Richard Lamb
Caricature of R W "Fatty" Lamb on a sports card advertisement for Turf cigarettes, personality series card No 80
Personal information
Full nameRichard William Lamb
NicknameFatty
Born(1907-12-26)26 December 1907
Melbourne, Australia
Died7 July 1974(1974-07-07) (aged 66)
Paynesville
Weight11 st 10 lb (74 kg) [1]
Team information
DisciplineRoad & track
RoleRider

Richard William "Fatty" Lamb (26 December 1907 – 7 July 1974)[2] was an Australian racing cyclist who competed on both road and track, as was typical of Australian cyclists of the era such as Hubert Opperman. Throughout his career, Lamb was associated with Malvern Star Bicycles and Bruce Small.[3]

Major results

1925
Motor-paced cycling record for 10 miles in 11' 22"".[4]
1st and fastest amateur time Goulburn to Sydney.[5]
1926
1st and fastest amateur time Goulburn to Sydney [6]
1927
9th and fastest amateur time Goulburn to Sydney [7]
1st Victorian Olympic Time Trial test race[8]
1st the Australian Olympic Time Trial test race[8]
1928
2nd amateur Goulburn to Sydney[9]
1929
1st Austral Wheel Race [10]
1930
1st Australasian road championship title and Blue Riband in the Warrnambool to Melbourne [11]
1931
35th & last finisher in the Tour de France [12]
1st Grand Prix de Marseilles (motor pace) [3]
1932
1st Australasian road championship title and Blue Riband in the Warrnambool to Melbourne [13]
1st in Brisbane, Six Days, Brisbane (Queensland), Australia [14]
1933
One hour motor paced record of 60 miles 575 yards [15]
1st Tour of Tasmania [16]
1934
1st Batman 1000 [17]
Centenary 1000
3rd and fastest Stage 6 [18]
3rd overall in championship and Australian national road race title[19]

Australian amateur cycling career

In August 1925 Lamb made his first attempt at motor-paced cycling riding 10 miles in 11' 22", easily beating the Australasian amateur record of 17' 32" and the British Empire record of 14' 21".[4] During this ride, Lamb was reported to have broken eight world's records, eight British Empire records, nineteen Victorian standing and flying start records, and a similar number of Australasian records.[20]

Lamb won the Goulburn to Sydney race twice, in 1925[5] and 1926[6]. The Goulburn to Sydney was a handicap race where the slower riders start first. On each occasion Lamb started from scratch, being the last group to start, and in winning the race, also set the fastest time. The win in 1926 was controversial because Lamb had swapped bikes with another competitor, which was contrary to the written rules, however an official from the NSW Cyclists Union had assured riders before the start that they would not be disqualified for changing bikes.[21] [22] In 1927 Lamb was again starting from scratch and again set the fastest time, but came 9th on handicap, with the winner JA Shaw starting 52 minutes before Lamb.[7] Lamb's time in 1925 was 6h 17' 55" which was 6' 35" better that the amateur record and 1' 36" better than the best professional time for the race. [5] In 1927 Lamb finished in 6h 00' 44".[7]

Newspapers at the time reported[7][23][8] that Lamb was expected to be selected for the Australian team to the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Lamb won the Victorian Olympic Time Trial test race in October 1927, covering 126 miles in 6h 14'43", winning by over 24 minutes.[8] He then won the Australian Olympic Time Trial test race in November 1927, covering 120 miles in 6h 08'14", winning by over 36 minutes.[8] Lamb also competed in the Australian Olympic track trials but was not successful.

Lamb was controversially[24][25][26] overlooked for the Australian team, with no rider being sent for the road events and Dunc Gray and Jack Standen being sent for the track events.

Australian professional cycling career

After being overlooked for the Olympics, Lamb chose to turn professional in February 1928, for £1,000 for the season.[27] In his first race as a professional he won a 10-mile Motor-paced event in a season best time of 11' 56".[28]

Lamb again rode the Goulburn to Sydney in 1928, again from scratch, this time as a professional and came second behind Ken Ross, also from scratch.[9]

In 1929 Lamb won the Austral Wheel Race [10]. He then spent six months riding in the United States, defeating motor-paced champion Franco Giorgetti, George Chapman, Charles Jaeger, and Francesco Zucchetti. Lamb also led the first 2 days of the 6 days’ race at Chicago but had to withdraw due to injury.[29]

Lamb twice won the Australian national road race title in 1930 and 1932, by winning the Blue Riband for the fastest time in the Warrnambool to Melbourne.[11][13]. Lamb set a record time of 6h 21' 18" in 1932, nearly 2 hours faster than his time in 1930.[13]

Lamb rode in the 1931 Tour de France in a combined Australia/Switzerland team including Opperman, Ossie Nicholson and Frankie Thomas. He finished in 35th place and was the last finisher.[12] After the Tour de France, Lamb won the Grand Prix de Marseilles (motor pace)[3]

In 1932 Lamb won the Brisbane, Six Days with Jack Standen, defeating a quality field including Frankie Thomas, Opperman and Jack Fitzgerald.[14] He had a falling out with Bruce Small in September 1932, going to work for a rival manufacturer Finlay Brothers.[30]

In February 1933 Lamb rode 60 miles and 575 yards in an hour to break the motor paced record set by Opperman in 1930.[15] By April 1933 Lamb had reconciled with Bruce Small, with advertisements quoting Lamb as stating "from now on, I'm sticking to Malvern Star".[31] He also won the Tour of Tasmania, a six-day stage race covering 566 miles (911 km), beating Frankie Thomas by 1 second.[16]

