MBTC started in 1973. Our past helps illuminate the future. The following is from the cover page of The First Thirty Years booklet:

The Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club has been gracing the by-ways of Melbourne for just on thirty years. It’s time to look back at what we’ve done and where we’ve been … and perhaps gain some insight into where we might go from here.

The Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club has been gracing the by-ways of Melbourne for just on thirty years. It’s time to look back at what we’ve done and where we’ve been … and perhaps gain some insight into where we might go from here.

Ron Shepherd, who has been an active member of the club since its earliest days, presented a paper on the history and character of the club at the international bicycle conference in Osaka in 2000. This paper is included here as a framework tor what follows: a timeline of some of the club’s most significant milestones, a rich selection of articles about club events, and a range of representative club anecdotes.

It’s is not intended to be a history in the purest sense. Rather, it’s a pictorial and verbal anthology of the collective experience of the club. A part of each of us is in every photograph and story. It’s a rich heritage to share and to revisit. Enjoy.

Download The First Thirty Years (18 MB pdf)