THE WHEEL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1201, 8 March 1895, Page 26

THE WHEEL.

W.C.C. RUNS AND RACES. March 9. —Run to Seatoun March 16. —Run to Porirua March 30. —Handicap Road Race, Taita to Telephone Exchange!

SPOKES.

By “ Cyclometer.” The bicycle races at the Wellington Amateur Athletic Glub’s sports on the Basin Reserve on Saturday last were undoubtedly the best that have been held here. With the exception of the hurdle races, little excitement was created by the other events. The presence of Shorland from Christchurch added considerably to the interest in the wheel events, and the public lustily cheered him for his efforts iu the five and three-mile races.

Shorland is a very powerful rider, but this advantage appeared to be neutralised by his position on the machine. His handles were raised too high for racing, and this no doubt accounted for the way in which his machine wobbled with every stroke of the pedal. However, taking into consideration the fact that he is unused to a grass track, and that he was apparently rather stale after his ride from Napier, he acquitted himself very well indeed. Had lie not led for 16 laps out of the 20 in the Five-mile Championship, he would no doubt have occupied a more prominent position at the finish. But he was seen at his best in the three-mile race, in which he evidently started with the intention of making amends for his defeat in the fivemile. Starting 80yds behind scratch, he gradually wore his men down, cutting the sharp corners beautifully, and a hundred yards from home he had the lead, but an irresistible effort by Muir, who smarted 140yds in front of him, proved to much for the Christchurch man, and after a most exciting finish to the best race of the day, Shorland was beaten by only six inches.

My hearty congratulations to Muir on his victories last Saturday. lam pleased to see that he has got some of his old form back again. The manner in which he rode in the finishes of the two races he won was a treat to witness. After being content with last place in the five-mile until the last two laps, he came through his men with a splendid spurt, and won with plenty left in him. His final rush in the threemile was the best I have seen on the Basin Reserve.

H. G. Smith, who made is first appearance on the track, rode exceedingly well. He started in all the events, and in each race he finished close up. He was the only rider who shared with Shorland the pace-making in the Five-mile Championship, and had his machine been geared* higher, I believe he would have been landed a winner in one or more of the events.

L. T. Herbert and Lucy also rode well, especially the former, whose final spurt in the half-mile was a good piece of riding.M. R. Herbert scored a win in the two-mile, and I hope it will not be his last.

A full report of the bicycle races at the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club’s sports on Saturday will be found on page 25.

Members of the Wellington Cycling Club are reminded of the run to Seatoun toSeatoun to-morrow afternoon, postponed from last Saturday. The run will start from the Club’s room on Lambton quay at 2.30 p.m.

I hear that the Queen's Drive is* in very good order for cycling. Some of our whe<ilmen who rode round there on Sunday last, with the expectation of finding it still'very rough, were agreeably disappointed. With the exception of a little loose metal here and there, and a short stretch of sand, the road was everything that could be desired. The Cycling Club should show their appreciation of the efforts of those gentlemen who bi'ought about the completion of the Drive by arranging a Saturday afternoon run round there, or perhaps a moonlight ride could be fixed for nexc week.

Another attractive drive round the environs of Wellington is also nearing completion, and will doubtless be in good order for cyclingby next season. I refer to the

Prince of Wales’ Drive, which connects Makara With Ghariu, and runs along the coast for a considerable distance. This Will provide a round ride of 30 miles, the route being by Way of Karori, Makara, Ohariu, Johnson ville, Ngahaitranga, KaiWarra, and back to town. From the Makara beach a splendid view can be obtained of the Straits, and with a clear atmosphere the islands of Kapiti and Mana up the coast, and the ranges of mountains on the South Island, can be distinctly seen. The neighbourhood of Makara is also popular as a camping ground, and when I took a run out there during the Christmas holidays there was a large party of young men camped near the beach, besides a number of picnic parties. This should become a favourite ride among our cyclists.

