SPOKES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1288, 5 November 1896, Page 27

SPOKES.

[By Silverspur.] It is now being related that a well-known firm got out a consignment of bicycles stowed away with their ordinary goods. They would have been able to sell them very cheap, but the Customs scented the dodge and clapped on another £7 on each machine. Honesty is the best policy.

It is now said that tho Exhibition Sports Executive are contemplating the higher banking of their track. This run-round seems to be causing a lot of trouble. Greater banking may effect an improvement from a racing point of view, but my idea is that narrowness is its only fault.

The weather on Sunday was in a treacherous mood. Starting out in bright sunshine, many of the large number of wheelists who sped out to the suburbs returned in a very dilapidated condition. The southerly buster which sprang up was, of course, accompanied by the usual

sleet, and consequently riding in from the Hutt was not a tx-eat. Four ladies were seen returning from the Hutt trundling their machines and completely drenched. Other lady riders stopped at Petone and the Hutt all night.

A wag who saw “ Marton ” Hunt riding in the cash races of • the Exhibition sports last week says that rider reminded him of nothing so much as a frisky horse careering around a paddock with its tail up.

Mrs Rinehart, of Denver, U.5.A.., put up a ladies’ cycling record of 200 miles in twenty and one-third hours recently. She endured many hardships. After making 113 miles she encountered a rain storm. This continued until she found herself pushing through isolated mud holes and immense stretches of water, which submerged the road in many places. The last thirty miles most severely tested her pluck and endurance. The distance was done in inky darkness. To make matters worse, Mrs Rinehart’s tyre punctured, and she rode fifteen miles on a liat tyre.

Some curiosity has been manifested in a new motor tricycle which has been running about the streets of the city of Birmingham and the neighbourhood. It is called the “ Gladiator,” and is a compact little machine. There are two steering wheels in front and one driving wheel in the rear, ver} r similar to the safety bicycle. The vaporiser and cooling tanks are both absent, and the vapour of mineral oil at -7 specific gravity is used direct from the reserve tank. The motor is based on the principle of the famous Otto cycle, and the design is what is known as “ downward vertical.” The average speed is seventeen miles an hour, but twenty miles can be done by a light rider on a smooth road.

A few particulars are to hand from Perth in regard to the W.A. Cycling Club’s Spring Meeting at which Porta competed, being beaten by G. D. Stotter. There were rumours afloat after the event that the result of the race might have been different, and the stewards had no option but to call Porta before them and warn him. The rumours, it is generally considered, are as unfair to Stotter as they are groundless. An unpleasant incident occurred in the running of the first heat of the Ladies’ Plate. The “ last lap ” bell was certainly rung too soon. The conditions of the race read that the scratch man, and Porta was on that mark, was to pass the post five times. As a matter of fact, upon Porta passing the post for the third time the lap-taker rang the bell and the field, then leading Porta by a hundred yards, raced for home, with the result that Dunn won, with Carter and Stewart second and third respectively, while Porta, who saw the pursuit of the others was hopeless when the bell rang, rode in at his leisure, approaching the post for the fourth time, when it was that the last lap bell should have been rung. Dissatisfied with the conditions under which he was beaten, Porta protested against the winner, on the ground that the race had been ridden a lap short. The stewards, through the secretary, Mr Ilamley, thereupon asked the Italian would he contest the race over again at once. Porta declined, in view of the arrangement that he was to attempt to lower the one mile record for the colony at the finish of the day’s sports, and the stewards then considered his protest and dismissed it. The official time given for the distance ridden in the first heat of the Ladies’ Plate, in which the trouble occurred, was 3min 40sec, but reliable outside watches made the time 2min 28sec, a time sufficient to indicate that one lap short had been ridden. Porta won the first heat of the Raleigh Handicap in brilliant style. The Italian’s attempt to lower Parsons’ West Australian mile record of 2min 12 2-ssec was successful. The track was in better condition for record riding than on the occasion when Parsons rode his mile.

A new cycling track bas been opened at the Crystal Palace. This track is said to be thoroughly up-to-date in design and construction, measuring three laps to the mile. The corners can be taken at a speed much faster than anything yet accomplished. The Crystal Palace authorities are evidently wide awake to the spread of the sport.

The Victorian Racing Club is now considering the matter of providing stable accommodation for cyclists who attend their meetings.

Messrs Thos. Cook and Sons now conduct tours for cyclists in England and France, and the idea is said to be a most popular one.

An English paper says that Mr Ernest Spencer, M.P., was convicted of riding a bicycle to the common danger in St. George’s Place, Knight’s bridge. He was at the time, it was stated, riding from 6 to 8 miles an hour, and was fined 10s and costs.

