Beverley Heroic

[RobertFrith]

I really don't know where I should put this ... a bike event in WA inspired by a very retro race...

it's an event but the events topics are all international
it's in WA but the WA forum is mostly concerned with commute route issues
In the end I've plumped for my personal favourite the retro board (Mods please feel free to relocate!)

The Beverley to Perth Road Race was originally run in 1897. A one day event, it covered about 180 km and at it's height had thousands of spectators en route and at the finish, which most often was at a Perth pub. The Melbourne to Warnambool is just two years older. The "Beverley" was considered a challenging race and interstate riders, Dean Toseland among them, competed in it frequently. Some Trove articles on the B2P here

Anyway Toby, the guy behind Giro d'Perth, got pretty excited about cranking one of Australia's forgotten one day classics up again. Phil and I rode the original route a couple of months back as crash test dummies. Ride day arrived with appalling northerly headwinds. The flats along the Avon from Beverly to Toodyay were ridiculously hard work. The hills from Toodyay to Wundowie were unpleasant and the rain that set in aound Chidlow capped it all off!

In the end Toby decided to dump the Toodyay to Perth section in favour of two loop routes from Beverly, ton and a half ton in the old measure. Riders and bikes of all ages can enter but there's a point system that rewards "heroic" riders. MEN OF METAL NOT PLASTIC! See you there.

http://www.theheroic.com.au

[LG]

Thanks for putting this in the retro section, I like reading about ride options available in other parts of the country and keep trying to work out how to make attendance possible (I do wish I could be there). Maybe we need a general thread for retro rides/races, such as L'eroica rides etc.

[HappyHumber]

Dangerously close to the Perth-Albany-Perth 1200 Randonnee which despite not riding I am likely to be involved with in some form or another as support. It would be nice if I could pull-off participation in this immediately beforehand.

thinking, dreaming, scheming...

[RobertFrith]

Completely forgot to mention that registrations are open now and the event is OCT 5th.

[HappyHumber]

I just love that wheat head/crank logo on the website, Rob.
Even if I can't pull off participating... save me a shirt or jersey with that on it!

[landyacht]

just in the middle of registering robert. gotta do something with that tandem now its up and away

[RobertFrith]

MEN OF METAL NOT PLASTIC!

Ooops, apparently the first person to register is a woman

[HappyHumber]

MEN OF METAL NOT PLASTIC!

Ooops, apparently the first person to register is a woman

Tin Lizzy?

[Tinker]

I recently sold a Beverly to Perth trophy from around the late 1920's, early 30's on behalf of a friend. Photos of trophies and rider to come.

[Tinker]

As above these are some images of and trophies won by W.Pender in the Beverly to Perth race.

[Tinker]

[HappyHumber]

!!!

Wow... thanks for sharing, Tinker.
per this events website - did the original really run as recently as 1999?

[utedeej]

MEN OF METAL NOT PLASTIC!

Ooops, apparently the first person to register is a woman

But satisfyingly appropriate given the ride's name.

[RobertFrith]

per this events website - did the original really run as recently as 1999?

I'll check with Toby to see where he got his info. He is in touch with at least one B2P rider of yore and also a bloke by the name of George who, along with Ken Ward, has been putting together a list of riders and dates over the history of the race. I'm not sure if it's just placers or all starters.

There's a black and white photo sitting on a table in the Dead Finish Musueum in Beverley (gotta love a country museum!) of some starters in the main drag. Their names are handwritten on the back along with the date - 1980. There were certainly many years that it didn't run, with bigger gaps later in its history.

[landyacht]

just registered my stoker(woman) ,and will be in it myself when i work out my password.
How do you date a bike built in 2014 when the front of the bike is a 1987 frame and the back is a 1990.
also contains bits from a very early 1970's bennett,
also contains fragments of malvern star,repco, speedwell and raleigh
looking forward to riding through country that isnt Kalgoorlie

[RobertFrith]

George Nelson's spreadsheet shows the last race in 1998, winner Jim Krynen.
The B2P race ran continuously from 1897 to 1998 with the exception of 1900 as well as 6 years in WWI and 4 years during WWII.

