CHAMPION CYCLIST,

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 217, 13 September 1930, Page 10

CHAMPION CYCLIST,

"TEDDY" REYNOLDS DEAD.. CRACK RIDER OF 'NINETIES;''- ■ WORLD'S RECORD AT DOMAIN. "'*' The death is announced at Christ, church of Mr. Edward Reynolds) 57 years, as the result of injuries he ■'■' received in a motor accident abour £ month ago. In the 'nineties Mr. Reynolds, or&sliQ ■ was better known, "Teddy" Reynolds, ' was the champion amateur cyclist of the • Dominion, and later he had a fair mea- *; sure of success in the professional ranks;

"Teddy" Eeyonlds belonged to Cam- : bridge, and showed promise as a racing cyclist when quite a youth. He was 17 - years of age when he won his first race in Auckland. He soon became estab- : lished as the New Zealand champion,' and as an amateur rider of that period stood alone. The 'nineties were the boom period of cycling in New Zealand. , Although in Auckland he was called on! to give big starts to other competitors, Reynolds had a wonderful run of sue- ' cess, and was noted. for his skilled., pedalling and extraordinary sprinting \ powers near the end of a race. At the height of hfq fame as an amateur rider V Reynolds went South to the first New Zealand amateur championship cycling. meeting, and won every championship, with the exception of the half-mile, which race fell to R. A. Dexter, another Auckland rider of that period. Reynolds made one trip to Australia, and ; at Melbourne met Park, the Victoran amateur champion, in two races, tlie honours on that occasion being divided.

One of Reynolds' achievements was; to .' ride a mile on the Auckland Domain in two minutes ten seconds behind pace, and at that time it stood as a world's ■ record for a grass track. It also gave him the distinction of being one of th&, first three'amateur athletes in New;, Zealand to break a world's record. .

At the second New Zealand amateur, cycle championship meeting—it was held at Wanganui because Auckland did not have a banked track—"Teddy" Reynolds again won practically all the championships, although on that occasion he met a surprising defeat in the ten miles championship, Wall, a Wauganui rider, making an unexpected break near the end of the race and sustaining his effort long enough to win. On his last appearance in Auckland as an amateur rider, "Teddy" Reynolds won the Royal Enfield Cup,.the premier trophy at that "time for cycling. ,■--_ As a . Professional; When he crossed to the professional ranks Reynolds met more skilled opponents, but he had more than a fair measure of success against riders so wellknown at that time as Hunt, Barker, Forbes, Chalmers, Ralston, and T.. Clarkson.' " Reynolds held sway until a new champion in Sutherland came v pn the scene. The pair met in several historic races before a younger rider's superiority was demonstrated. Although hest known as a cyclist, "Teddy" Reynolds was a jvery able long' distance runner. In 1896 lie represented Auckland as the province's second string at a New Zealand amateur championship meeting, and to the surprise and delight of a big crowd of spectators at the Auckland Domain, struggled. home to win the event for Auckland. , # >

"Teddy" Heynolds was in business m Auckland as a cycle dealer; went to Wellington and founded.the motor importing firm of E. Reynblds and Company. He occupied a leading ■ position in tlie motor trade and was ; for a period president of the New Zealand Motor Traders' Association. He leaves a widow and four children. A brother, Mr. W. ReynoldSj. lives ao Rotorua, and jYlesdanies T. Clarkson ami; IT. Bach, of Auckland, and Mrs. W. W.. now in Sydney, are sisters.