The Dubbo community lost a true sporting legend in the lead up to Christmas when internationally-acclaimed cycling coach, Garry ‘Gus’ Dawson, passed away aged 72.

While Gus will leave a large hole in the Dubbo sporting community, his legacy lives forever.

The young boy who was in the saddle as soon as he could walk, whistling around the streets of North Dubbo with brothers Percy (deceased) and Tom before forging his own cycling career, is regarded as one of Australia’s most recognised mentors.

“Gussy”, as he was affectionately known, built his reputation around the development of some extraordinary athletes. He also achieved recognition for the manner in which he influenced the lives of many people for the better.

A number of his proteges have gone on to represent at World Championships and Commonwealth Games, while for others he provided incomparable support and guidance enabling them to enjoy full and happy lives.

It is difficult to encapsulate Gus’s extensive sporting life. He took up riding at the age of 8 then moved into a coaching role 20 years later.

Personal achievements were not how Gus measured his life but there was one which held a special place in his heart. In 1964, the 12-year-old broke the NSW Schoolboys cycling record. What made this so important to him was that he had usurped his older brother Tom. In an extraordinary feat, younger brother Percy rewrote the books a few years later!

Gus’s numerous individual cycling achievements included the NSW Sprint Title, Under-15 Cyclist of the Year (1965) and he was the youngest ever finalist in the prestigious Austral Cycling Race.

These efforts demonstrated the young Gus’s ability on the bike, however it was his efforts off the bike which garnered enormous success throughout the years.

Despite the individual successes on his bike, Gus had an itch to play league with his beloved Macquarie Blues. He was the goal kicker in an incredible Under-18s team alongside Bob Pilon and NSW CHS star Gary Giddings that went throughout the Group XI season undefeated, only to fall at the last hurdle, losing to Canowindra in the Grand Final in 1968.

Gus returned to cycling in 1973 and raced until he was 28. He travelled all over the state competing on the NSW circuit. His pro resume includes a third place in the gruelling Nyngan to Dubbo Classic, but it was when Gus hung up his bike that his influence on the Dubbo sporting scene and the wider cycling community took off.

As a cycling coach, mechanic and mentor, there was none finer! This was recognised in 2010 when Gus was awarded the Australian Cycling Coach of the Year.

It is impossible to quantify the entirety of his career off the bike. The following summary however can be provided to reflect the enormity of Gus’s influence:

* Coached Meagan Dunn to two Commonwealth Games Gold Medals

* Coached cyclists to win seven Junior World Titles – Brent Dawson, Chris Pascoe, Trent Asimus, James Lago, Meagan Dunn and Tyler Puzicha

* Coached cyclists to win 165 National titles

* Coached cyclists to win three Masters World Titles – Darrell Wheeler, Graham Peadon and Vaughn Eather

* Coached Cyclist to one Elite World Championship 4th place

In 2021 Cycling Australia elected not to send a team to the Junior World Championships due to the Covid pandemic. It is a sad irony that Danny Barber, Dylan Eather, Haylee Fuller and Tyler Puzicha, who were all selected, are continuing to light up the tracks and roads around the world. Gus would have had four “Dawson-powered” cyclists in green and gold at the same event. It is a remarkable record but one of which Gus was equally proud and self-effacing about.

He always told his riders that if they wanted to achieve at a certain level and to the best they could be, he would nurture them. Gus would lead the way on his trusty motorcycle, but the wise old mentor knew that miles in the legs and the spirit beating beneath their shirts was what would ultimately determine the goals his cyclist attained.

Gus passed the baton to current NSW Academy of Sport assistant coach, Vaughn Eather. Gussy was club coach of Dubbo Cycle Club when it was awarded the Australian Cycle Club of the Year award in 2019. His protégé acknowledged the Master’s touch.

Reflecting on his nearly 60 years of coaching Gus remarked, “I just had that mindset of wanting to get one rider to junior Nationals to build that competitive nature in our club and it has been pretty successful over the years!”

Australian Cycling recognised the Dubbo legend’s talent and unique ability to pass on knowledge and encouragement to younger charges. He was invited to travel with National teams which competed at World Championships. Current US National Cycling Coach, Gary Sutton, recounts Gus assisted him National Manager/coach/mechanic at 10 Junior World Championships. He was in South Africa (twice), Athens, Moscow (twice), Slovenia, Belgium, Austria, Melbourne and Mexico.

While on the international circuit, Gus met with Belgium cycling legends including Eddy Merckx and Patrick Sercu as well as advising Australian cycling elite including Michael Mathews, Scott Sunderland, Danny Clark, Mark Renshaw and Amanda Spratt, just to name a few.

Such was Gus’s reputation that before Paris-Roubaix winner Mathew Hayman handed the Australian Cycling Club of the Year Trophy to then Club president Mathew Gilbert, he asked, “How’s Gus!?”

To most, the international acclaim may be the mark of a man, however Gus was never as at home as when he was working with cyclists of all abilities and ages right here in Dubbo.

A common site on the roads out of town was Gus on his motor scooter with a line of cyclists behind him. During winter the riders would gather at his house at 5am, ready for a two-hour ride in mostly negative temperatures. Athletes would turn up ready to train before school or work, and Gus would always be ready. Weekday afternoons and weekends would also be spent at the velodrome preparing cyclists.

Gus’s primary focus was to ensure individuals grew to enjoy the sport.

“You have to have a balance. As a junior, of course, you want to do well but cycling is only one avenue of your life and I wanted all our cyclists to enjoy their lives, with cycling just one aspect of that,” Gus told the Western Academy of Sport magazine.

“The good thing about building a great culture in the Academy or at a club level is that if the athletes are all good friends, they want to come back and push each other to be better. Plus, as a coach, it makes it more enjoyable to see the cyclists having fun together.”

That is Gus Dawson; that is the culture developed across many years and thousands of young and not-so-young cyclists.

There are countless people who have reaped the benefits of Gus’s wisdom, humour, passion and energy.

The legacy has been framed on the old bitumen track at Victoria Park No.1 Oval, on the new state-of-the-art outdoor velodrome in close proximity to where Gus Dawson grew up, and on the many training roads in and around our city.

Gus Dawson-coached cyclists are currently competing at National and Oceania Championships and at the Tour Down Under; many others are simply going for a ride on a Saturday morning thanking Gus for introducing them to his two-wheeled world of adventure.

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Editor’s note

At a packed St Brigid’s Church earlier this month, Gus’s two sons portrayed the loving father, husband, brother and grandfather. Their anecdotes captured the soul of a man driven by love for family and those he touched in the community throughout his long career as a builder, publican and while coordinating maintenance and construction projects at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

The boys spoke tenderly of a bloke who enjoyed playing pranks and loved darts and the Dragons.

Vale Gus