CYCLING.

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2025, 14 March 1913, Page 1

CYCLING.

AND SOME MOTORING NOTES. New Australasian figures were established last week for an all-day ride on a motor cycle, the successful rider being P. J. O'Brien, of Melbourne, who pub up a fine record of 679 miles in 24 hours. The previous record wa^ 629 miles, standing to the credit of P.-Yeend on the same course. The routo selected was a. triangular one of 83J miles from Camperdown to Mortlake, thence to Lismore and back to Camperdown, a circuit comprising the finest road_ in the Western district of Victoria. Particulars are to hand from Los Angelos, California, of a wonderful motor cycle performance by L. Humiston, who succeeded in. cramming 88 miles 350 yards into one hour. The previous best was J. de Hosier's 83 miles 135 yards. Humiston covered tho ' 100 miles in 68min 14 1-Ssec, establishing all new world's records from 13 miles upwards. A properly organised attempt on Mr G. G. White's Sydney-Melbourne motor car record of 19hv 47min is to be made at an early date by Messrs D. Campbell and G. Ross Soden. The second Victorian" six-days' cycle teams' race terminated at the Melburne Exhibition last Saturday night, ' and resulted in a popular win for ItSpears and Don Kirkham, before 20,000 spectators, for the final sprint. i The duration of the race was 14lhrs, and in that period 2028 miles were covered —two miles further than the distance registered last year. Fourteen teams started and ten finished. R. Spears, one of the winners, who hails from Bathurst (N.S.W.), is only 19 years of age, and gives promise of developing into a champion. During the race he lost 71b in weight. Kirkham, his team mate, is the crack road rider of Australia. This team finished up second in the recent six days' race decided in Sydney. Australian racing cyclists have scored a big double-barrelled success in Europe, A. J. Clark and A. Goullet respectively carrying off the two valuable sis days' races at Berlin and Paris. Clark's win in the Berlin event was a.very popular one. His team mate was the American rider, Hill. The first prize was worth £500 In the Parisian contest, the first of its kind held in France, Goullet, who won both the Sydney and Melbourne events last year, proved irresistible, and won in record time, the total mileage being 27751 miles, some 38 miles better than the previous record. Goullet teamed with J. Fogler, of America. The Sydney ex-amateur crack, E. W. Schneider, put up a rei 7 fine ride in this race. He led at 1000 miles and on one occasion lapped the field. Eventually his partner failed, through a fall, and tne bydneyite stuck to the field for eight hours. At the end of that period he had to retire, no other team mate being available. Undoubtedly the real cause of the high price of petrol is to be found in the fact that the world is mow consuming more petrol than is being got out o? the earth. In other word! the demand has overtaken the supply and consumers are living on their capital, so to speak, so far as petrol is concerned. The more-the statistical position is studied the more cvi dent jfc becomes that the present shortage ls simply a natural economic pioblem; and is not the result of any artificial scarcity caused by trusts . -me question of placing the steering wheel, on the left-hand eicl? of the car is being debated once more. It is said that in 35 per cent, of the cars made in America the wheel is so placed; but the custom has nof caught on elsewhere, and the consensus of opinion is certainly against c *il tnos e., countries where the rule ?fL J° ad is & kee P to th e left, til fi+v em cerfc ainly facilitate the fitting of the control levers be-* tween the driver and the passenger, and thus give free access fo? the fron r could also be carried out with the dnyer sitting on the right side, but Sar Z?l S W the change speed X aßd . b ™ k « levers woukf ha.ye to be operated by the left hand.