CYCLING Evening Meeting Abandoned

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 February 1947, Page 4

CYCLING Evening Meeting Abandoned

Riders Consider Track Dangerous Dissatisfaction among members of the Greymouth Cycling Club regarding the state of the clay track at Victoria Park, which has been apparent throughout this season, came to a head last evening when the 10 riders assembled for the club’s track championship races met before the scheduled starting time and declined to race, on the ground that the track was too dangerous. The meeting was therefore abandoned.

The previous week the races were transferred from the clay trotting track to the grass track used by the Greymouth Amateur Athletic Club and as the experiment was a success, the cycling club was hopeful of continuing to race on the grass, in spite of the handicap of flat corners. Application Declined Application was made by the cycling club to the Greymouth Trotting Club for permission to use the grass track for the weekly meetings, approval having previously been granted by the athletic club. Yesterday, however, the cycling club was officially advised that its application to use the grass had been declined, the reason being that the bicycles would burn the grass off the running track. In view of the fact that the riders are preparing for several big meetings officials of the cycling club decided to proceed with last evening’s races using the clay track. After the riders had inspected the track, however, they were unanimous in deciding that it was not in a fit condition for cycling and decided that the programme should be abandoned. The trotting track has been successfully used for cycle racing for many years and when favourably surfaced it can be very fast. This year, however, there have been consistent complaints from the riders and a number of narrow- escapes from serious smashes, due to the loose nature of the surface. Holes And Ruts

Last evening there was a narrow strip of hard surface close to the rails, sufficient to provide good going for only one or two competitors. Further out the surface was loose to a depth of over an inch, making it almost impossible to control a light racing cycle at speed. In addition, holes and ruts constituted a hazard.

The cycling club has been seeking the provision of a properly constructed cycling track at Greymouth for a long time but, so far, has made little progress. Some of the keen track competitors have even visited Hokitika to train on the bitumen track available on Cass Square, but as a whole the Greymouth riders will be at a disadvantage in the important and valuable races at forthcoming West Coast meetings. Final Race In Davidson Cnp Series The following riders will be handicapped for a 14-mile road race in the Davidson Cup series—to be held at Karoro at 3.30 on Saturday afternoon: — K. Lalor, J. Alexander, R. Armstrong, D. Clark, E. Maguigan, E. Patterson. H. Pratt, P. Egan, J. Gardner, A. Panther, W. Gardner, A. King. G. Dalzell, C. Carr, A. Bergamini, M. Bergamini. The boys’ race will be held at Cobden on Sunday morning instead of Sunday afternoon.