Ted Ryko

Ted Ryko on his world record breaking journey from Adelaide to Darwin in 1914. Ted Ryko (26 September 1892 - 2 September 1968), born Edward Frederick Reichenbach, was an Australian cyclist and photographer who broke the world record for cycling from Adelaide to Darwin in May 1914.

Early life

Ryko was born in Woorak, near Jeparit in the Mallee, Victoria to Ludwig Carl Reichenbach and Alma Johanna Reichenbach. His parents were of German descent but were both born in Australia.

World Record

At 21 years of age, Ryko, together with companion John Fahey left the Adelaide Post Office in May 1914 determined to break the world record for cycling from Adelaide to Darwin. Even stopping to take photographs of the journey, Ryko broke the record reaching the Darwin Post Office shortly after noon on Thursday 11 June 1914. The journey took him 28 days, 15 hours and 30 minutes, beating the previous record by 15 hours and 23 minutes. Fahey sprained his ankle near the border of South Australia and the Northern Territory and was unable to complete the journey. He traveled extensively throughout the Territory, often on bicycle photographing Indigenous people, ceremonial life and remote industries such as buffalo hunting. Many scenes were often carefully constructed. In December 1915, Ryko sold the business, to concentrate on his photography, travelling extensively across the Northern Territory throughout Arnhem Land, as well as Fort Dundas, Goulburn Island Mission and Melville Island.

Ryko left the Territory in, moving to Sydney. His collection of photographs and postcards were stolen from his home. They are now extremely rare. Of the nearly 3000 photographs Ryko took during his time in the Northern Territory, only a couple of hundred remain. They are now sought after by private collectors, libraries. archives and museums. He married Irene Watson on 20 April 1920.