SPORT OF CYCLING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20563, 14 May 1930, Page 15

SPORT OF CYCLING.

ROAD RACES CANCELLED.

REQUEST TO MANUKAU CLUB

COUNCIL TO REVIEW POSITION.

The officials of the Manukau Amateur Cycling Club cancelled the road events set down for decision last Saturday in compliance with a letter received from the Manukau County Council's inspector advising the club to hold no road races on that afternoon. No mention was made in the letter of tho prohibition of future road events, but the Manukau councillors will meet on Friday when they intend to review tho position and arrive at a decision regarding competition over tho county's roads and the Mangere circuit in particular. The Auckland and tho Manukau Clubs will probably be rcpre- : sented at tho meeting. The result will be eagerly awaited by all road-racing j men throughout the Dominion for the de- j cision must have somo bearing on road } competitions in other centres, but it is | doubtful whether these centres will give the matter much serious consideration. There are undoubtedly more adherents to the road sport than to any other phase of cycling. In England the road racing is carried on by hundreds of amateur clubs, through the summer months, and it has progressed so rapidly that, to-dav, several of the leading clubs have been compelled for the benefit of the competitors, in limit the fields for many oi the open events (o 100 riders. r J he largest field to competo in a road event at Mangere was 50 on May 19, 1928, in a three laps race promoted by the Manukau Club. In Australia cycle road racing has gradually corno into popularity, and it is now one of the foremost of the winter sports of the Commonwealth. For its opening road race of this season, over a distance of 20 miles, the Victorian Amateur Cyclists' Union received an entry of 130. The number was divided into 10 handicap groups. * Progress in Auckland. The sport in Auckland has shown rapid progress since its introduction. The Manukau Club was founded in 1924 and promoted its first road race on March 28, 1925, when a field of 19 competed over a course from Otahuhu around Mangere and back to the starting point. In June, 1926, the now well-known Mangere circuit was first raced upon by the club's members. The course, almost circular in shape and five miles and a-half in circumference, was primarily chosen because of its decided advantages from the roadman's point of view. ' The members of the Manukau Club have always raced round tho circuit in a left-hand direction and thus keep the rule of the road. To the casual observer cycle racing appears to be a very dangerous sport. In most competitive sports there is an element of danger. In cycle racing this element is most pronounced when the riders bunch. And this grouping or bunching is the worst element about the present system of handicap road racing as practised at Mangere. In England the "time trial" system of road racing has been in operation for many years, and under this system tho sport has been allowed to continue unmolested Under the latter-mentioned system, which has been used on six occasions by the Manukau Club, the competitors start off and alono at intervals of ouo minute and must ride tho full distance of the event without receiving any assistance such as pacing behind faster vehicles or receiving pace from fellow competitors in tho contest. The result of such a race is determined by the watches. The time of each individual rider is taken and his handicap allowance is deducted from his actual riding time. Tho rider than having the best time to his credit is judged tlu winner. The Safest System. Naturally in such competitions some of the faster riders overhaul the slower ones, but under the rules of such events tho overtaken rider must , let the faster one pass and, further, he must not ride within 20 vards of the rider who has passed hiin for any considerable length of time. If ho considers ho can reverse tho positions ho may do so, and still keep within the restrictions imposed upon the competition. This method of road racing has proved itself beyond doubt to be the safest system. Summed up it really amounts to a rider proceeding alone along tho road at a speed well below the "danger limit," and tho bunching or grouping of riders, tho most dangerous, and objectionable feature of the present system, cannot possibly occur. It is sometimes termed tho unpaced system. Competitors ride under equal conditions, and the haudicapper's task is greatly simplified by tho fact that after one event ho has a good idea of the respective merits of each rider. If road racing is to continue then tho "time trial" system offers the solution to the problem before the Auckland and Manukau Clubs at tho present time.