Twenty-four hour contests on the racing path are not popular in England. Recent experiments are said to have struck the death knell of that class of amusement. They are too slow and the public don’t catch on to them.

A new brake which consists of a rod fixed to the back of a saddle running down almost vertically and meeting with a spoon pivoted to the backstays of the machine is being put on the English market. The brake is worked by the rider assuming a different position in the saddle. When the rider is in hia or her normal position the brake is off, but by pushing back slightly the stop is at once put on with great force.

The American papers now give 2min 1 4-ssec as the world’s mile paced competition record. It about is, too. Bald holds this, having put up the time when he defeated Cooper at Buffalo on August 7th. The race is described as follows:—“Butler caught on behind the pacemakers, with Cooper next and third.

rwY-».r l .,ra^irix l qev.MrMw»M-MM—■ S" ■ B" Three-quarters were passed at a terrific speed in this position. When the pacemakers dropped out Cooper jumped ahead of Butler. When the straight was reached Bald had passed Butler and was at Cooper’s pedals. Then Bald bent low over his wheel and began his famous wind up. He shot past Cooper like a rocket, and a yard of daylight was between the old rivals as the tape was crossed. Butler was at Cooper’s shoulder as the race ended. The time-keepers’ watches all agreed on the wonderful time.”

A few novelties that would take well anywhere were got off at a recent Buffalo Gymkhana. There was a maidens’ scurry race for gills sixteen years old and under, a hurdle eighteen inches high over which the wheel must be lifted being an obstacle in the path. Another obstacle event had a hurdle two feet in height and was for men only. A tortoise race on a path three feet wide, the last one in to win, was given for both sexes. A side-saddle race was for women riding men’s wheels with both feet on one side. Then there was a needle and thread, race, where a gentleman and lady ride together to the turning point, stop there while the gentleman threads a needle and the lady ties a necktie, then ride back ; also a parasol race for ladies, each lady going fifty yards, dismounting, picking up a parasol aud opening it after mounting, and riding back to the finish with the parasol opened. 'Tentpegging on bicycles formed one of the most interesting events, and a tankard race, each rider riding to a point where a row of pewters stood, dismounting and picking up a tankard, mounting again and drinking the contents of the pewter while riding back, was productive of merriment and not a little choking.

At the Adelaide League meeting, after the first heat of the Mile International Scratch Race, Martin was cautioned for looking round and wobbling in the straight. Martin denied that he had blocked anyone, and told the judge, Mr M. Evan, that “ he was no gentleman.” The American was then ordered off the track. In the final of the Flying Handicap the winner, A. B. M'Donnell, ran very wide when approaching the winning post, and Martin was in coin sequence crowded on to the fence, which he. bumped several times. Martin was greatlv incensed. He entered a protest, and, as the riders were about to return to the pavalion,he rode up beside M‘Donneli and struck him on the face. The crowd hooted Martin, whose conduct was brought under the notice of tho racing and records committee. After a long deliberation it was resolved to disqualify Martin for two months, and his protest against McDonnell was dismissed. Martin was so indignant at this decision that he consulted Mr J. H. Sytnon, Q.C., who wrote to the league demanding chat the suspension be removed by 11 o’clock on the following Tuesday morning, and the inquiry re his disqualification be re-opened. Martin called several witnesses for his defence on Monday night, and the inquiry was adjourned till Wednesday evening, to enable Martin to cross-examine those witnesses who were called on Saturday evening. Martin signed a paper stating that he would abide by the decision of the league. On the Saturday Randall and Symondswere severely reprimanded for suspicious riding. Big gates and big prizes on the other side will yet make cycling a smellful sport.

Dr Conan Doyle, the celebrated English novelist on cycling : “ When the spirits an; low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope seems hardly worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a good spin down the road without thought of anything but the ride jou are taking. I have myself ridden a bicycle most during my practice as a physician and during my work in letters. In the morning or the afternoon, before or after work, as the mood overtakes me, i' mount the wheel and am off for a spin of a few miles up or down the road from my country place. I can only speak words of praise for the bicycle, for I believe that it-; use is commonly beneficial and not at all detrimental to health, except in the matter of beginners who overdo it.

According to an article in the Century Magazine for September, there are 2.500.0(H) cyclists in the United States. It i.s further stated that the sales for 1898 will amount to 1,000,000. There arc 250 factories, 24 tyre makers, 30,000 retail shops, and about 00,000 persons employed in the trade.

Mr E. P. Hood, secretary of the Wellington Cycling Club, has received official notification from, the secretary of the New Zealand Cyclists’ Alliance that the Championship Meeting for the year 1897 has been allotted to Wellington, subject to the approval of the local track by the Alliance. The whole of the management, of the meeting, which is to be held in February next, will be in the hands of the local amateur club, which has to guarantee the Alliance against all loss and pay all expenses of the meeting, the Alliance takinghalf of the profits.

