Cycling in the Northern Territory

Cycling first came to Darwin in 1894 when Overland Telegraph staff imported ‘safety cycles’ to town to deliver telegrams. The Northern Territory Athletics Association sports program of 1895 introduced cycling races for the first time. In 1898 Cycling was kept in the public eye when Albert McDonald, a member of the Overland Telegraph Department, cycled across Australia in 1898, setting a new transcontinental record of 29 days from Darwin to Adelaide, making him the Northern Territory’s first national sports star. In the 1930s the NT Cycling Club, a Road Racing Club was formed and the Darwin Amateur Cycling Association followed in 1936. Post World War II cycling re-emerged in both Darwin and Alice Springs. A cycling track was built on the site of the present Aviation Museum on the Stuart Highway by the Darwin Amateur Cycling Club. The current velodrome was established in the 1970s. Northern Territory Cycling Matthew Stephen & Charlie King