Historical information

By 1905 there was an Orbost Bicycle Club. E. Donchi was a member and was a successful competitor around 1927. It is likely that the Orbost Cycling Club disbanded during WWI, and evidence from the Snowy River Mail is that it reformed again in 1945. There is no doubt that bikes were a dominant form of personal transport until the 1960s when cars ownership became more common, although children still rode to school. As far as theOrbost Cycling Club was concerned, the golden years were from 1945 to 1950.
(information Newsletter August 2018 - Geoff & Lee Stevenson)

Significance

This item is associated with a popular recreational activity in early Orbost.
The period between the First World War and the 1950s was the heyday of cycling. After 1900 the efficient mass production of standardized safe bicycles, as well as the wider availability of second-hand bicycles, caused rapidly dropping prices and it was therefore easier for people to purchase a bicycle not only for utilitarian use but for racing.

Physical description

A small black / white photograph of a young man on a racing bike. It is on an unsealed road in a forest.

Inscriptions & markings

on back - "E. Donchi, Cyclist, Orbost"