restrictive clothing, or rational dress. Cycling clubs and societies were established in the 1880s and 1890s. In 1885, the Victorian Cyclists Union (VCU) was active, and the League of Victorian Wheelmen (LVW) was formed in 1893. Various notables of the era were members, such as University of Melbourne Professor of Engineering William Charles Kernot who was vice-president of the LVW for a time. In the 1890s, cycle races like the Austral Wheel Race, and later the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic, were very popular forms of entertainment, drawing crowds of many thousands. The first women's road race in Victoria occurred in Melbourne on Saturday 16 May 1896 on a hilly course through the northern suburbs of Northcote, Heidelberg, Ivanhoe, Alphington and Clifton Hill. 20th century Cycling provided an enduring activity for ordinary Melburnians until falling automobile prices and growing consumer affluence saw increasing numbers switch over to the car in the 1940s and 1950s. Up until the 1940s the bicycle was an important commuter vehicle for many Melbourne people. Post war affluence saw a decline in cycle commuting, and the bicycle was largely relegated to a children's or teenager's activity or for sporting or recreational use. 1970s It was not until the 1970s that cycle commuting and cycle touring started being widely promoted and used again. Prominent in bicycle advocacy in Melbourne in the 1970s and 1980s was journalist and author Keith Dunstan. From the 1970s onwards, cycling in Melbourne and the rest of Victoria was stimulated by a number of factors: The establishment of the Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club (MBTC) in October 1973. The MBTC aims to promote cycle touring and a healthy, active lifestyle. It has a fundamental commitment to public transport, making extensive use of the country and suburban train networks to get to and from the rides it runs. The Bicycle Institute of Victoria (later known as Bicycle Victoria, and now gone nationwide and known as Bicycle Network) started in 1975 with its first president being Keith Dunstan, as a broad appeal membership organisation to campaign for improved facilities and recognition of cyclists. , Bicycle Network had grown to 50,000 members across Australia. Innovative supported tours by Friends of the Earth to Canberra to protest uranium mining – the FoE Rides Against Uranium – in 1975, 1976, and 1977. Australia's first bicycle plan instituted in the late 1970s in Geelong. Growing general environmental awareness of pollution, negative