No complete record of the history of the Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers/Rockhampton Cycling Club is known to exist. The following information has been researched from a variety of sources which may be subject to errors. Overall it highlights a timeline of events.
1922, March: A group of cyclist attended a meeting to discuss amateurism. At this meeting it was decided that a branch of the Queensland Amateur Cyclists Union would be formed. It was also decided that the name of the branch should be the Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers. During the following years the membership was strong.
1925, December: A meeting to dissolve the Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers and create two new clubs was proposed. This motion was defeated by the majority of the members, but a break-away group created a new club known as the Central Cycling Club.
1926, February: At their Annual General Meeting, the Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers membership had remained strong as they had only lost a few to the new club.
1934: There was strong movement to revive amateur cycling. Messrs. A. Ashby and R. Semple being the prime movers in the formation of the Wheelers, were prominent among those who worked to revive the club. Also Mr. A. M'Leod, one of the Trustees of the club, and Messrs. C. Mortensen and C. Taylor were actively behind the proposal. All that was necessary was a membership, as the trustees, Messrs. Semple, M'Leod and J. McCabe, had kept a substantial credit balance intact in the bank in the hope that the club would be revived.
1940: At the AGM, Mr G. A. Belz as Chairman presented his report that the club had prospered both with increasing membership and financial position, he was proud of the clubs success over the 4 years that he had held the position.
1941: The club would cease activities (this was likely due to the Second World war).
1946, February: A meeting was well attended and the keenness shown by both old and new members promised to give amateur cycling a good start. Temporary officials were elected until the next general meeting. It was also stated that old members still in the forces had expressed their intention of resuming riding and it is expected that many of them will be released from service this month.
1949, October: Bill New, the secretary, resigned from the club and joined the Star Professional Club. Other Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers members had also left the club. These members had either turned professional, retired or joined the Gresham Amateur Wheelers. The club again went into recess and no racing was conducted by the club, although accounts were still held by office bearers.
1955: A group of cyclists who were road racing but were not under the auspices of a club, were approached by the office bearers of the Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers. They were asked to reform the club, and they would receive the existing funds totalling £26. The meeting was unanimous in their desire to reform the club. Most of the new members were former Gresham Amateur Wheelers. The club then functioned as a road racing club until Claude Burton and Les Suthers asked the Rockhampton Amatuer Wheelers to inspect the partially constructed one-sixth of a mile (268.2m) long, dirt track track at Elizabeth Park, with a view to consider racing on it.
1956: Both road and track seasons were now being conducted. The club's numbers increased considerably with the advent of track racing and thoughts turned to placing a bitumen surface on the track.
1960: The Wehmeier brothers offered to resurface the Elizabeth Park track with a 3-4 mm layer of cold tar, finished with sand. The work was completed for the inaugural Cup on Wheels in 1960. For financial reasons it was decided to track race all year, even during road season, this continued for a number of years. A galvanised iron clubhouse had also been constructed as well.
1963: Problems appeared with this track as the cold tar was only 2-3mm thick and the surface melted on hot days. It was also a faster surface, with pedals clipping more often, as the banks were very low for a 268m track. It was necessary to have a special frame built with no more than a 2” drop in the bracket.
1964: The track was considerably deteriorated and visitors were reluctant to come due to track conditions. The council were approached to assist with track improvements. Instead council offered to build a new track.
1964, November: Elizabeth Park, North Rockhampton, the council began work on constructing another track. Although the club desired this new track be a straights and bends’ track, the council built another round track. The length of the track being one-fifth of a mile (321.87m), and surfaced with bitumen. The total cost of the track was £4000, of which, the Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers had contributed £1000.
1965, January 26: The track was officially opened by the Mayor (Ald. R. J. Pilbeam). He declared the new track be Baxter Oval, whose namesake Aubrey Baxter was guest of honour. This honour being bestowed upon him for he was a former cyclist and athlete, who was connected in an official capacity with the sport of cycling in Rockhampton.
