Noel McFarlane.

Noel was born in 1952 into a farming family in the Riverina. He has three brothers and a sister, and three children.  They are all cyclists.

Noel’s dad rode a bike in Southern NSW and Northern Victoria, looking for work in the 1940s. Bikes were part of everyday living in the family as they were for most farming families.

They moved to central Queensland in 1954. A milestone in growing up was being big enough to ride a bike. Kids would try to speed that up with the trick of putting a leg through the frame. The family lived a few miles from town. Everyone rode to school.  

In the late 60's the family was on a farm out of Griffith NSW. Noel worked on farms at the weekends and rode to the jobs on his bike.

In 1970-71 he spent a year in Wisconsin (USA) as an exchange student. There was no bike connection in the US but this was still a big experience and ever since then Noel has always wanted to travel.

Back in Australia he moved to Sydney and the first few years of an economics degree. He bought a second hand bike. It is the post-school years where many people leave regular cycling only to wish later they had kept it up. But, Noel was back on a bike.

In 1974 he took a year off University to live in Europe. In Cambridge UK, where he worked, he got a used bike (pictured on the right) from the police auction for one pound.

After handing in his thesis he and a friend went for a walk and happened to see a poster advertising the "Down to Earth" festival at the Cotter River near Canberra. The Friends Of the Earth (FOE) were having a bike ride down the South Coast from Sydney and up to the festival through Nimitabel. It sounded good so he went on the ride.

Inspite of this, as of  late 1976 Noel, was still not aware that bike touring existed. His bike was just his means of getting to the university library and the shops.

Friendships were made on the FOE ride and soon a new world opened up.

On the left with a friend and her bike in his trailer. On the right fixing a flat in far north Qld.

On the right, in the Pilbara in mid 1978. He worked in the mines and made enough to start a bike shop in inner Sydney in late 1979.  

On the left in Sri Lanka on a six month tour of the sub continent in 78-79.  

On the left, 2009 on King Street in Sydney.  

On the right, also 2009, in Gulbarga in Karnataka, India.

Below right, in the Coorg, Sth India in 2013.

Over the years both the travel and bicycle threads in Noel's life have persisted. He has worked in the bike industry for over 35 years. He rarely gets in a car. He rides in several countries and clocks up 12-14,000 km a year.

Noel hopes more people will be able to travel on bikes and enjoy this lifestyle. He sees his work in improving the designs of bikes and making them available at affordable prices as a way of encouraging this lifestyle.