Background
McDonald grew up in Armidale in country NSW.
McDonald grew up in Armidale in country NSW.
He worked as a school teacher in Darwin for a couple of years before returning to NSW where he began work as a bicycle courier in Sydney. A fellow courier introduced him to racing at Randwick Botany Cycling Club located at Heffron Park in Sydney"s south east. Training very hard whilst working as a messenger he improved quickly on the bike, eventually quitting to ride full-time for a number of smaller local teams.