WHEEL NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 806, 22 January 1903, Page 4

WHEEL NOTES.

(Sydney Paper.) Some thousands of inquirin'; citizens rolled up to Melb. Exhibition oval last Saturday night to see the German champion, ilobl, and his satellite, iiet Dickcntman, chase their blastiforous motors around the asphalt track- in competition with Australians Morgan and Prank Jleauch'.unp. The 12-horse power motors were advertised to travel at the rate oi 50 miles an hour. They didn’t go as fast as that. Nevertheless, they put on a tine, banging pace. The now motor is a monotonously bangful allair. It nl3 _ charges tumult like a feu de joio of musketry, or a packet of Chinese crackers, and seems calculated to soften the brains of its riders and followers. There are two riders—the front man bending forward to

steer the infernal machine, whilst oho rearward man sits bolt upright and takes pace instructions from the cyclist who sticks close to his sweltering back. Kobl was matched against Morgan tor .£IOO, Dickentinan against Beauchamp for £SO, each at 5, 10 and 15 miles behind motors. Beauchamp the 5 mile to the foreigner, but was holding his own in the 10-tnilo when his pedal touched grass at the side of the asphalt and he came down smash when going at a 44-mile gait. He pluckily came out for the 15-mile, polished off the first live of them in the Pest time for the night and the track (K.:!3 2-0), stalled off half-a-dozen sprints, and won by six yards amid uproarious

cheering. Morgan never bad a hope against Rob!, and actually hipped in the five-mile event. Ilobl, who meanders about the ground in a long white nightdress arrangement, smoking a cigarette, has already been christened the White Devil. “ White machine ” would be better. Motionless except for the rhythmically-revolving legs, he keeps always about 9in. behind the rear motorman’s back. Go they fast or slow Kobl is always the same 9in. away ; apparently if the electric machine spurted to 100 miles an hour the human one would follow at the regulated distance. Ho never '• lost his Dickentman did, frequently. In fact, every time be tried to pass Beauchamp in the 15 mile his pacers ran away from him ; but then Ilobl wasn’t put to tho tost as his mate was.