Here’s an interesting picture which shows that bike racing has been going on in Armidale for a long time.
It was originally published in the Armidale Express December 7th 1959, and shows the finish ofthe 5 mile scratch at the Armidale Showground on December 6th 1959.
It shows Paul Killen at 18 years of age winning the race for the Armidale Club with Jim Markham (also of Armidale) directly behind, and Frank Sloman (Inverell) outside, tied for 2nd place. The officials on the finish line were Gordon “Spanker” Turner (kneeling) and Pat Dowling (standing).
The photo and information were supplied by Mike Killen, who tells me that he is restoring the bike his father rode that day because it is fairly special: it is a custom built “5 star” Malvern Star that Paul purchased from the Australian Olympic Track rider Warren Scarfe.
If anyone else has anything interesting like this I’d be happy to post it here.
1 response so far ↓
1 Michael (Mick) Dawson // Mar 24, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I was there but out of the picture. It reminded me of the “good old days”. We rode in conditions that riders today couldn’t contemplate and loved every minute!
Paul, Jimmy Markham were great Club mates and we shared many experiences. Although fierce competitors we respected each other.
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