Several prominent bicycle racing men were last Friday invited to inspect that portion of the cycling track on the Athletic Park which has so far been made, with a view of offering suggestions as to its formation. The work has been pushed along very rapidly, and if the present pace is kept up, the track will be completed in another six weeks’ time. On the advice of the riders who went over it or.. Friday, the banking at the turns will bo raised another foot, or 7ft in all. The trackwill be a third of a mile in circuit, with two long straights and two short ones. ’< in; width of the track will be 18ft, with another 2ft at the turns, which arc not at ail sharp.

Our attention has been drawn to a malicious paragraph which appears in the New Zealand Wheelman, from that journal’s V\ eb lington correspondent, in connection with the Fxhibb ion cycling track. It is stated that the track is “the most dangerous in existence,” which is a very sweeping assertion, devoid ol foundation. In the same issue the Wheelman, in an interview with Mr J. < >. Sborland, says that that rider expressed the opinion that the track was both safe and fast, and that he intended, if arrangements could be made, putting up some records on it. Better evidence of the suitability of the en-

closure for racing l purposes could not be forthcoming. Local records have been made since the article appeared, and though there were two collisions at the last sports meeting, both were the fault of the men themselves.

The cycling and running sports meeting to be held on the Exhibition track on the 9th inst. gives every promise of being the most successful yet held there. Over 130 entries have been received for the cycling and running events, and the arrangements for the meeting are almost complete. Special trains will be. run on the Manawatu and Government lines, arriving in Wellington at 11.45 a.in., giving country visitors ample time to reach the track to see the first race, which is to start punctually at noon.

The New Zealand Cyclists’ Touring Club is progressing. It bas already got a membership of 430. Mr E. T. • Sayers, Jibe energetic Ron. secretary, is at present in Dunedin, and is interesting himself on behalf of the club. Mr Alexander Crow, well known in Dunedin cycling circles, bas accepted the post of caief consul tor the Otago division. The council are busy arranging for the appointment of hotels as headquarters of the Cyclists’ louring Club in each town, and it is expected that before the touring season sets in a. largo number will be on the list. A concession on the usual charges is made to all members of the club. The cyclists Megs on, Lewis and Payne have Bailed from London for Australia. W. Kerr, paced by a triplet, did a quarter of a mile in 26 2-ssec and a half-mile in 55sec nt Sydney last week. A few hundred people assembled at the Wellington Post Office last night week to await the arrival of Mr J. O. Shorland, the wellknown cyclist, who essciyed the tusk of lowering the Napier to Wellington record. He was expected to arrive at 8 o clock, ana put in an appearance 12 minutes later, successfully accomplishing his task. His time was 20k 12mia. Cyclist Fabian’s time on a previous occasion (Napier to Wellington) was 22h 4'Qmin, and vVakeham’a (from Wellington to Napier) 21k 2min. bkorland’s time was consequently considerably ahead of both, and lie says that had he had a favourable trip lie could have reduced the time to 18 hours. Mr fchorland started from the Napier Post Office at midnight on i uesday, the cyclists ac that end pacing him as far as Waipawa, tne road being very good. The wind, however, was not favourable. From Waipukurau to Takapau the road was rather rough. Shorland arrived there at 10 minutes to 5 o’clock a,.m. Norse wood was reached at a quarter to •6. Pie then wont three miles off the road, and, having to return, lost six miles. Danevirko was reached at 7.20 am. Left again at 7.30, finding a muddy road from there to Woodville. The wind was very strong, and riding against it on a high-gear was so disheartening that he felt almost inclined to give up. However, . he met Mr Meadows, an Australian cyclist, who is 'touring round on his machine, and that gentleman went ahead voluntarily to make pace. And right well he made it, accompanying Shorland as l’ar as the Kimutaka. At Wood"villc Shorland reckoned he was about an hour late, but this ho made up, and was 20 minutes i o the good at Mastorton. But, harking hack, Pahiatua was struck at 10 a.m., Hawera Junction at 10.45, and Eketahuna at 11.20. The road was bad between the two last named places. Arrived at Master ton at 1.40 ; had dinner, leaving at 2 Foe thorston was reached at 3.35. Ihe i.timutaka stretch was a had one, pushing a bike seven miles against unpleasant gusts not being the nicest of experiences. The Upper Mutt was reached at G. 30 p.rn. ; tea was partaken of ; left at G. 40, and eventually reached Wellington at 8.12 p m . Messrs T. M. Lucyand J. Brodio went cut and paced Shorland in the last 10 miles. Shorland rode a Zealandia, S 4 gear, Dunlop 'tyres. He ivas warmly cheered on arrival, and congratulated on his performance by 'those who assembled to see him finish.