CYCLING Grass Track Proved A Success

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 February 1947, Page 9

CYCLING Grass Track Proved A Success

Change Appreciated By Riders The innovation of holding last week’s Greymouth Club races on the quarter-mile grass track, instead of the usual clay track was a success and the public as well as the competitors appreciated the change. The grass track was slower than the usual track but the difference in actual speed was hot apparent, as the smaller straights and the sharper bends gave the impression that the competitors were riding at a faster pace than usual. Clarke Consistent. D. Clark followed up, his track double of the previous week v.'ith a second place in the two mile race. He also secured a second placing in Sunday’s road race and showed that he is still capable of extending the younger riders. Successful Return. R. Armstrong, who showed last season that he was one of the strongest riders in the club, made a re-appear-ance on Wednesday evening and succeeded in winning both his heat in the half-mile and the final. He was well treated in the handicaps but he won in such convincing fashion that it was obvious that, with more training, he will be a force to be reckoned with at the big meetings.

Juniors Impressive. The junior half-mile was the best race on the programme. J. Gardner, the winner, is regarded as an exceptional half-miler but A. King, who had beaten him on the previous Wednesday, just failed to repeat the performance. King was a very close second, although Gardner had a good lead at the beginning of the straight. Good Combination.

P. Egan again rode well to win'the main race, the senior two mile. Egan, Clark and King rode off the front marks and combined well to hold the rest of the field off, and to have the finish of the race to themselves. Egan, who is still a junior, has been well placed in all his starts in recent weeks.

Bright Prospects. The best performance of the week was Alexander’s, winning of the 14 mile road race on Sunday morning. He rode off the break mark with D. Clark and they teamed well to go away from the scratch men and to fill first and second places. Alexander’s time, which was 14 seconds better than that registered by the scratch men, was the fastest for the race. Alexander has showed by his performances this season that, provided he takes the sport seriously, he is a scratch rider in the making.

Club Championships. The following riders are to be handicapped for the two mile handicap race to be held in conjunction with the club one mile senior and one mile junior track championships at Victoria Park this evening.—D. Clark, H. Pratt, E. Maguigan, Gardner (2), Bergamini (2), P. Egan, R. Armstrong, K. Lalor, V. Goodall, J. Alexander, E. Patterson, A. King, M. Malone. T. R. Carter Attempting Too Much There is something of a parallel in track and road cycling and track running and cross country. Only the exceptional athlete can expect to bo a top-notcher at both, says theSports Post. Take the case of T. R. (“Nick”) Carter, of Nelson, the national road champion. He had a particularly hard season last winter, and won every major event in the country. Carter secured third place in the mile at the New Zealand grass track championships in Wellington this month, but that was not his true form. He possessed no finishing kick at all, and that is usually a feature of his riding. He looked much too fine. Carter has reached the stage where he must determine which it is t 0 — r oad or track. He is not one of those fellows who come within the category mentioned earlier. Carter recently won four track events at Greymouth, when he represented Nelson in the Mahar Cup contest.