CYCLING NOTES.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10238, 6 January 1899, Page 7

CYCLING NOTES.

" Weekly Press and Referee." [By Velox.] Referring; to the remarks of my confrere about the alteration of the rule N.Z. League of Wheelmen amateurs "Prodigal" in the Sydney "Referee" says:—"l can hardly credit the statement that League amateurs may compete against professiottils in any branch of sport other than cycling especially as one of the principal reasons assigned by League partisans for the "knock out' of the N.Z. Alliance was that

the Alliance amateurism was a sham, and /their (tho I.c.igue) the only true .amateurism. ' At the an mc time, a writer occupying the position of 'Vaulter' is almost sure' to have niadi- no mistake, and, furthermore, I have heard the s-ame thing rumoured elsewhere. This is the Victorian idea in rowing, and it M-as o;ilv the other day that a front-rank ' Victorian rower, assured mc that he could sec no rhyme or reason why an amateur rower t-hotild not compete "in the Austral Wheel Raie, with the proviso that if he, /* the a mat our rower, won, ho should pt a trophy value 240sovs, whilst the professional cyi list would take the cash. If amateurs in the League of N.Z. can uct in like manner, well it's a certainty their ••unaleurmu' is of a brand that but few will accept here." In well informed circles in tliis colony it is thought pretty wi'tain y that the government of amateur bicycling will ere long he on such a basis that -wijl satisfy all concerned. ; , ; The League of New Zealand Wheelmen -.originally would not reinstate men into the amateur ..ranks, but for some reason, when y tho rules were recently altered, one was inserted to allow of reinstatement of men who had abstained for. twelve monihs from competing in the professional ranks. This i» going to the other extreme, nnd would appear as if there was a special desire to add mon to'the ranks under the amateur rule. It : - iirst of all an incentive to men to break their amateur status when they know they have to stand down for twelve months only. Tho League should make it at least two years before a man losing his status can apply for reinstatement. Referring to betting a Wanganui paper says, in reference to a statement "That the presenco of the totalisator at cycle ruce meetings would make things hum, and the flport would soon outrival horse racing, there is enough 'cronk' riding now without the ad of the 'tote,' which would soon have the elfect of completely killing all public interest in tho game. "That there will be a great revival of amateurism before long nppeurs certain, so surely are many of the cash riders disgusting tho public with their tactics." This, coming from a district that has been crying out for a long time for "cash" cycling, seems to indicate that not far otf revulsion of feeling that some prognosticate.

When betting enters into our sports, the . itiaircement for frudulent competition is . always present. This has been found so in all parts of tho world, and there is now an . outcry against the betting in Australia on "cash cycling," In a leading articlo on "Sport and betting" tho "Australasian" says: —Bicycle racing is just now At tho height of its popularity, but it has become a gamo in which the bookmaker takes a hand, and for this reason only thero is a chance ofits declining as a sport. . . We have been told by experts in cycling that they cannot toll whether a rider is doing his be3t or running a "bye." If this be so with experts, what chances can the ordinary spectator have of discriminating between an honest rider and a skilful shunter? When the genuine amateur retired in favour of the professionals, or "cash cyclists," as they are called, the door was at once opened to the bookmaker. The public wanted the professional because he rides better than the amateur. There are thousands of people who patronise cycling. The majority of these people admire good riding, even though they may be told that they have been working themselves into a state of .excitement over a heat the ' result of which had been arranged in the dressing-room before the men come on to tho track. But will not the public become nick of hearing how it has been duped? The ■' question is, how is the betting to be stopped Hnnir that it has got a firm bold? VThu bookmaker maybe put off the Mcl- / bourne ground, but this will not do away entirely with betting, provided the public wish to bet. The bookmaker will lay ' wagers in town if the amount of cug- ; torn vouchsafed him makes it worth his while. The "-r.fessional cyolist cannot, in ■' the nature of things, last very long, and he wants to earn money quickly. The M.B.C. and other clubs may give fair stakes, but ' the chance of supplementing these stakes through the ring is an opportunity a professional cannot be expected to deny himself. From careful enquiries we have made we believe L. B. Soharp wan backed for the Austral to win between £2500 and £3000. This shows that rider- have had ' opportunities of considerably improving on tho M.R.O. stake this year. Its great popularity may Kee-- bicycle racing on the top of the wave for some time, but while betting continues there is the danger of some glaring soamdal cropping up to sicken x the public, as they were sickened of to- ' -fessional foot-racing. Some will say that pedejrtrianism nevejL, reached the height of bicycling, but we can remember how thousands went to sea the Hewitt and Harris matches, and it must have been in a very ' flourishing condition when speculators tho.ght it good enouo-h to import Bird, ' Tapley, and Hewitt in 1869. After their advent these famous professionals drew ' wonderfully for a while,, but it was not fcry long before a fiasco occurred, and '; although the princi*oal witness was spirited away, and an action for conspiracy couia not be proceeded with, professional foot-racing was doomed, and it has only flourished in a fitful way since Whether cycling will bo able to carry its betting load remains to be seen, but seeing that horse-racing is the only sport which has hitherto proved strong enough to bear the burden, we think the odds are decidedly against cycling. '•Never bock a thing that can talk, was advice given to a friend by a Napoleon of the turf many years ago, and - it remains to this day the truest saying ever uttered in connection with sport and betting. y From present appearances tlie paced races of tho future in England, America* and I ■~ France, will be paced by motor tandems, Ac. It becomes more and more evident that the motor cycles now used in France (some Of which paced'Huret, France, in his recent j marvellous ride of 100 miles in 3Urs llmin 1 1 l-sth sec) are now sufficiently perfected to be used in place of * the manned pacing ■■ -" .machines. The Dunlop-Company, England, '4- the controllers of the biggest pacing team I *.. in tho world, have not yefc announced their * '•- intention for the next season; but it is ] ; thought that the motor tandem will play an : f - ' important part-in the company's pacing ar- ' • rangemonts next year. One thing is certain, < Britishers will have to wako up or thujsyiwili j find themselves sorely left; as the \ and French cracks have cut the ground from ;' : i beneath- their feet, and beaten tb«r_n_S_ly '', : at their own game, viz., paced riding against) : . , '.'. .time. This time last year England hejdall *- V the world's records worth holding, from quarter mile to twenty-four hours; out now : ~- hardly lias a record to her credit. It's sure- j ,". ly not that the English cracks have deteriorated, but that they have not had the same ;. ' facilities and advantages. Given the fastest gwe procurable, many judges think that etts, Linton, Walters, Chase, Palmer and . Armstrong would quickly re-capture all the World's cycling records, and regain for Eng- j land her prestige in the cycle world. _> I have to acknowledge sheet No. lof the I Cycling Map of New Zealand, compiled and I- ■ copyrighted by {he N.Z. Cyclists' Touring ;- Club. The map should be of great value w> tourists.