Sydney’s Inner West Council has recognised the cycling achievements of 81-year-old Margaret McLachlan nearly 60 years after she first broke a number of records that have never been officially acknowledged by Australian peak cycling bodies.
McLachlan broke four cycling records in the 1960s while she was banned from the NSW Amateur Cycling Union (NSWACU), which didn’t permit women competitors at the time.
At the peak of her cycling career, McLachlan cycled from Sydney to Melbourne in 58 hours and 33 minutes, breaking the record – for both men and women’s cycling – at the time.
She also rode from Canberra to Sydney in 12 hours, 5 minutes and 19 seconds, and then from Sydney to Newcastle in six hours, 14 minutes and 30 seconds – breaking both records at the time.
In 1968, McLachlan also set the first Australian women’s one-hour unpaced record, riding 20 miles and 717 yards (32.843km) in an hour.
McLachlan broke each of these records while banned from the NSWACU for simply being a woman.
NSWACU was the predecessor to the current national peak cycling body, AusCycling, which does not recognise McLachlan’s achievements to this day.
On 15th June, a group of supporters and other sports women and men gathered at Marrickville Oval to celebrate a new plaque that has been unveiled in McLachlan’s honour and in recognition of her records.
McLachlan’s supporters have previously raised the issue of her lack of recognition with AusCycling but have not received a response.
Speaking to Women’s Agenda just before her plaque was placed at Marrickville Oval, McLachlan said she didn’t see why AusCycling should not recognise her records.
“I don’t see why they shouldn’t,” McLachlan said, “because I have the signed documentation to prove what I did. I had an official timekeeper.”
“But they just seem to have their heads in the sand.”
Shortly after the plaque was unveiled, NSW Minister Jo Haylen acknowledged McLachlan’s records in a statement in parliament.
“I wish to acknowledge the significant achievements of former Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club member Ms Margaret McLachlan, who in 1966, as a 21‑year‑old, had the cycling world at her feet, however the fact she regularly beat male riders deemed her too ‘dangerous’ a competitor,” Haylen said.
Feature Image: L-R: Dr Marc Sebastian Rerceretnam, Inner West Councillors Clr Justine Langford, Clr Jess D’Arienzo, and Clr Tim Stephens. Margaret McLachlan, Lorraine Long, Sian Mulholland and Barbara Whitcher. Marrickville Park, 15 June 2024.