[RobertFrith]

built in 2014 when the front of the bike is a 1987 frame and the back is a 1990.
also contains bits from a very early 1970's bennett,
also contains fragments of malvern star,repco, speedwell and raleigh

Pics please

[just4tehhalibut]

Besides gaps in the years of running the Beverley they also rejigged the route a few times. Most often the main race started in Beverley and the support race from Northam, both headed out to Toodyay and down Toodyay Rd. Around Gidgegannup you'd meet the juniors event. And just like the Northam-to-Perth the finish got moved around, in later years they finished somewhere on the outskirts of Midland such as the then new shopping centre on Farrall Rd, Stratton. I think the last running they tried to simply do as a Beverley race with loops in the nearby countryside, obviously not as popular. Funny that this new event is using a loopy course, probably works better for the market that they're targetting that it did for the racing club.

I last raced the Beverley-to-Perth in 1997 in the support event. Was fun chasing the handicap groups ahead until you ran out of groups and became the chased.

[RobertFrith]

I've never had much interest in racing but I love participation events, so even though I'm on the wrong side of 50 the Beverley has never been on my radar. Great to hear from a forumite who actually rode the real thing

There have been a lot of races over the years that took in the wheatbelt and Perth, but the distance and longevity of the Beverley are something special. In particular I'm fascinated with the idea of the early years. The year the race began was roughly coincident with the production of the very first automobiles in Europe. The roads the first race was run on would have been "unsurfaced" and their heaviest traffic would have been horses. The bikes were single speed fixed and unimaginably heavy by today's standards. The winning rider in 1897, John Beck, covered the 180km course in 6:47:30 (something I can't hope to match over 100 years later on much better roads with a much better bike ) (bustard must've had a tailwind )

I love the idea of riding something approximating the original course (which I did a few months ago), but I think Toby has opted for the advertised course for good reason. He is super concerned about about safety and the route out of Toodyay, no matter how you cut it, exposes riders to a relatively narrow road with a fair amount of high speed traffic.

The other challenge is pure logistics; in the early days when the race was popular there was a special train to Beverley for riders, it had a dedicated carriage for their bikes. Young men would pile on and have a crack. Today, the demographic has shifted and the train no longer runs to Beverley; many potential riders are reliant on our support teams, aka families, to get us to the start and pick us up at the finish. The last problem is being able to offer at least two different course lengths. With an a-B race it means having eithe an extra start or finish point.

Doing the race as a loop solves the traffic problem, it means that you can finish at the start and end up where you left your car, and it makes it easy to run a short version.

[landyacht]

built in 2014 when the front of the bike is a 1987 frame and the back is a 1990.
also contains bits from a very early 1970's bennett,
also contains fragments of malvern star,repco, speedwell and raleigh

Pics please

temporary pedals attached, will have clip ins next week for its first race , broadarrow-orabanda 27lms with 7kms gravel
for beverley it will be rattraps and straps. waistcoats and leather patent shoes
gumwalls will be replaced with whitewall treaded as the gummies are really good condition 1989 from the bike the wheels came off

[Max Brinkworth]

i'm going on the 50mile.doing it on one of my old girls i wonder if i'm going to be the youngest in the race?(15 years old)

[RobertFrith]

I've registered. Bravely committed to riding my 1955 Rotrax Shirley for the 100 miler. Bravely because the bike isn't particularly light and workload and family dramas have been killing my time in the saddle. I guess I can always pike at the 50 mile turnaround

There's now provision on the registration site for Audax members to get the discounted entry fee available to Cycling Aus members.

[Max Brinkworth]

This is the one i'm planing to take. http://s1029.photobucket.com/user/max_b ... sort=3&o=0 .btw any idea on year?i was thinking late 40s to 65 ish.original paint and decals to

[munga]

This is the one i'm planning to take.


btw any idea on year? i was thinking late 40s to 65 ish. original paint and decals too

[landyacht]

i'm going on the 50mile.doing it on one of my old girls i wonder if i'm going to be the youngest in the race?(15 years old)

my stoker is 12
and keen as