In 1934 Lamb again won the Tour of Tasmania, titled the "Batman 1000" a race over 8 stages covering 1,000 miles (1,600 km) starting in Launceston and finishing in Ulverstone. Lamb narrowly defeated Ern Milliken with Opperman in 3rd place.[17] Lamb had barely completed one long stage race when he set off in the next, for the rich prize purse in the Centenary 1000, a one-week race over seven stages covering 1,102 miles (1,773 km) that carried with it the Australasian road championship title. While Lamb did not feature in the early stages, his strength showed through on the arduous sixth stage, extended to 152 miles (245 km) after stage 5 had to be stopped at Mount Buffalo due to a torrential downpour of rain hail and sleet.[32] Lamb was 3rd and fastest at Sale,[18] and finished 3rd overall in the championship and the Australasian road championship title.[19]

Personal

Lamb was born in Melbourne on 26 December 1907,[33] the son of Frederick Lamb and Alice née Merrick.[34] His cousin Eddie Lamb was also a professional cyclist.[35] In July 1932 Lamb married Elizabeth May Haddow.[36] He died at Paynesville on 7 July 1974(1974-07-07) (aged 66).[37][38]

References

  1. ↑ "Weight trouble for Lamb". The Referee. Sydney, NSW: National Library of Australia. 30 May 1935. p. 20.
  2. ↑ "Biographical cuttings on Richard (Fatty) Lamb, World record cyclist, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals". National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 3 "The life and times of 'Fatty' Lamb". Canberra Bicycle Museum. Archived from the original on 7 October 2009.
  4. 1 2 "Records Broken". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 29 August 1925. p. 1.
  5. 1 2 3 "Sensational Finish in Road Race". Sydney Sportsman. Surry Hills, NSW: National Library of Australia. 22 September 1925. p. 8.
  6. 1 2 "Cycling, Goulburn to Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 20 September 1926. p. 8.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Astonishing times in the "Goulburn"". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 21 September 1927. p. 17.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "A wonder cyclist". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 16 November 1927. p. 17.
  9. 1 2 "Goulburn Sydney Race, Ken Ross wins from scratch". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 3 October 1928. p. 10.
  10. 1 2 "Lamb's Double — Wins "Austral" Wheel Race and Paced Event Brilliantly". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 6 March 1929. p. 10.
  11. 1 2 ""Fatty" Lamb wrests road championship title from Opperman". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 4 October 1930. p. 2.
  12. 1 2 "1931 Tour de France results for Richard Lamb". A.S.O. / Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 "World records crash in "Warrnambool"". The Referee. Sydney, NSW: National Library of Australia. 12 October 1932. p. 1.
  14. 1 2 "Six Days' Race". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 15 August 1932. p. 13.
  15. 1 2 "60 miles an hour cyclist". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 15 February 1933. p. 6.
  16. 1 2 "Neck and neck struggle". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 8 November 1933. p. 12.
  17. 1 2 "R. W. Lamb Takes Final Stage and Fall Honors In Tasmanian Road Rack". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 6 October 1934. p. 4.
  18. 1 2 "Sore Trial For Cyclists". The Argus (Melbourne). Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 27 October 1934. p. 18.
  19. 1 2 "Official Placings For Race". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 31 October 1934. p. 14.
  20. ↑ "Youth Breaks Eight Cycle World's Records". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 2 September 1925. p. 1.
  21. ↑ "Among the cyclists". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 22 September 1926. p. 17.
  22. ↑ "RW Lamb survives protest". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 29 September 1926. p. 19.
  23. ↑ ""Fat" Lamb". Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 13 November 1927. p. 11.
  24. ↑ "Lamb's Exclusion". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 14 January 1928. p. 4.
  25. ↑ "Has Lamb been slaughtered?". Sydney Sportsman. Surry Hills, NSW: National Library of Australia. 17 January 1928. p. 14.
  26. ↑ "Alarming position in amateur cycling". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 18 January 1928. p. 17.
  27. ↑ ""Piffle!"". The Newcastle Sun. NSW: National Library of Australia. 9 February 1928. p. 9.
  28. ↑ "Best Time For Season". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 15 February 1928. p. 10.
  29. ↑ "Spears Returns with "Fatty" Lamb". Sydney Sportsman. Surry Hills, NSW: National Library of Australia. 24 December 1929. p. 14.
  30. ↑ "Move to restrain cyclist". The Herald. 24 September 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Trove.
  31. ↑ "Advertising: Malvern Star". The Sporting Globe. 26 April 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Trove.
  32. ↑ "Cyclists delayed". The Argus (Melbourne). Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 26 October 1934. p. 12.
  33. ↑ "R W 'Fatty' Lamb". Australian Vintage Cycling. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  34. ↑ "Event registration number 4018 (1907)". Births Deaths & Marriages Victoria.
  35. ↑ "Eddie Lamb (cousin of "Fatty" Lamb) has entered the professional ranks". The Sporting Globe. 29 May 1929. p. 10. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Trove.
  36. ↑ "W.A. girl marries champion cyclist". The Mirror. 23 July 1932. p. 5. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Trove.
  37. ↑ "Cyclist dies". The Canberra Times. 8 July 1974. p. 10. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Trove.
  38. ↑ "Event registration number 20384 (1974)". Births Deaths & Marriages Victoria.
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