A Pahiatua correspondent sends me the~ following: —At a meeting of persons interested in forming a cycling club, held at Mr D. Crewe’s office, the gentlemen present were—Messrs D. Puckle, A. H. Nniglit, E. E. Lewis, E. T, Yule, J. D. C, Crewe, F. P. Wilson, H, Vile, D. Crewe, W. Wakeman and T. Cushion. Mr D, CteWe Waß voted to the chair-. It was resolved that a club be formed, and be called the “Pahiatua Cycling Club. Mr C. E, Beetham Was elected president; Dr Gault and Mr W. Tosswill, vice-presidents; Mr Puckle, secretary and treasurer; gsneral -committee, the president and secretary, andTMessrs D. Crewe, F. P. Wilson and J. D. C. Crewe ; captain, F. P. Wilson; sub-captain, J. D. C. Crewe. It was decided the subscription to August should be 2s 6d. The annual meeting was fixed for the first Thursday in September. The colours of the club will be Cambridge blue, with initials P.C.C. worked on peak of. cap in Oxford blue. It was also decided that dhe first club, run be held on Tuesday next, starting from the club-room at 6.30, to Ilawera. A hearty vbte of thanks was accorded to Mr D. Crewe for the interest he had taken in forming the club, and also for the use of the room, The meeting then adjourned until Tuesday, the 19th inst., at ?.30 p.m.

A correspondent in a Dunedin paper has been complaining that he was nearly run down by a “ boozed cyclist.” “Demon,” in the Otago Witness, has promptly defended the honour of cyclists, and declares that during a life-long experience hs has never met a “boozed cyclist.” My experience has been the same as “ Demon’s,” and I can only add that, with a hunger for novelty, I should (despite my teetotal principles) rather like to 3ee a “boozed cyclist” in charge of a “bike.”

Here is an interesting item from a widelycirculated and usually well-informed London weekly t—“ Bicycle riders in Southland, Australia, are required to dismount 22 yards from an approaching horse, and draw their machines past.” A colonial exchange adds, “We can never quite realise our inexcusable ignorance of Australian geography until we pick up an enlightened English paper.”

It is feared that Frank Lenz, the American cyclist who started on a ride round the world some two years ago, has been captured by a band of Armenian brigands. He was last heard of in Bayazid, where he reached in May last, but since then no information regarding his whereabouts has been obtained. A party has been organised to proceed to Armenia to search for him.

Messrs R. Essex and W. Lewis, members of the Palmerston Cash Amateur Cycling Club, rode from Wanganui to Palmerston on Saturday in three hours five minutes. The best time previously recorded was 3hrs 9min, by Hadfield, a member of the Palmerston Amateur Cycling Club.

Bicycles are in great demand in Coolgardie, owing to the fact that they do not require water, and will stand the intense heat better than liorse-fiesh. The roads and the country are very good for cycling, and already a club has been formed.

The Palmer tyre is evidently becoming very popular in America, as during the Chicago Show week 10,U00 pairs were sold. The company find that their double tyres are preferred by English riders, while in America the demand is for their singletube tyres.

Ou Christinas Day, at the Paris indoor winter track, Rivierre, the French rider, beat F. W. Shorland’s open-air 24- hours’ record, and smashed every record from 12 hours, including the 500 miles record. He also won the 1000 kilometers race, covering tho distance in 34hr 53min 38sec.

The Geraldine Central Amateur Cycling Club held a very successful sports meeting on their new clay track on Thursday of last week. A. Graham won three of the events, and S. D. Hill and J. Orr two each.

The preliminary programme of the Ashburton Amateur Cycling and Athletic Club’s Easter Monday meeting is as follows.— Mile Novice Roadster Handicap, Half-mile Handicap, Mile Handicap, Two-mile and Three-mile Second-class Handicaps, Ladies’ Bracelet (one mile and a half), Five-mile “Handicap, and Two-mile Provincial Handicap. There will also be several foot races.

The novel sight of a cyclist riding along at a smart pace and leading a trotting horse was recently witnessed in a town in England. The roads were greasy at the time, and there was considerable traffic about; but the wheelman was riding quite comfortably, steering his iron horse with his left hand, and the live one with his right.

Few people have any idea of the enoimous proportions which the cycle industry has assumed throughout the world. By the last San Francisco mail I learn that there are from 10,000 to 15,000 hands

employed in cycle-making for s‘x months in the year in Chicago alone: Owing to the intense eagerness shown by the “office boy” to smash records (or anything else he might happen to meet) while going on messages, the Commercial Union Assurance Company’s bicycle has come to grief. The accident happened on Saturday last on Lambton quay, when the road was greasy from the slight rain which had fallen. The messenger was a novice on the “ bike,” and, losing control of his iron horse, he darted to the wrong side of the road, finishing up under the wheels of an express. The boy ! where was he ? He was standing upon the kerbstone watchingthe awful destruction. lie now runs messages on foot.

A Dunedin telegram dated the sth inst. says:—The three-mile record of 7min 51 2-osec, inade by J. JBissell, of Napier, was lowered on the Cai-isbrook ground to-night by R. Crow, whose time was 7min 40 2-ssec, or 11 seconds better.