The 2019 Cycling Australia Awards dinner was a memorable one for the sport in Dubbo.
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Not just because Dubbo Cycle Club was named club of the year.
Former Dubbo cyclist Bob Spears was also inducted into the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame was established in 2015 to recognise the outstanding achievements of the true greats of Australian cycling.
Spears now features alongside the likes of Sir Hubert Opperman, Robbie McEwen and Brad McGee and it follows on from his induction into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.
Born in Dubbo in 1893, Spears received his first bicycle at the age of 13 and won his first race in hi home town at the age of 14 before taking victories all around the country in his teens.
Having dominated the Australian cycling scene, he travelled to compete in America where he became the American all-around champion. Following World War I Spears competed in Europe where he was recognised as the world's best sprinter before making it official by taking out the 1920 World Sprint championship in Belgium.
"He's immortalised forever in the Hall of Fame," current Dubbo Cycle Club president Matthew Gilbert said.
"It's coming up to his centenary of winning the world championship win, next August, and we'll have a remembrance night for Bob then."
Spears continued to dominate the world cycling scene and won the grand prix of Copenhagen, Milan, Paris and Bordeaux (three times each), Dresden, Amsterdam and the Municipal Towns in France (twice each), and Leipzig, Turin and Lisbon (once each).
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Despite being born and raised in Dubbo the Americans tried to claim Spears as their own, attempting to force him to compete as an American in 1923. However, his protests, insisting he was Australian through and through, won over and he was eventually allowed to compete for his country of birth.
Such was the respect Bob Spears had earned for cycling in Dubbo, fellow Hall of Famer the great Sir Hubert Opperman travelled to Dubbo to oversee the resurfacing of the cycle track at Victoria Park.
Spears entry in the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame was accepted by relatives, Dubbo club member and cyclist Margot Russel and daughter, NSW junior representative Isabell Russel.
