CYCLING NOTES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XV, Issue 3437, 15 November 1894, Page 3

CYCLING NOTES

By Slercur '. The recent uun.s have been right to the ! hand of the caretaker of the sports ground, and die track is m first class condition. Daly and Clarkseo are most frequently seen training, and consequently ifc is only to be expected tha:. as last year the maj - rity of the prices coming to Ashburton will fall to the share of those riders. Shearman Brothers and Fred Tucker make a point of training at leant once a week—usually on the half-holiday. Considering this fact they show good form. A lick Anderson will shortly make his appearance on the track mounted on an Atlanta racer. Messrs Landelle and Preston's recent consignment of bicycle accessories contain some useful extras. They have some very neat and useful lamps, wrenches of all kinds, light handy toolbags, •and their racing saddles are the best I have seen. Roadster saddles m great variety and imported bearings are also m their window. The firm are expecting another consignment which will include a quantity of tubing, bearings, tires, etc., 'or the building of machines—both roadster and raciag. On arrival of these an ' Express' racer is to be built which is to equal if not excel the best of the machines iiow seen on the path. A new bicycle has been patented by Mr J. E. Beckwith, of Christchurch. The idea of the invention is a bicycle which while being convertible, m the ordinary sen3e of the term, can by the addition of certain parts be also converted into a tandem The inventor is at present on his way to England for the purpose of exhibiting one of the machines at the Stanley IShow, to be held m London m September. Machines of this kind are to be immediately placed upon the market by Messrs Waller, Scott and Myhre, of: Christ church. I

Since my last notes both Ken Lewis and A. J. Body have been temporarily suspended for having accepted remuneration from manufacturers for riding, In Body's case it is more than likely that the suspension will be only temporary, and that he will be taken back with a caution. The offence of K«n Lewis will certainly have been aggravated by his request to be admitted as a member of an Amateur Club. The Wheelman characterises that application as ** a supremely ludicrous request." The governing body of the Cash clubs is certainly to be highly commended for the determined stand it has taken against anything approaching professional. A. J. Body has sailed for Australia, to take part m the Austral Wheel race. ' August Lelir, the German rider and winner of the World's Amateur Mile Championship at Antwerp recently, has been granted permission by the Continental Amatfiur authorities to challenge, Zimmerman, now a professional, bis racing record compares favorably with Zimmerman's. The programmes for the Pioneer Club's race meeting — Boxing Day — and the Chiistchurch Cycling Club's meeting on December 17, are out. The Cash Club s races include the Five Milß Championship ©f New Zealand, and the New, Zealand wheel race of £19, and the Pioneers have a similar programme. A feature of both is the initiation m New Zealand of class lacing, by which the best riders will compete apart from the mediocrity, who by a judicious handicap limit m the first-class races will find it convenient to confine their energies to second-class events—certainly a step m the right direction. The following appears m the Wheelman —"A young lady would be glad to meet with a young gentleman who would be willing to take a ride m the country with her each Sunday. Address " Confidence," care the WJieelman." Ashburton cyclists please note. Harry Soanes will.after a long absence, renew his acquaintance with Lancaster Pank on December 17. Zimmerman favors cement m preference to a wooden track. Lancaster Park, though neither asphalted nor cemented, this season will be materially altered from its old appearance. It will have a surface of a broken rock substance, and will be less that three laps to the mile. Unpaced records are now finding favor m England. They might well be adopted here, as they are the only true tests of the respective merits of record breakers. The Boudard gear is the latest thing m cycling improvements m England, and the Humber company are rushed with orders for their machines to be fitted with the new gear. Its popularity gained considerable impetus from the fact that: Q. P. Mills broke the Edinburgh to London record while using a Boudard gear. The Irish Cyclist considers 321bs a suitable weight for road-riding and a gear of 60. Both Zimmerman and Frank Shorland me machines with wooden rims. Frank Shorland on his recent Cuea Cup ride drove a 70 gear. A reasonable request.—Charley—Look here, Sis, you're very fond of borrowing my ties and collars without notice. I don't mind that so much, but if you want to use my cycling knickers you might let me know a day or two before. The Boudard invention enables a much higher gear to be used. The Humber enmpany consider it an improvement on all other geara. Frank Hhorland also testifies to the superiority of this gear. Mills gained five pounds m weight during his record ride from Land's End to John o' Groats. £70 for three days' racing is not bad. That amount was won by Zimmerman at the Birmingham race meeting. In deciding a quarter mile scratch race on the Herne Hill track, the competitors had to race separately, the winner to make the fastest time. Zimmerman was successful, doing the distance unpaced m 30 4-sth seas. Augustus Lehr, m his racing career, has \ placed to his credit 234 wins, eight seconds and three thirds. The single tubed Palmer tire is a formidable rival to the liunlop, even the 1894 silk lined edition of that make. The Palmer is finding much favor here aa a racing tire, but m England almost without exception the champions stick to the double tubed favorite. The most noticeable feature of both makes is that from one and a quarter to one and a half inches sizeare being made, and are meeting with great success. Given' equality m pace a double tubed tire will always have an advantage over a single tube when it comes to repairing a puncture. The Friendly Societies are framing their programme for Wednesday December 19—in order that their dates will not clash with those of the Christchuroh Cycling club and of the Timaru Tourists meeting, both of which are to be held on December 17- There should really be no objections to this arrangment, as the holiday cannot be observed on Anniversary Day, December 16, which falls on Sunday.