Jack Coney is part of a Kyabram cycling group affectionately referred to as the “Warramundas” and is considered the town’s most experienced Great Victorian Bike Ride participant.
There’s nothing all that strange about a cyclist having a 25-year history in the saddle, unless of course the rider in question didn’t take up the sport until he was in his sixties.
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When I started asking members of the Kyabram cycling community about an interesting person to hone in on for an article to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Great Victorian Bike Ride the same name kept coming up — John “Jack” Coney.
Five years ago, just to show how much he has left in the tank, the energetic octogenarian rode 80 kilometres on his 80th birthday — just because he could.
It is fitting that Jack gets his say on the event that he was such a big part of his life from the year 2000 onward, as the Bicycle Network’s CEO Alison McCormack has announced that 2024 is the last chance riders will have to experience the Great Vic Bike Ride in its traditional form.
Before you start advertising your bicycle for sale in the Ky Free Press classifieds section, the bike ride will return in a new format for 2025.
While his GVBR days are done, 85-year-old Jack Coney has no intention of hanging up his cycling cleats. He has, in fact, just bought himself a new e-bike.
“I bought the new bike a week or so ago. I bought this because it is a step through (easier to get onto), but there is nothing wrong with the other one — it is just waiting to be sold,” he said.
Jack’s story of becoming an avid cyclist from age 60 starts as a 58-year-old who was asked by his partner Barbara to pump the tyres on my daughter’s bike.
“I thought it would get me some brownie points, so off I went. When I took it out on the street to test it it felt good.
“It took a little while, but I have been hooked for a while now,” he said.
Jack went on his first GVBR in 2000, when it started at Port Fairy and followed the Great Ocean Road before ending up in Bacchus Marsh.
For the record, the nine-day, 482km 2024 event started in Wodonga on November 23 and finished in Healesville on Sunday, December 1.
Jack said his interest in the event was first sparked when he was arriving at work in Rochester, at a herd improvement business, and noticed an unusual amount of bicycle traffic.
“I was driving into work on a Sunday morning and all these bike riders coming out of Rochy footy ground.
“I talked to my two brothers, Graeme and Daryl, and we did it for the next five years,” he said.
Frank Findlay and Jack Coney, who are both now 85-years-old, were among the first Kyabram cyclists to tackle the 500km-plus nine-day journey that is the Great Victorian Bike Ride.
The other two don’t ride now, despite Daryl being eight years younger and Graeme four years Jack’s junior.
They both live in Gippsland and, like Jack, were only beginners when they started.
“One of my close friends, Frank Findlay, joined in with us. He and I rode on the GVBR for many years,” Jack said.
Jack was born in Surrey Hills, Melbourne, but grew up in Dandenong, before spending his early adult years in Gippsland and arriving in Kyabram 49 years ago.
He recalled the last GVBR — that’s what the cycling community calls it — he did after missing a few and then rejoining the pack in 2015.
“Keith Argus and Ian Wadelton went on that one with me. Keith rode his mountain bike, while Ian and I were part of the local cycling group, so we were better prepared.
“Keith had to do a bit more work on his bike. That was my last one,” he said
Jack recalled Casterton as one of his favourite towns, where the event started in 2002, but also rated 2001 venues Yea and Bright very highly.
He did recall one event where it rained the whole trip, 2003 for the Summit to the Sea event, when the GVBR participants rode over the Strzelecki Ranges in Gippsland
“It was muddy, cold, wet, probably similar to what they are going through at the moment,” he said.
Jack said he never actually came off his bike on a GVBR, but saw plenty that did.
“I was pretty good at keeping an eye out for any potential issues and I was a bit of a camper back in those days, so the tent living was okay,” he said.
Jack’s Kyabram home of the last 24 years is adorned with various salutes to his cycling exploits, including Sir Hubert Opperman medal — obtained for completing the four-cyclist 368km single day trial.
He has also ridden from Adelaide to Alice Springs and has a similarly impressive Perth to Adelaide cycling journey on his resumé.
Jack is now involved with a group of riders who are affectionately known as the “Warramundas”, a pointed reference to their age.
Mike Sweeney called us that, because the youngest member is about 68. There are a lot of 70-year-olds, while Frank (Findlay) and I are both 85.
“We meet every Tuesday and Thursday, and some Sundays, riding to Stanhope on Tuesday and Girgarre on Thursday (40-50km round trip).
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