Immortalising a local cycling legend

Cycling has been Allan Dowdell’s passion for more than seven decades and his name has been synonymous with the sport in this region so finding a way to mark that commitment became a priority for the current Mount Gambier Cycling Club committee.

Earlier this month, the Allan Dowdell Velodrome was unveiled as the Blue Lake Sports Park based facility was named in his honour and the stalwart was, despite ill health, able to attend the ceremony with family, friends and members of the Lions Club of Mount Gambier.

It was also a chance for the club’s youngest members and rising talent to meet with the cycling doyen, who is in his 90s, and share their experiences in the sport, especially their recent exploits at the South Australian Track Championships.

Allan also got to take in a training session with Limestone Coast Regional Sporting Academy cycling athletes

Allan has been a walking encyclopedia of cycling in this region with his cycling career dating back to when he was a 16-year-old as he continued a family tradition – his Uncle
John Dowdell was a silver medallist at the 1885 Mount Gambier Cycling Club Championships, the first ever held.

Allan’s first race is a clear memory despite being in 1944 when he took part in a junior half mile race that October when cycling called Frew Park home.

It is a treasured memory not just because he made the final but that the final had to be delayed while Allan competed in what was a general sports day in the 4 x 400 yards relay.

And he remembers the tight second placing he secured and if you rifle through his cupboards he is pretty sure he still has the solver sandwich tray he was awarded for that second placing.

Riding continued to be a passion but it also become evident very early on that Allan was set to be a leader, an administrator and a tireless promoter of the sport, including being the sometime scribe on the sport for The Border Watch.

If you are ever looking for an old racing program or newspaper clippings pertaining to cycling, chances are Allan, a self-confessed hoarder, has it somewhere in his stash of memorabilia.

Allan is the longest serving president of the Mount Gambier Cycling Club – he enjoyed a 26 year tenure – and he spent many and hour organising the club’s blue riband event, the 100 Mile Classic.

He even competed in the great race in 1970 as a 42-year-old, during a brief return to the sport, but he did not complete the time honoured event.

Even once Allan stopped being in charge of the club and the event, he could often be seen with the starter’s gun in his hand to send the cyclists on their way.

He was the Mount Gambier team leader in the Mazda Tour of South Australia and the Sun Tour of Victoria and it wasn’t just cycling that captured his attention – Allan was all about community.

A long serving city councillor, it was earlier this year that Allan was also honoured at the Lions Club of Mount Gambier 60th anniversary celebrations for 50 years of service to Lions.

And it was his dedication to the Mount Gambier community, that saw him awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.