WITH THE WHEELMEN

Evening Star, Issue 22577, 19 February 1937, Page 5

WITH THE WHEELMEN

[By Pistol.]

Fixtures. February 20.—Southland championships, at Invercargill; sports meeting at Caledonian Ground. February 27. —Athletic Centre championships. March 20.—Caledonian Society’s sports meeting. Championships Reviewed. For the first time for several years riders from the Dunedin Amateur Cycling Club have managed to collect Otago championship titles, which were run off last Saturday in very wintry conditions. Easily the best performance of the day was put up by Bob Sivertscn, who won the quarter-mile sprint title and was second in the kilometre time trial. As expected, he was the hardest man in the quarter, his ability to use his brains when manoeuvring for position and his terrific sprint over the last 220yds being well shown. Only once was he not scon at In’s best, and that was in the semi-finals, when lie was beaten by a length by G. Homer. However, he still bad a life to spare and made no mistake in the final, taking the decision by two -lengths. The success of G. Homer in this event was not expected. However, the head wind in the hack straight and the match race condition's suited him. If the race had heen all out from the word go he would not have finished as runner-up. If this rider could develop a fast wind-up off the mark I do not see anyone beating him in short events. This rider was also runnerup in the five-mile championship event, being beaten by a small margin. Although not achieving championship honours on the track as yet, lie is undoubtedly the most promising rider seen in Dunedin for a number of years. He would be well advised to get a trainer who, could bring out the finer points in bis riding and make a real champion out of him.

One of the oldest followers of the sport, Mr S. Brown, the well-known timekeeper, made the remark on Saturday that the five-mile event was one of the best cycling races seen on the dale, for many years, and it the enthusiasm of the crowd present was a criterion, he was not far from it. A good race at any time gets a crowd excited, but the excitement which prevailed while the two last laps were being covered dwarfed anything seen on the track in the last few years. Only six of the thirteen starters were left at two miles to go, and none of these were shaken off until the finish. Any attempt at break-away was promptly smothered, Homer usually doing the work of taking the field up to the rider responsible. The last furlong was particularly interesting, L. Johnson, of Invercargill, making the lead out, with Homer glued to his back wheel, while Chalmers was lying in a handy position. The terrific sprint by Chalmers in the front straight gave him the decision by a small margin, Homer being close up, while C. Robinson crept into third place from Johnson. The Otago Centre is to be congratulated on making the race an unpaced event instead of the paced event that it has usually been in past years. The times put up in the kilometre time trial v.oic naturally disappointing after the fine showing made by the local riders during the past, few weeks. However, it was not expected that any records would he broken in such had weather conditions. R. Sivertscn was unlucky when being undoubtedly the fastest rider over such a distance in Otago to-day. he had to bo content with second place after a ride-off was necessitated bv a tie with IV. I’r a me after the first attempt. The conditions suited Frame, who was able to use his tremendous strength in plugging against the wind, and wno bent Sivertsen’s time by two-fifths of a second in the ride-off. If the day bad been fine Frame could not have pedalled the distance at the same speed as Sivertsen. L. Johnson, by • Ill’s fine showing, would certainly have been Sivertsen’s hardest rival on a fine day, as he was beaten by only one-fifth of a second after really pedalling all the way. There are few pedallers of the calibre of Johnson. in Otago, and even though he is reaching the veteran stage he still has enough kick left to extend the younger riders. Undoubtedly. the meeting was the best championship meeting conducted by the Otago Centre since its inception four years ago. The handicap event proved to be a win for the front-mark-ers, the back men propably having used up their energies in the title events. The junior event of one mile was a runaway victory for the Invercargill boy, 11. Muir, who came in first after taking the last two laps. It showed the local riders’ inability to take advantage of an easy “ sit in ” ride. Ted Boyd, the runner-up, may have been able to get there if he had not been squeezed in on the last bend. Had he made his effort earlier he could have got to the line first. Evening Meeting. The evening meeting last Wednesday was not as well attended by riders as previous ones, there being about 10 competitors altogether. The quartermile handicap was won by the champion, R. Sivertsen, while his brother Bill managed to get into a major placing for the first time this season by coming second. The promising junior K. Denton beat J. Henry in for third place. The latter looked like winning the event after his easy win in his heat, but lack of training told its tale. The half-mile event resulted in a win for A. Tate, who had an easy journey over the two laps, M‘Connell mak-

ing tho pace. The back men were unable to get up in this race, mainly because there were no middle markers to make the pace. G. Homer bad no difficulty in winning the one mile race, being fresbei than the other competitors. The front men, M'Connell and Boyd, made a great mistake, as, after having a good lead at the bell, they started fighting for position, which enabled the scratch men to catch them. This should be a lesson to front-markers, teaching them not to worry about who will give the lead out when the back men are so close. Notes. The Otago Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Association, at its meeting last Monday evening, decided to make application to stage a South island 100 kilometre road championship this year. If the association grants permission, the centre is going to begin work immediately in preparing for the event, which should attract, many riders from other provinces. Although the championships have been decided, the track-racing season is by no means ended. There are quite a number of sports meetings to be staged on forthcoming Saturdays, including the Caledonian Society meeting of March 20. It is certain also that on most of the coming Wednesday evenings there will be sports meetings; while. although nothing has been set! led, lliere is a likelihood of a week’s racing during the Caster holidays. There arc three events on the programme of the Athletic Association s championship meeting on February 27 —a half, one, and three-mile races. Riders should remember that entries for these events should be in by to-morrow. A general meeting of members of the Dunedin Amateur Cycling Club is being held next Monday evening, when a number of important questions will be raised for discussion. The social and dance for the presentation of the championship prizes, held last Saturday evening, proved to be an outstanding success, the president of the Otago Centre (Mr F. H. Greenfield) making the presentations. This was a departure from the usual procedure after the championships, and it is certainly a much better way of distributing tjjie prizes than the method hitherto used. The local club’s decision to hold races other than the usual straight handicap events is commendable, as such new events are very popular and give the riders a much broader knowledge of racing. The “ miss and out ” race is very popular, in Auckland, there always being at least one of them in every programme. In the world of cycling in Europe these types of races are exceedingly popular, as they show a riders’ ability to stay as well as sprint. Two international riders—T. Merkins, Olympic sprint champion, and E. Millikin, well-known Australian professional!—have recently been married. These riders, at any rate, will not finish up with sport, as both are making good money in the professional sphere. During the current track season W. Moritz has won more prize money than any other rider in Australia, and before the season ends he should increase his bank account by more than £1,00(1. The brilliant riding of American examateur track champion, Charlie Ritter, has been one of the outstanding features of racing at Melbourne Exhibition hoard track during the past fortnight. Ritter, who has not been beaten in a match race since he arrived in Australia, has shown that, as a track general, he is without equal in Melbourne. To the many scalps that already hang at his belt Ritter has added those of (Bill Moritz and Nino Borsari, the dashing Italian, each of whom he has beaten in straight heats in his last two match races. Ritter was matched with Borsari after defeating Moritz, and this contest, which took place last Saturday night, established the young American more firmly than ever in the good opinion of followers.