WITH THE AMATEURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 220, 17 September 1930, Page 16

WITH THE AMATEURS.

CLUB EVENTS. • HARD GOING "ON THE ROADS. FIXTURES. Saturday." September 20—30 Miles Senior, Tire Miles Junior, 2 p.m. \ Sunday. September 21 —Run over 50 course, ■ taking 1.40 p.m. ferry. -, Saturday, September 27—Possible rtate for 50-mile Championship. (May lie changed to October 4.) . ••... .

Big fields again characterised both,: of the Manukau Amateur Cycling -Club's road events out at Mount Roskill. last Saturday afternoon. The increasing, popularity of the new five-mile circuit, is a source of gratification to.. the club's officials, all of whom have done, their level best to inspire the riders with.enthusiasm for the present circuit, which is, .without question, an ideal road-ra&ing course, embodying as it. does in its circumference practica'lly;?.every type of road surface and; gradient that would pe encountered on a; ;, iengthy out-and-home course. , last week i>vas perfect',' but'-racingj.cbnditions were made somewhat'difficultby the strong and keen:; southerly, that blew across the circular course. Tfie first two miles of each lap jnearitt -ljarjci plugging; and the mile-long hill found'the. wind, a side .one, of little help, but on the last two miles of down grade the ■going wa- extremely fast, and very few, oi'K account .of their small gears, • could take full advantage of its assistance over the latter section.

The Junior Race. Again the- juniors competed in-fuller force than ever. Eighteen started, .another, entry in. tlieiij> ; five 7 miler. ;H.- y?f Gordon (scratch) -.gave away 3m 30s start to J. E. Bowen and D. L. forthous, the limit.pair,'.a start which proved, •too .big under the prevailing.conditioner for Gordon 'was 51' seconds 'behind the winner at the end. , • •J.,;. Bates is , the; latest "find" among the. ranks., "ifrom which/ some of the club's, best riders-have come, notably FoubisteV a'nd Wade. Bates rode off. the 2m '.<2os'? rnark ; and raced throughout "like 'a' young- champion to' run:away from the only one of his comarkers to. stick with him, L. Cogan, over- the last half-mile/.-to' "win without appearing a bit distressed 'by a good 60 yards.. Bates has a gi'eat future before him, for/he was only competing in ;his third race. . The previous week he was second off 6m in the ten miles, the first longrace for the junior division this year; He is short in stature and fairly thick set for a lad under 1(5 years, the age limit of the junior division. In athletics' the shorter type generally figure prominently, i

Before the race L. Cogan was a bit doubtful whether he .ought to start. His front tyre was. giving him serious thought. It had been through many a hard-fought battle, as a casual glance would, convey, but Cogan had-an idea, well founded too, that it was going to meet its 1 Waterloo in the ,rac& under review. However; Cogan started,'and like a good soldier his tyre nearly won the day for him. He was a fair second, after holding Bates for 4§ miles of the five, only losing ground over the last windassisted .section. Cogan is fast improving. His last placing was a second, off 3m 30s, whereas last week he rode off 2m- 20s. Last year he had a couple of wins and a second at Mangere.

D. L. Porthous, 3.30, won't be long before he fills the premier position in a junior i;ace. He.was only a few yards behind Cogan after holding the lead for four miles. His present liberal handicap is too hard.'a proposition for the scratch juniors. Many considered that A. W.. Robinson with.only 15s start from H. V. Gordon, scratch, had no hope whatever of keeping the latter rider from catching up to him. When Gordon was pushed off on the five- miles journey with Robinson, then only a matter of 150 yards away, it looked , a nice thing for Gordon as far as fastest time ''honours were concerned. But Robinson proved himself a real fighter and an unpaced rider! of no mean merit when he stuck; to hiij task and clocked 14.30, to which Gordon answered with , 14,19. Robinson featured <m scratch with Gordon the previous Satur"day in the 10-miler, but was beaten in the sprint. His only hone of beating Gordon off the mark is to develop a: good fast .sprint. A. long sprint should work the oracle for Robinson.

Senior Race of 25 Miles. The tonic effect of a line piiiiuy clay on. the senior members was noticeable, and 27 raced, the biggest field seen out on the course at: Mount Roskill. The race of 25'miles,.'over'five "laps) was a strenuous oiie and: the better, trained riders had those ,w.ho had been neglectful of their training gasping for breath long before tlie last lap came round. The number of retirements ill a race of only half the distance of the "fifty" wae unexpected. Whether the. boys are trying to reins" withtlie intention of influencing. Handicapper Auckram in their favour- in the "fifty," or are merely undertraiiied, ~te .open to question. For their' benefit : it-JuVay ; be confidentially stated ■,that the" 'handicapper is wide awake to the little games that go on. -Borland's Popular Victory.

