threw a bucket of water at me, bucket and all. undoubtedly Strom is a tough man.

He packed me off to England again to compete in some track events to liven up my sprinting. Then back to Belgium for more roadwork and it was here that our plans were almost wrecked. Three days before the title race when competing in an event over the same course as the big race, I crashed into a car and wrecked my machine. I lost a lot of skin, and seemed to be one big bruise from head to toe.

But here again experience of Strom and Arnold came to the fore, and they patched me up, and on the big day I was free from stiffness.

Incidentally my weight when racing in Australia was 10.4 but Strom had me fined down to 9.6 and I definitely felt better for it. (Jack is about 5'8" tall)

Strangely Alf was a nervous wreck on the day and stayed home while Roger and I journeyed to the start in Moorslede in his car. The rest you know."

From the October 1950 issue of Australian Cyclist - an excerpt from the article describing the last lap.

"These tactics broke up the field and on the final tour there were only 10 riders left with a chance - three Italians, Ferrari, Moresco and Piazza; one Frenchman Varnjo; Australian Hoobin; two Belgians Bastie and Desmet; one Hollander Roks; one Swiss Hutmacher; and the Luxembourg Blintz.

These riders kept close formation right up to the last and were making very fast time as the total time for the distance proved, for they rode the 174 miles (obviously a misprint as the race was actually 164 kms) in four hours 29 minutes and 24 seconds.

In the final sprint the Italians led out and the pace was a demon. When the barriers were reached near the finish, the two favourites Varnajo and Ferrari, were elbow to elbow with less than a furlong to go and they looked easy winners.

Then from the back came Hoobin, and like a jet plane he flashed past the leaders as if they were glued to the ground and the world championship was his!

What a scream from a few who knew who he was. The supporters of the French and Italian pair were going mad with joy then came this unknown to snatch victory in the last few yards. The roar of the crowd subsided as if a bomb had been dropped then came cheers from those who recognised Hoobin’s masterly performance.

Hoobin showed good sense in coming over to Belgium to stay with his friend Strom, the great six day rider, three weeks before the big race. He became acquainted with the circuit, and settled down in readiness for the big day. Strom no doubt had him well tutored on the dangers and the possibilities of the race.

Great homage was paid to the new champion of the world by the French people and the small band of Australians, Strom, Arnold, Reynolds and Patterson who witnessed the event. It was a great hour for the latter as the country’s cycling predominance was again established. Within a week two world championships have been taken by the irresistible Australians."

The other World Championship was taken by Sid Patterson in the Amateur Pursuit after being knocked out of the Sprint. He was the reining World Amateur Sprint title holder from the previous year. 

I was reading in Cycling Tips an excerpt of the 1956 Olympic Games road race where our Aussie riders were decimated by the opposition. John O'Sullivan said that the Aussies were totally outclassed. They had no idea of how Europeans raced, they had no experience.
So how astute was Jack Hoobin to enlist the help of such an experienced Aussie of Alf Strom. Surely this was the key factor in Hoobin's success.
How I wish I'd met the man when I had the opportunity when I was a young bloke.

Jack Hoobin - Cycling - Sport Australia hall of fame

Born in Victoria, Hoobin made Australia's 1948 London Olympic team after wins in the 125 mile Sun Classic (Victorian) and the Victorian championship. He was also placed second over ten miles in the 1948 Australian Amateur Track Championships and third in the five mile event. Despite a series of punctures, he finished sixth (the first Australian) in the 124 mile Olympic event at London's Great Windsor Park.

Hoobin returned to Europe in 1949 and 1950 to contest the world amateur road title but was plagued with illness and injuries. He did well to finish seventh in 1949.

In 1950 he tried again, under the coaching of Alf Strom, and performed the near impossible when he took out the title and beat the best amateurs in the grueling 175km race at Moorslede near Ypres, becoming the first Australian to win the world amateur road cycling championship. Hoobin overcame the blatant blocking tactics of the strong European teams to out sprint French champion Robert Varnajo and the 1947 world champion Ferrari of Italy in the upset of the decade.

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/memories-remin-howard.html
One race we watched  c1950 was won by an Australian, Jack Hoobin, he was riding a borrowed bike using a single free wheel !! The same, or following year he won the Amateur World title, again I believe on a single-speed machine.  Jack Hoobin apparently became a well known political figure in Australia and, so I was told by a Museum in Australia, was due to open the Olympic Games in Sydney but passed away shortly before the ceremony,  I have an idea his wife did the opening instead.   He must have been quite a character.