From penny-farthings to carbon frames, the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club experienced a centenary of bike history in 2008.

Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club (DHBC) was formed in 1908, at a time when several neighbouring suburbs also boasted their own bicycle clubs.

DHBC therefore enjoyed fierce rivalries with clubs from Marrickville, Petersham and Newtown, among others.

By 1936 the club was large enough to use the newly-built velodrome at Henson Park for racing, as shown in the photo below from Marrickville Council’s archives.

Among those to ride the track were Lionel Cox, Helsinki Olympics Gold and Silver Media winner, and later a life member of DHBC. The photo below shows him at the rear after his gold medal win in he tandem track event.

In the 1960s, Henson Park’s track was ripped up to allow for the installation of lights.

DHBC members then helped in the all-volunteer effort to build Camperdown Velodrome, a venue that saw regular crowds in the hundreds to watch weekend and evening track racing.

Sadly, Camperdown velodrome was closed in the 1990s, and then demolished due to soil contamination beneath the track.

The closure of Camperdown saw the club hit hard times as disillusioned members drifted away. But DHBC adopted Canterbury (Tempe) velodrome as its track racing home, and continues to ride there to this day.

In the late 2000s, the club has enjoyed impressive growth thanks to the tireless efforts of many committed inner west cyclists.

DHBC now has 200+ members, is club champion of the hotly contested RAW (Race All Winter) track racing series two years running and has so many keen road riders we need four bunches at different speeds for our Sunday road training ride. 

Individual riders have achieved podium finishes in open and masters State titles on the road, track and in mountainbiking and even ridden internationally for Ireland, but that’s a whole other story.

Along the way, the club has outlasted our inner western rivals, leaving DHBC as the inner west’s only Cycling Australia (CA) affiliated cycling club.

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