Pat Dillon has a place at the very top table as one of Australian BMX’s founding fathers.

In the late 1970’s, when Pat’s parents returned home from the United States after a business trip with a handful of bicycle motocross magazines, a few cool stickers, and stories of kids in vacant lots racing on dirt tracks with starting gates, jumps and berms, Pat saw his destiny. 

With the encouragement of his parents, fifteen-year-old Pat drew up some promotional flyers, posted them all over town, and waited to stage Victoria’s first ever BMX race meeting. Just six people turned up, and five of those were his mates.  Unperturbed, he tried again a month later and this time he had more than fifty riders raring to give it a go, including the likes of Steve Cassap, Dave Cooper, and a fresh-faced kid named Jamie Hales.

BMX Racing in Victoria had begun. Pat’s profile as a young entrepreneur was further enhanced a few weeks later when the Melbourne Sun newspaper did a full page spread on Pat and the events he was running in his local area. Pat’s Victorian BMX revolution was quickly taking hold with BMX tracks appearing at Lalor, Waverley and Frankston.

Pat understood the value of the written word and sent endless letters to bicycle manufacturers, retailers and local councils, seeking advice, support, and most importantly, land on which to host his pop-up race meetings. Pat’s passion for racing also fuelled his need for quality BMX products, which were virtually impossible to buy in Melbourne at this time. It was Cycles Australia, the national retailer behind the Madison Taipan brand who suggested to young Pat that if he can’t get the products he wanted, why doesn’t he import them himself.  Again with the support of his parents, the first iteration of what would quickly become one of Australia’s premier BMX retail outlets, PRM Cycles appeared as a tin shed at the side of the Dillon family home.

Pat Dillon’s name is as synonymous with South Eastern BMX Track as it is with the PRM Cash Dash. Pat was instrumental in securing the land from the local council and establishing the track that would soon see PRM organise one of Australia’s most iconic Pro-Am events on the race calendar. The battles, the photos, memories and stories and the crowds that clung to every vantage point to watch the Cash Dash are part of the fabric of Australian BMX history.

If these achievements weren’t enough Pat spent over a decade as one of the nation’s top senior riders.  On both his 20” and his favoured cruiser, Pat chalked up an impressive sequence of State, National and World rankings in a decorated riding career.  By his own admission, he rates his holeshot and second place finish at the IBMXF World Titles in Brisbane, as one of his greatest achievements from his time in the sport of BMX.

Patrick Dillon’s contribution to the Victorian and Australian BMX history is profound. Across his illustrious career Pat hosted Victoria’s first BMX race, imported BMX products, supplied thousands of customers with state-of-the-art BMX equipment, supported up and coming riding talent, established an iconic annual national race at an iconic race venue, competed at the highest level as a rider, all with the vision, courage and humility of a true champion.

Patrick Dillon is one of the founding fathers of both Victorian and Australian BMX and is a worthy inductee to the Australian BMX Hall of Fame.