Cycling Notes

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3103, 29 September 1899, Page 5

Cycling Notes

I • — [By Red Bird.] The winter of the cyclists' discontent would once again appear to have retired into the. background, and lovely weather, such as is dear to the heart of the wheelman, has once more awakened the late sleeping energies of the cyclist. With the advent of the scorcher, the tinkling of bells, and the glare of the cycle lamp, &c, " Red Bird " has likewise awakened from the cycle lethargy in which he has hibernated, and is glad to be able once again to resume acquaintanbe with his old friends in Bruce, and wish them one and all a pleasant time on their bikes throughout the coming season. Since the last occasion on which " Eed Bird " troubled his readers with one of his effusions, cycling matters in Bruce, Milton particularly, have been in a very dead and alive state, with a large preponderance of the former condition. Within the past week or two a revival appears to have set in, however, and bicycles are pouring in at a great rate, particularly in Kaitangata and Milton. As a natural consequence a new club hus been formed at Kaitangata, with a strong membership. The new club is said to possess some very fast men, so that the prospect of meeting them

should fire our local road-kings "with competitive enthusiasm. " Eed Bird " wishes the Kaitangata Club a long and prosperous career. I have been shown a copy of the annual report of the Bruce Cycling Club, but cannot see one single item (unless the credit balance of 14s) on which I can congratulate members. This is not as it should be, as for cycling roads, no county in New Zealand can take the cake from Bruce. Perhaps this accounts for the want of support accorded to the club, by reason of the wheelmen being set in such a cyclists' paradise, and not wishing to be encumbered by club restrictions. My own opinion is that a cycling club will never come into any prominence here until a cycling track is provided. This opens up that vexed question on which " JJed Bird " exhausted all his persuasive and^then combatative genius last year, so I wilUnot go into details again. However, I trust that this matter will be thoroughly threshed out at the annual meeting on Friday night, for it will have to be settled once and for all this year. The result will either mean an immense revival in all kinds of sport all over Bruce County, or it will mean that their death knell will have been sounded, and our athletic societies will cease to exist. I for one don't wish for such a state of affairs, and neither do my readersLet all our athletic societies, then, join with the cyclists, and be up and doing, and never let such a condition of things as portrayed above ever dim the horizon of sport in Bruce. The main roads in and around Milton arenow in splendid condition. They were all overhauled and repaired during the winter, and now that the metal has been crushed and solidified into its place, the result is most gratifying from a cyclist's point of view. The following report of the Bruce Cycling Club will be submitted at the annual meeting to- night in M'Farlane's Temperance Hotel : — " Your Committee in presenting their iirst annual report and balancesheet cannot congratulate members on the state of the affairs of the Club. After starting with a great flourish of trumpets, all interest in the institution died out, and the efforts of the committee to keep up enthusiasm proved a failure. A few of the racing men got up several races on their own responsibility, which proved very exciting, j The opening run to Waihola was an unqualified success, but it proved the only one of the season. Your committee made every effort during their term of office to secure a ground suitable for putting a track on, and several were inspected, but the matter is not much further forward than when they took office. This was not due to any inactivity on the part of your committee, but to the unwillingness of landowners to part with their land. In a note from the President to be read at the meeting, it will be seen that there are now some prospects of the Club securing a suitable ground at a not far distant date, and it is to be hoped that the new committee will successfully negotiate for the purchase of this land. Much advantage is now to be gained by cyclists joining the Club during the coming season, as under the new local government tscheme of the League, lately instituted, with the Otago headquarters at Dunedin, the Club will receive material benefit owing to their proximity to the central body. Your committee would impress upon members the necessity of their paying their subscriptions as soon as possible, as without financial support the Club cannot exist. In conclusion, there is no reason why the incoming season should not prove a most successful one ; and if the cyclists of Toko, will only pull together and help the Club in every possible way, there is no doubt that before many months are over, the Club will be in possession of its long-talked-of track.