BICYCLE “RACE” IN RIVER

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26409, 1 May 1951, Page 3

BICYCLE “RACE” IN RIVER

Ten hardy students of Canterbury University College took part in the “ride in the river” as part of capping week celebrations yesterday. Conditions between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. were so cold as to discourage even spectators; but students on the banks gave plenty of encouragement. A marshal told entrants that the only rules were that they must ride “at least some of the way* and not push from the bank. In line abreast at the Antigua street bridge, the starters were in water up to their knees and obviously hoped to mount their bicycles after a short push-off. One hundred yards downstream, however, the wheels of their machines were under water. Still further on the leaders went into holes up to the armpits and their bicycles disappeared from sight. Some got their first ride on the island between Montreal street and the Bridge of Remembrance but one eager rider turned a complete somersault into the water, buckling his machine. The crowds thickened as the .competitors neared the centre of the city and, at the finish opposite the Public Library, all who completed the course rode at least a few yards in the water and then lifted machines clogged with weed from the Avon river.