A FEAT ON THE BICYCLE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 468, 29 March 1909, Page 8

A FEAT ON THE BICYCLE.

0 THE' NEW PLYMOUTH-WELLINGTON • RECORD. By this time the public has got used to road records being broken by Mr. Francis Birtles, a cyclist of great staying-power, who rodo> long distances in Australia over unbeaten tracks. On Saturday he essayed to put up a record between New Plymouth and Wellington, a distance of 256 miles, and tho fact that ho covered that distance in seventeen hours, in the face of adverse conditions, proves him a cyclist of more than ordinary pluck and endurance. Ho left New Plymouth at 3 a.m. .on Satinday, and for tho first threo hours, experienced cold weather and muddy roads, varied hero and there by sections of now metal, in negotiating which he had several spills. In the darkness ho onco 'ran into a mob of sleeping cattle that had selected tho road to pass the night on, and,. bofoi-o. he quite knew whore ho was, ho had collided heavily with ono of the animals. No serious damage was sustained, however, and ho passed through Hawcra at 7 a.m v and Waverley at 9 a.m., I finding tho foa'ls in tho district bad and tho going in places "steep and difficult. He clapped on a 20-;milc-an-hour pace in threading the Wanganui district (at ono time doing 7 miles in 14 minutes), and pulled up at Saiison for lunch. Leaving there at 1 p.m., he cxpsrienced ' head 'vi.ads to Otaki, but kept straight on, passing through I'ackakariki at G. 15 p.m., and arriving in Wellington at 8 p.m.' It rained during tho greater part of tho journey, and Mr. Birtles arrived in town soaked to tho skin. Though several attempts have been made by cyclists to travel from Now Plymoatb. to Wellington in a day, tho task has never been accomplished until Saturday. Mr. Birtles rodo.a Rudgc-Whit-worth machine, and has nothing but praise for his mount.