1968: Further improvements were made to the site, when a shop in Musgrave Street was purchased and relocated to Elizabeth Park. Volunteer labour was used to renovate the building, the front of which was used as the canteen which overlooked the new track, while the back of the building served as a meeting room and was even hired for small wedding receptions. The building was subsequently named the ‘Albert Willie Memorial Hall’ in honour of a former club member. Track lighting was also erected by club members who used rail line posts to support fluorescent lights.
1976: Cracks were appearing in the track and prior to racing required them to be filled with sand, this deemed the track unsuitable for open racing. The track was set on land which was originally a swamp. The foundation was moving and the track was collapsing.
1977: The track condition was such the club could no longer hold open events however club events were held until 1981, when it became too bad even for them. Obviously the club membership suffered again.
1978: As we had local cyclist Kenrick Tucker competing at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, it seemed like an opportune time for the club to approach council about a new track.
1978, August 11: Kenrick had won the Gold Medal in the Sprint and Mayor Pilbeam announced that a replica of the Edmonton track, would be built to commemorate his achievement.
1979, December 10: At the council meeting the recommendation for the site and the plan for the proposed velodrome be approved on Berserker street, near the North Rockhampton swimming pool and to proceed with the construction of a bitumen track.
1980, February: Construction of the velodrome commenced but when club officials and members became aware that the proposed track was not going to be the replica velodrome, they again approached council. The council decided to defer completion of the bitumen surface until a review of the financial situation was carried out and revised estimates could be prepared for a concrete track. As their investigations of the finishes achieved on tracks of various size and dimensions and surface materials revealed that the only satisfactory surface has a reinforced concrete slab.
1982: After the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, where Kenrick Tucker again won gold in the sprint, Mayor Webber declared the velodrome had to be finished.
1983, March 26: The Kenrick Tucker Velodrome was officially opened by Sir Hubert Opperman. This was the revival of carnival competition for the Rockhampton Cup on Wheels and also the Capricornia Cup, which had been in recess for over 7 years. The funding of the velodrome had been achieved by Queensland State Government subsidies, Rockhampton City Council contributions, Public subscriptions and Rockhampton Amateur Wheeler funds.
The Rockhampton City Council also built a new clubhouse at the Berserker street site, as the previous clubhouse at Elizabeth Park was deemed an unsuitable building for the new venue.
1983, July: The 534.2m of perimeter fencing was installed by A.R.C. Engineering of Richardson road, North Rockhampton.
1986: Club officials commenced work towards being an incorporated club.
1987: Flood lights were erected at the velodrome.
1989: Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers name changed to Rockhampton Cycling Club Incorporated.
1990: The club hosted the Queensland Veterans Titles.
1997: The club hosted the State Championships (Juniors, Seniors & Masters) at the velodrome.
2000: The club hosted the Sydney 2000 Olympic Track Cycling sprint team at the velodrome.
2002: The club embarked on a strategic planning and development process to maintain and increase the strength of the sport and club in Rockhampton and district.
2003: The club hosted the Track State Championships (Junior & Senior) at the velodrome.
2004: The club hosted the Athens Olympics Cycling sprint team at the velodrome.
2004: The club and CQ University were associated through the Talent Identification Program.
2007: Training facility built, later repurposed as a canteen.
2015, September 12: Anniversary Dinner 1955-2015: "60 Years and Still Cycling", held at the Frenchville Sports Club.
2018: Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Queen's Baton Relay. On the 13 March 2017 the Queen handed the baton to RCC life member Anna Meares who then along with English track cyclist Victoria Pendleton carried it around the Queen Victoria Memorial before handing it over. On its Australian journey the baton was carried by life member Kenrick Tucker who did a lap with it around his namesake velodrome.
2023: Kenrick Tucker Velodrome 40th Anniversary. Honorary naming of grandstands to Ken Tucker (OAM) and Clarry Horan.
2023: Resurfacing track with Mapei TNS product, repainting of the fencing with high zinc content paint and kickboards repainted.
Sources:
Website: TROVE digitised newspapers (www.trove.nla.gov.au).
Rockhampton Cycling Club and Rockhampton Amateur Wheelers 'Minutes of Meetings' and other documents held at the clubhouse.
Oral histories from club members (Thank-you for your contributions).