Ten ■minutes —two minutes per lap-r-. was the limit riders' -etart in the senior race! 'The trio on the Matter mark were W, B.orland, K.L. Francis (who rode in f rbiii -Pa'pdkui-a) 20 miles a\vay, to race), and W. : Clarke" Of the -three Borland was the moet fancied on account of # - hie long experience of road work gained since he first raced in 1020. Borland's win was no gift, even though it was a, very convincing one. He worked hard' for" it, hie first win in a handicap road race. The last couple of laps he rode on his own and won with 1.33 to spare. Naturally it was a very, popular win, for few are more appreciative of the rewards of perseverance than ■ the Manukau wheelers. It was deservedly popular, for to race for five, road seasons without a win is" enough to discourage the stoutest of stout-hearted fello\v<s. Borland rode with rare determination and splendid judgment, ts was revealed by his improvement, in time over the final lap. He lapped in 15.21, 15.52, 10.2, 16.2 and 15.32, taking 7,8 m 49e for th'e\2s milee,: Ip a 27 milw' .time trial over 'the; Tamaki circuit on Ju1y.30,1927, he wa's'jeredited with first ])lace after his allowance of 8m had been deducted' ■from his 'riding , time. Saturday was the first occasion on which, he had headed a field home. A time trial is. an entirely diift"erent type of event, based solely on the times recorded.

Andrews Shows Stamina. Competing in his third ■ra'ce this season, E. ,D. Andrews, 0m 40s, came in second. Although unable t*o race consistently,, he keeps himself in gOv)d ftfrm during the season; and- when lie does race iisuall.y reaps the benefit of his training. - Andrews won ■ his , first road race on June 19, 1926, when he headed home a field of 1C in a 17-miler at Mangere off the Cm mark. year at Mangere he won two 17-inilers. Saturday's display was his best over a distance and his sprinting ,-effort against Baston, whom he defeated by/half a length, showed that he. has, developed speed as well as stamina. ■ A very

methodical type of rider is Andrews, who is always anxious to .have his Jap times noted. He considers the watch an unfailing indication of his form. He covered his lape in 14m 40s, 15m 28s, 15m 425, lom 50s, and 15m 235, taking 77m 3s for the 25 miles.

Baston leading for Kohn Cup. For the sixth time this season, R. T. Baston,. Cm.4os, was placed. For a firstyear rider he has done remarkably well to score one win, one second and four thirds. He ie now leading with 10 points for the Kohn Cup, .which was presented by Mr. E. S. Kohn three seasons ago. Baston is the first long marker to figure prominently in the annual,competition for this challenge cup, with ■which goes a fine gold niedal. "Wliitten's riding well to-day"' was remarked by several as Whitten flashed by With Mackie oii l his wheel to clock 18m 50s for, the initial lap, the fastest lap recorded. He: rode off scratch with Angus Mackie- and Hen. Dwight. Mackie, dogged by his usual ill-luck, punctured on the second lap. From then on Whitten was assured of time honours, for Dwight, who wss experiencing a fit of the "slows," was well behind. Usually a- strong finisher, Whitten disappointed many on Saturday when he crossed the line 2m 31s after the winner. His lap times were 13m 50s,- 14m ss, 14m Bs, 14m 465, and 15m 31s, and his total time 72m 20s. Probably his 'slow last lap was the result of his knowing that he had no hope of catching the leader, but had time honours,well pocketed. Whitten is expected to make a bold bid' for the road championship title in the forthcoming "50" around the harbour.

Generalities. ; K. SpraggySm 20s, ran a. good'fourth.His last read success was on July 9, 1927, when'he was second off'3m 30s in an 11-miler. D. Baird, '5m 30e, fifth, was the pick of the middle markers; \ ; J. H. Wade, 2m, seventh, finished very tired. He arranged to dead-heat with Whitten for sixth place, but was a tyre width out. His eix weeks' spell off the road has naturally put him back in form but out on handicap. . C. Harris and G. P. Clark, both off ilni, rode conspicuously for four Japs, and -then faded out of the picture to finish eighth and ninth respectively. , IST. B. Casey, 3in 30s, completed the distance'but a long way behind the rest. C. Hansen, Cm 40s, had nieclianical trouble before the race. Junior Bellini loaned him his machine, but the strange mount and an. abrupt, corner combined to bring Hansen down. None was- more appreciative of the service rendered by the ambulance men than Hansen on. Saturday. . •

Club Run Over "50" Course. That extra helping of plum pudding must have delayed four members who intended to catch; the 1.40 p.m. ferry to Devonport on last .Sunday's run over the "fifty" course. They arrived just as the landing >vas hoisted. A case of eo near, yet so far. The 21 punctual ones took the actual race route,, a very circuitous one, to get to Albany, and the late comers, by taking a direst route, joined>the party before Albany. The rider who records fastest time 'thisyear will have to be a real road champion., The course is a very severe one. Bidet's this year will be required to have their cycles equipped with an' efficient buikc. The eteep descent to the treacherous Brigham's Creek Bridge alone* warrants siich equipment.,