One hundred and five years ago, Edward “Ryko” Reichenback broke the speed record for riding across Australia south to north, covering 3,000 kilometers, or almost 1,900 miles, in 28 days. He set off from the post office in Adelaide and finished at the p.o. in Darwin four weeks later, having suffered no major mishaps but losing riding partner John Fahey to a sprained ankle a week into the ride.
As you can imagine, long-distance cycling in 1914 was very much a DIY affair. Especially cross-country. Ryko managed to fasten a carbide headlamp to the handlebars so that he’d be able to ride at night, through the impossible blackness of night in the middle of the Australian wilds. Ryko tracked the distance he covered on a rudimentary cyclometer. He also adopted the crouching style of the road rider, increasing his efficiency, employing drop bars, not yet the standard for long-distance cycling.
Despite the ominous looking photo up top, titled “gauntlet of spears,” Ryko got on well with the indigenous people, who, judging from this picture and the one below, were plenty willing to ham it up for the camera. It was Australians who caused him trouble: Although Reichenback shot more than 3,000 photos on his trip, his Sydney apartment was burglarized and all of his images were stolen; what remains today are prints that he’d sold for four pence a piece and were collated into a collection for the Northern Territory Library. Worse, in the early years of World War I, Ryko’s Germanic last name, as well as his passion for traveling and photography, led people to conclude he was a spy for Germany, though he was Australian born. (A penchant for travel and a German name was dangerous for many global wanderers in the early 20th century, with accusations of spying quickly and easily cast about. See the incredible story of Oskar Speck, who kayaked from Germany to Australia, seriously, for another example).
Ryko’s name was eventually cleared, but in 1917 he moved out of the Darwin area to Sydney to avoid problems. There his photos were stolen, as if the trouble had followed him south.
Ryko’s photos from the trip were some of the earliest and best photographic images of Australia’s Aboriginal cultures as well as wildlife in the Northern Territories. He frequently rode into the bush to photograph animals and the hunters tracking them. He’d return to his home in Darwin, where he remained after his ride, develop photos, and sell them, as well as prints from his cross-country ride.
Those photos that were stolen have been lost to historians and anthropologists, though undoubtedly, many exist in private collection, the owner perhaps unaware of their significance. The remaining photos are a treasure of Australian history, their quality no doubt a result of Ryko’s ability to make fast friends with people regardless of where he was, as well as his appreciation for discovering new places.
This appreciation stayed with him. After leaving Darwin, Ryko took a job with a railroad company in central Australia. He toured when he could and fell in love with botany and seed collecting; he also cultivated an interest in astronomy, benefiting from the clear air of rural Australia.
Ryko died at age 75, in 1968. His accomplishment would be solid today, but was ultra-impressive for the time, and was celebrated a few years ago with an exhibit at the Northern Territory Library, as well as a ride by his then 68-year-old granddaughter, who pedaled a section of the route.
Photos: Northern Territory Library
From an anthropological standpoint, the photos featured here are garbage. Professionals would call these contrived photographs, staged photos that, in many cases and certainly here, express colonial narratives of history and indigenous cultures. This was rampant in America as whites documented Native Americans. Today on social media everything is contrived and distinguishing between real and fake has fallen out of style but these images are pretty damn racist and anthropologically useless.
Whoa whoaaaa… pump the brakes! Why don’t we lay off the newly woke rhetoric and let’s reserve our judgments for those we can see in the mirror. This is a fascinating article about one man who rode a bike in places and circumstances we could never imagine. I don’t see any reason to burden him with the various sins of by-gone cultures or political structures. There’s no evidence this man did anything but make inroads with these people using humor. I would wager he entertained their curiosity as well regarding his heritage and their ideas regarding that. It’s “anthropologically” insincere to deny the value of Ryko’s experience and documentation.
Here here.
From what I can find, most of his images seem to have been portraiture and the hunting/fishing photos referenced in the write-up.
I understand your reaction, though these couple images seem to be outliers, but they were interesting him-on-his-bike photos (I actually love that they strung up the bike too).
There are two others that would have also worked in similar ways (one of Ryco riding on very rocky terrain past the parked bike of his compatriot, and one of Ryco carrying his bike through a river/swamp and following an aboriginal person). But I think these humorous images show the kind of report he had with the native people, without whom he may not have been able to complete his journey.
Just my two cents.
Also interesting is the setup of his bike, bags and attachments are all the ‘new’ bike packing style. And those handlebars are early versions of the woodchoppers.
The fault lies with the author Steve Casimiro. It was the author (not Ryko) who wrote “Those photos that were stolen have been lost to historians and anthropologists”. Nothing in the article suggests that Ryko contended that his photos were contributions to the anthropological or historical record
Sadly the hundreds of other photos could have been / could be? accurate documentation of native cultures.
I believe Edward Reichenback to be a truly admirable person in history, who even today would be admirable. I believe his history and pictures are well documented and true. Its a shame some people are jealous of his history
This is a wonderful and inspiring story. It connects us to someone in the early years of cycling who went on a great adventure and gave us a window into his world through the photographs. Fascinating. Thank you for sharing it.
Cool stuff, and I agree 100% with the second comment. Dude, chill. This isn’t some SJW conference, his work should be viewed in the context it occurred.
He did an impressive ride, met folks along the way who were willing to have some fun with him, and he documented it, plainly with their *permission*.
And yes, this is an adventure site, not an academically sponsored, peer reviewed, current to the social norms of the minute, archeological study site.
Sheesh.
Thanks Steve, fun post!