CYCLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 72, 25 March 1936, Page 18

CYCLING.

WITH THE AMATEURS.

MANUKATT CLUB.

With track racing at such a low ebb it is not difficult to understand why so many of the riders are already training hard for the road racing season. Road racing in Auckland has always been the most popular phase of the sport since the Manukau Club commenced its activities in 1925. The club monopolised road work till 1981, when other clubs were formed, since when friendly rivalry has only tended to further popularise the game to such an extent that on many occasions last year over 120 riders were racing on a Saturday afternoon. Judging from the interest already being taken the forthcoming season, which will commence on April 18, the Saturday after Easter, will easily eclipse that of previous years. New members are enrolling almost daily, and the special trophy for newcomers in the first two races should be keenly contested. The same course at ! Avondale South will again be used, with possibly a longer circuit for the distance events. The introduction of a prize for the second fastest rider in the senior races will tend to makfe the racinjj more interesting, for it is very discouraging for a rider to pace out with Johnnie Brown for 15 or 20 miles only to be beaten on j the hill on the .final lap. [ Members were pleased that nothing more serious than .an icy submersion befell Edgar Raper when the eight-oar 1 capsized last week. Edgar was prominent in road events last season, and should i be even more brilliant this season with such a strenuous summer of rowing as ground work for the swifter sport. Next Saturday the ever-popular East Tamaki sports will be held, and on Easter Saturday the Cambridge Club will hold its annual, and the following Monday the Nahinepouri will do likewise. These meetings will definitely close the track season. ! The club's road programmes will be out this week. Racing right through to October should please the roadmen. , A low gear race, a two-man time trial, and an out-and-home race of 35 miles is the only departure from the usual routine of previous years. The juniors will be pleased to learn that their championship event will be held under unpaced rules. If permission is obtained the graded continental races from Birkenhead to Point Chevalier, roughly 40 miles, should provide splendid training. In such races the field starts off together like a scratch track race. Another innovation this year may be the starting method in long races. Instead of a pusher-off the riders will have to mount and strap in as they push off from the mark. This method is employed in Australia, where big fields are general. It prevents the rear row riders from having to rifn over or dodge the front row "puslier-offs" and heated exclamations.

AUCKLAND LADIES' CLUB.

On Thursday night at the Otahuhu points meeting a mile event:for ladies was won by Miss G. Mcßae (120 yds), with Miss K. McGeehin (50yds) second and Mies L. Arroll (140 yds) third. The first three laps were dominated by the limit riders, Misses Mcßae and Arrol, who made the pace very fast, but in the last two laps they slowed, thus enabling the back-markers to pick up a little. At the last lap Misses Mcßae and Arrol were still leading, with Miss McGeehin close up, and Miss Mcßae managed to maintain her lead to win by half a wheel. Everybody was pleased to see Miss Mcßae win her first race. Perseverance will have its reward, and Miss Mcßae is riding well now, and with the experience she is getting will be a very hard rider to head off in the near future. , The points now stand: Miss V. Baird 30, Miss It. McGeehin 26, Miss T. Beasley 19 Miss G. Mcßae 16, Miss N. Little 16, Miss L. Arrol 6, Mies J. Martain 4.

nomination for games.

RECONSIDERATION FOR GILES. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) * CIIRISTCHURCH, Tuesday. The Canterbury Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Association to-night decided to ask the council of the "ss°cintion to reopen and favourably consider the nomination of G. R. Giles, New Zealand cycling champion, for the Olympic Games. The centre had before It the minutes of the council's meeting showing that only Ave of the nine council members were present to discuss the claims of Giles, and that his nomination was voted out by three votes to two. It was contended that not sufficient reason had been advanced for the rejection of the nomination.