Women’s-only Race Added to Historic NSW Handicap

A handicap honouring Barbara Wyles, a life member and longstanding volunteer of Illawarrra Cycle Club, will make its debut in June as the first women-only state-level handicap on the New South Wales calendar.

The new Barbara Wyles Handicap will take place in Gunning alongside Illawarra CC’s well-established Ken Dinnerville Memorial Handicap on Sunday, June 5.

Over more than four decades, Wyles has held countless roles as starter, handicapper, timekeeper, judge and results recorder for both road and track across national and international competitions and has been nominated for and won a myriad of sport service and volunteer awards.

“I became involved with cycling through my children,” Wyles said in a social media post by Illawarra CC. “When the family moved to Kiama in 1978 my children heard about the Illawarra Cycle Club. We went to the club race and my children joined the club; at the end of 1978, I became the club secretary.

“I took out a rider’s licence because the country women riders did not have sufficient riders to run their championships, so I made up the numbers. I remember walking up all the hills at the country road championship held at Grafton in 1980 to get to the finish line, and they gave me a medal.”

After Wyles became a life member of Illawarra CC in 1995, the club decided to name a race after her which has now developed into an unmissable event open for female cyclists throughout the state.

The Barbara Wyles Handicap will take place at the same time and on the same course as the Ken Dinnerville Memorial Handicap, a longstanding 90km race first held in 1957 in honour of Ken Dinnerville, a local junior cyclist who tragically died during a training ride.

The new women’s race will be run over the same distance as the Dinnerville with equal prize money of $3,000 for each race up for grabs.

In an exciting approach and with the assistance of AusCycling, all commissaires and volunteers for the Barbara Wyles Handicap will be female, including Robyn Sprouster who will be chief commissaire for the event in her 20th year as an official.

"It's exciting and long overdue to see an all women's handicap event added to the AusCycling NSW Calendar," said NSW & ACT Event Operations Manager Sam Layzell.

"Barbara has been such a stalwart supporter of women's cycling in this state, so it's very fitting to have this inaugural event named in her honour. We hope that with an all female commissaire, volunteer and Race Director structure the event is well supported by our current contingent of female riders, and we can also encourage more women to become involved and give racing a go in a positive and inclusive environment."

Rich in history and a fixture in the NSW cycling calendar, the Dinnerville now has company in the form of a brand-new handicap that will soon begin building its own legacy.

Entries for the Ken Dinnerville and Barbara Wyles Handicaps close on May 30. Entries for the Cootamundra Haycarters Annual on May 14–15 have also been extended until tonight.

If you are interested in becoming involved in this event please email Illawarra Cycling Club: [email protected]