Brolga Bill's Bike Trail (BBBT)
'Twas Brolga Bill, from Rutherglen, that caught the cycling craze,
He turned away the good old wings that served him many days...
This geoart shows Brolga Bill's bike.
It is designed so you can be like Brolga Bill, and complete the trail by bike.
(and hopefully not come to the sticky end like his mate Mulga Bill)
All the puzzles are about bike riding, and can be solved with an easy online search.
The puzzle
In 1898 in Melbourne, a cyclist was training hard for the Austral Wheel Race, Australia’s premier track race since ......? His name was Tom Finnigan, and he raced with the Albert Park club and worked as a mechanic. There was a reason that Finnigan was taking the Austral seriously. Because of his poor form over the three seasons he had contested, he had been controversially given a generous 220-yard handicap for the 2-mile race at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the first prize was 240 sovereigns, which was at that time enough to set a fellow up for life. Finnigan rated himself a chance, even if no-one else did.
He won his heat easily against more fancied riders. And in front of a crowd of 30,000, including the Governor of Victoria, he took his mark for the final, which he led from the bell and won by a nerve-racking half head to take his massive payday while the bookies licked their lips and torn-up betting slips rained down on the MCG.
Question: What year did this premier track race begin?
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