A charity ride on World War I-era pushbikes from France to Belgium is being organised by Warrnambool’s David McGinness to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the conflict.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr McGinness, who is the Sergeant of the Corangamite Light Horse contingent, will swap his horse saddle for a bike saddle for his latest venture overseas to visit what were battlefields of the Western Front.
In mid-2018 he will join a group of riders who will take their collection of bikes – which are either reproduction WWI bikes, or pre-World War II bikes which have been converted to replica WWI-era bikes – for the Tour de Front.
“We are going to ride along the Western Front in World War I kit riding these old bikes,” he said.
Mr McGinness purchased his late 1940s-era bike 12 months ago and has been sourcing hard-to-get parts from all over the country to turn it into a WWI-era bike.
He said his idea to cycle 300km from Amiens in France to Ypres in Belgium over six days will honour those who fought. While the bikes and uniforms will look the part, Mr McGinness said the roads will be nothing like the “bombed out dirt roads” of 1918. “Virtually every army that fought in WWI had a cycling corp,” he said.
Across the south-west there were about 20 soldiers who served in the cycling corps in WWI.
“The Australians never saw much action,” Mr McGinness said.
“The bikes were more for running dispatch, messages, traffic control on roads and prisoner escorts … the New Zealanders had a couple of pretty decent battles. They dropped the bikes, went off into the fight and came back and got the bikes and off they went again.”
He plans to raise about $70,000 so two veterans from each state and territory can join them on the tour riding more modern bikes. The riders will also raise money for various charities and veteran support programs.
The project has attracted interest from Great Britain, America, and Germany, and they are hoping to get riders from New Zealand and France to join the ride.
“It’s to be a multi-national event to commemorate the last year of the great war,” Mr McGinness said.
The crew of riders, along with the Light Horse and other RSL members, will be at the Civic Green on Friday at 5.30pm for the opening of the international Belgium war exhibition which will be at the Lighthouse Theatre.
Mr McGinness is hoping that relatives of those who served in the cycling corp might come forward with photos. More information is available at tourdefront.org or on the Tour de Front Facebook page.