CYCLING has been a life-long passion for Mount Gambier’s Allan Dowdell.
At 91 years of age he seen a lot of changes in the sport.
He began his cycling career at 16 years of age in Mount Gambier, but his love for bicycles began before that.
Born in the Blue Lake city, Dowdell’s father was posted to Kangaroo Island for work, where the cycling bug first hit.
“We never had a bike on the island,” Dowdell recalled.
“A friend had the only bike on the island.
“I used to go up to his place and do little odd jobs he was supposed to do so I could have a ride on his bike.”
The family then moved to Adelaide, where a bicycle was required to ride to school.
From there Dowdell was hooked, but never began cycling competitively until he returned to Mount Gambier.
After his first race at 16 years of age he began to compete regularly, but said he was limited in his opportunities to due to work commitments as an apprentice mechanic.
“I did not go away racing much because I had to work on Saturday mornings,” he said.
“When I left that job and went into my own bike shop I had to work Saturday mornings as well, so I could never go away and ride on weekends.
“I missed out on the longer races – I never rode in the Melbourne to Warrnambool like a lot of others did.”
Dowdell’s competitive cycling career was relatively short, with just eight years of racing, but he remained involved with the Mount Gambier Cycling Club and was president for a record 26 years.
He was involved in handicapping events such as the 100 Mile Classic and later managed to compete in the iconic race.
“I only ever rode in the 100 Mile once in 1970 when I made a come-back,” Dowdell said.
“It was the longest race I competed in and gave me a real understanding of what the riders went through.
“I used to read all about it, but nothing gives you the feel than to do it yourself.
“I was 42 years old and never finished the race.”
Dowdell’s involvement with the 100 Mile Classic continued on.
He said back in those days there were several clubs in the region, with many keen riders and strong fields for the big races.
“Years ago when so many people rode bikes to get around, there was a lot more racing, which was good,” Dowdell said.
“We had a lot more clubs – Millicent had a club, Penola, Naracoorte and Mount Gambier had clubs.
“We would have had close to 70 riders in those clubs.
“I remember in 1986 we had 143 riders for the 100 Mile and the top riders in Australia.
“We had the Australian Road Championships on the Thursday, the 100 Mile on the Saturday and on Sunday we had the Mount Gambier to Portland race.
“That kept the riders here which was good.”
Dowdell said back in those days many towns around the country had their own big races, which made it difficult to find a date to run the 100 Mile Classic.
However, the race continued and to this day attracts strong fields.
Over the years Dowdell’s service to the community has seen him gain various honours, including life membership of the Mount Gambier Cycling Club, the League of South Australian Wheelmen and an OAM, which was partly for his involvement in cycling.
While his cycling career is long past, his interest in the sport has never wavered.
“I followed the last Tour of the Great South Coast all around,” Dowdell said.
“I will sit up and watch the Tour de France, Italy, Spain, all those races.
“After all these years I still get a kick out of it.”
