Hubert Opperman Hubert Opperman

His stamina and endurance in cycling earned Opperman the status of one of the greatest Australian sportsmen.

Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, OBE (29 May 1904 - 24 April 1996), referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s earned him international acclaim.

Hubert Opperman rode a bicycle from the age of eight until his 90th birthday, when his wife Mavys, fearing for his health and safety, forced him to stop. His Malvern Star bicycle was donated to the museum in Rochester, Victoria. At 91 he died of a heart attack on his exercise bike in his home in Wantirna.

Opperman was born in Rochester, Victoria in 1904 of British-German descent. His father had worked as a butcher, miner, timber-cutter and coach driver. Hubert learned as a child to plough with six horses and to ride bareback. He attended several schools and delivered Post Office telegrams by bicycle.

Throughout his long life Hubert Opperman was always associated with Malvern Star.

The City of Knox, where Opperman spent his last years, dedicated and named several trails and cycle ways around the municipality after races which Opperman won. It has also dedicated an annual bicycle event, The Oppy Family Fun Ride.

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❊ Web Links ❊

➼ Hubert Opperman 

➼ wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Opperman

➼ Malvern Star

➼ The Oppy Family Fun Ride






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