SPORT OF CYCLING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21855, 18 July 1934, Page 20

SPORT OF CYCLING

AMATEUR ROAD CONTESTS COMBINED CLUB EVENTS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR TEAMS Weather conditions were good Inst Saturday for road racing and bin fields were the order. Over 150 amateur cyclists raced in the events provided by the fivo local clubs. Again the Manukau Club had the greatest number out, namely, 40 riders. Although the senior event was only a short race of 15 miles, there were several retirements for the better trained and fitter riders maintained a hard, strenuous pace throughout the six laps. The long markers teamed together better than usual, and six of them sprinted for the premier placings. In the closest finish this season, N. Fisher, 5m 30s, won by half a wheel from 11. 1. Baston, sm, and C. C. Heart, sm, who finished practically abreast in the order named. After weeks of consistently brilliant riding with no reward. J. W. Clark, 455. succeeded in gaining time honours in 11 m 20s. his first success this'season with his club. Clark has yet to prove himself in a long distance race. Difficult Course The Lynndale and Takapuna Clubs combined forces and the events were held on tho Lynndale Club's course at New Lynn. Forty riders competed. Although the limit riders received 9m 30s start in the seven laps race of 22i miles, tho back markers monopolised the placings. All the placed riders were members of tho Lynndale Club. The Takapuna men, who do most of their racing on tho level Lake Pupuke circuit, found tho hilly nature of the New Lynn course exceptionally difficult. K. Hankin's win, off 2m 15s, was popular. A pleasing return to form was shown by C. Gooder, scr., when he made the fastest time in 73m 255. Last year Gooder was fastest rider in six races. Last track season he proved an outstanding sprinter. A. H. Bowen won the Auckland Club's 18-miles race at Te Atatu, off sin 30s, after a close finish with S. Windsor, 6m 30s, who rode as a junior until last month. A. G. Patrick is gradually striking fopn, but is not taking the sport so seriously this year. He was fastest rider from scratch in 51m 575. • Test of Ability Auckland's youngest club, Beach Haven, held a 22-miles event to Albany and back.. The race provided A. Elia. Biu, with his second win this 3'ear. It was a fairly decisive victory, for he finished 46s ahead of J. Culpan, 4m, winner of tho last 22-miles contest. B. G. Sharp, scr, gained fastest time in 05m 14s. Sharp has scored similar honours in seven races this year, and will be his club's strongest rider in the teams' race next Saturday. The Hamilton Club's riders competed by invitation in the Papatoetoe Club's 21-miles event, when 36 participated. The local riders, with a better knowledge of the course, filled all tho placings. Over the last half-mile J. Picknell, Bm, broke away to win by 100 yards, and score his first success since taking up the sport this year. After a hard sprinting finish, O. B. White, scr, displaced S. E. Pinfold, scr, to gain time honours in 61m 555. The six local clubs will contest the teams' championship event of 21$ miles next Saturday. The course, from Carrington Iload to Swanson and sufficiently varied to impose a hard test of riding ability.. Each team of four will ride together from the mark, but an interval of five minutes will bo observed between the departure of each set. The Auckland Club's team won the event last year, but a keener contest is anticipated next Saturday. IMPROVED GOLF GREENS EXPERIMENTS IN BRITAIN Vastly improved golf greens are expected to result from the work of the St. Ives Research Station, Bingley, Yorkshire, where the scientific problems of green-keeping are investigated on behalf of the four British golf unions. Work is actively progressing on the breeding of grasses which it is anticipated will make greens "truer" and closer, as well as moro verdant, more uniform, and more resistant to drought. All these qualities, it is stated, should be produced by breeding from purely British strains which, it is claimed, should yield finer turf than can be produced from any of tho imported commercial varieties. An immediately practical result is the proof that continually mown greens do not necessarily require abundant fertilising. This has been proved by moro than 2000 weighings of "cuttings" taken from trial plots, while a large number of samples have been analysed chemically to show what changes take place in the character of the grass under different conditions. Even a drought has proved useful to tho scientists. They have been able to comparo the relative "persistency" of different strains of grass under peculiarly trying conditions. An attack is being also launched on tho weeds which infest fairways. Attention, it is stated, is being confined to chemicals which can be applied without water at any time of tho year.. If success is attained it will bo possible to effect a wide improvement in the fairways on inland courses. The station has now been in effective action for 4J years. Its advice has been sought by nearly a thousand British clubs, and interest is stated to have grown steadily. Within the last two years tho number of sports clubs, other than golf, which have applied for help has nearly trebled, while tho number of privato lawn-owners whose problems havo been dealt with has more than doubled. A useful economy which the station has been able to effect is tho prescription of weed-killers cheaper than the standard varieties which are generally supplied commercially. SWIMMING CHAMPIONS INVITATION TO VICTORIA Any Now Zealand swimmers whose times are satisfactory to the Victorian Amateur Swimming Association may bo invited to compete at the Centenarv Games, according to advice received from the association by the Auckland Swimming Contro. The centre is to have control of the New Zealand swimming championships next season, and, as it was disinclined to arrange the dates for them until the Victorian Association's intentions were known, it wrote to tho latter body asking whether New Zealand swimmers were wanted at tho Games, and, if so, when they would be expected in Melbourne. Dofinite news is being keenly awaited by leading Auckland swimmers.