Sarah Maddock defied conventions to become Australia’s first female endurance cyclist. Photo: South Coast Historical Society.
It’s hard to fathom a time when a woman on a bicycle raised fears of the dismantlement of family values in Australia.
Yet in late colonial Australia, anxieties surrounding damage to reproductive women’s health and the encouragement of women’s sexual independence were all linked to one male-dominated pasttime, cycling.
It often only takes one person to change the course of history, and when it comes to Australian women riding a bike, that person was Sarah Maddock. Born in 1860 in Wolumla near Eden and raised on a dairy farm, Sarah defied the conventions of the time and became the first woman to undertake a long-distance bike ride, riding 483 kilometres from Sydney to Bega in 1893.
When compared to modern two-wheeled achievements that may not seem like an epic journey, but take a moment to think about the conditions she would have been met with in the time before federation when our infrastructure was far more primitive.
A year later, Sarah doubled down on her efforts to become the first woman to ride a bicycle 924 kilometres from Sydney to Melbourne. Then in 1895 she completed a 2575 km round trip from Sydney to Brisbane, the feat presenting conditions unfathomable today as we drive in comfort along our wide highways.
Not to be forgotten in all of Sarah’s trailblazing is her husband Ernest, who accompanied Sarah on each trip, his progressive thinking in large part facilitating and encouraging Sarah’s adventures.
Sarah Maddock (4th from right) with the Sydney Ladies Bicycle Club in 1895. Photo: South Coast Historical Society.
Newspapers of the day documented Sarah and Ernest’s journeys, referring to her as a ‘lady cyclist’, and accounts of the Brisbane jaunt paint a picture of what they faced on the road. Traversing deep sand, getting lost in the mountains, encountering a bushfire with burning trees blocking their route, being drenched by storms and crossing creeks with their bikes on their shoulders was just in a day’s leisure for this convention-busting woman.
The trip was documented by the Evening News: ‘Whilst Mrs Maddock didn’t attempt to complete the journey in record time, the return trip by the inland road was accomplished in nine and a half days, which is to be considered a splendid time for a lady to ride in.”
It’s a telling quote, and not even a woman stretching far outside of her predetermined gender role could escape her achievements being reduced by that simple qualifier ‘for a woman’.
Just like today, a woman’s choice of clothing was a hot topic for the papers to delve into, with many reporting that she had worn a rational dress for her journey, an item of clothing altered for comfort or practicality.
Sarah’s response to these reports was stern, making it known that she had worn ordinary skirts and would like the incorrect reports corrected, stating, “I wasn’t wearing a rational dress, and I’m not expressing a view on whether women should wear it.”
Her disinclination to enter the wider debate about women’s clothing was a consistent stance for Sarah and her denial has often been interpreted in history as a denunciation of bloomers for women, but her true motive is unknown.
Sarah went on to usher thousands of Australian women into her chosen pasttime by founding and captaining the Sydney Ladies Bicycle Club as well as the Stanmore Lady Wheelers. She championed the sport of cycling for a nation of women who were being actively discouraged from partaking.
Her active lifestyle saw Sarah live to the ripe old age of 94, a true trailblazer in her day and one that the National Museum of Australia recognises as a catalyst for women’s independence and emancipation.
Not bad, for a woman.
