CYCLING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10707, 23 January 1897, Page 7

CYCLING.

— — Of th& local riders I have noticed \V Begg, Eggers, Bell, Sullivan, Anderson, MaxwWefi, Atnclt, Hendeisbri; Denniston, JNTeill, aca Minn.putting m some yood work.. ~^K- Orow, a ehampiou of a. few seasons back, has donned the racing suit and in company with those before-moiitionßil is in. training He :s moving strongly, aud expects to be in condition to race on the 16th p'cox.'" I am pleased that-the executive of the iNew Zealand .Cyclists' Aliisuca have been able to alter the dates of the championship meeihg , fixed Tor February 17 and 20. ■ The dates have been altered to February 24----apd.27, and this gives the' Dunedinriders a chauce of compeiiug at their own meeting ou the 16thi and then, if fouud convenient, of proceeding north in ample time to take part in"the championship events at Wellington. The alteration of the date also allows of the riders from north and south Canterbury coining down to Dunedin before going nottb, giviug the public a sample of their pace, and allowing of a comparison of the merits of the racing mea of Canterbury and Otago. ■': '. —- The members of the Otago Club, Captain Mupro iv charge, rode out as far as Outraco, and their only complaint as regards the day Voutiug was. in reference to iUe stcongwind raet with ou the return journey. ' —— So much has been written and said with j regwd to pycling that &v original sentiment ou this popular form of exeroise is .extremely diftv ,Sl? 11'..*S'^PA?9.dj.when founds appreciable. Jibs following has been fiauded to me, and ou reading it over it seemed worthy of space and loots-1 as if it. would prove of Home attraction to my ' reidere, .The writer starts, with a preamble: ! " The craze h»s caught on, ami they luve come .to stay," and theu goes oii to say : " The apprehensions are nbout being realised, for not only have we cycling members of the Salvation Army pursuiug Old Nick, similarly mounted, but prudently equipped with packages of tin tacks to scatter in his tear, but also examiners in domestic, economy, who set the papers to our school manna for class -E, and after making searching inquiries about opium, vaccii>itiou, suouge oake, and tea drinking, conclude the paper with the question, ' What; are your id*as as to the effects of cycling ? Describe the costume yon consider most, suitable for cycling ' It is probable that the following, found in Princes street riot far from; a. well-kuowh scholastic institution, lias reference to the foregoing question :' It ig completely engrossing! The knowledge that one is experiencing ;the poetry of motion causes her to be so utterly oblivious to extraneous, cireumstauces that scenery is ..unnoticed, aud such consideration* as costume and posture iiud no place. Costume aad cjcliste vary inversely.'" : A three-mile road race decided at ,Outram last Monday was won by F. Cuthburt (90yds) in Bmin 35iec. There were nine st*r:ers, and lUlston (70yds), who showed some I KOod racing in Dunedin recently, had he uofc met with an accident near the finish, would have been in front at the end of the race. He finished second. , —— It is said that on the second day of the Vincent' Jockey Club'a races at Matakanui i fully 60 cyclists from all parts truudled their | bikes through the gate, to the astouishineut of th« gatekeeper, who meekly aocepted the colonial Roberts tendered by the owneis. —— 'roe'anbualsports meeting of the North Otago Cycling Club will be held at Oamiru on March 4-. '""-' '''■'".'"' ——The promoters, of the Lawrence bicycle track.are in financial difficulties, and have organised a concert to be givuu on the 21st and 22nd of thi» month. An exceileDt programme his been prepared, and I'trast thatthe efforts of the promoters will meet with the success they richly deserve. ——Some cycles: Allday, A.N.A, Aodrto. Beeston, Bessemer, Brantford, Columbia, Chejlesmore, Dayton, Dux, Excelsior, Gladiator, Henley, Humber, Lincoln; Neaimuri, New Hnven, Nimrod, Olympia, Osmond, P*yeho, Quadrant,. Rsglan, Raleigh,' Rapid, K c d Bird, Ripley, Hudge, Rover, Siuger, Sparkbrook, SSpeedrace, Stirling, Swift; Town&nd. Triumph, Viking, Wbitwortb, World, Yellow Fellow. "Nonaplet" in the Melbourne Sportsman states that Ken Lewis (&t one time in the cycle business in Dunedin) and C. B. Kellow (the winner of last Austral) go to EogUnd early in February. The following advice is given by a cycling writer where the holts in a tyre aro too minute to locate:—« Take' a quantity of coarse molasses sugar,' and thin it down to the consistency of thick gluß with,warm wstsr. Take out the valve, put in as much as you thiuk necessary, reQx, and inflate. Then spin the' wheel round rapidly for a few minutes. By these means the liquid is spread over the inuer surface of the tube aa'd tjie holes are sealed. No air will escape after this becomes dry." I think (says "Wheeler," in the"Sydoey Referee) the handicapper is making a big mistake in underrating New Zealand Simpson, who certainly (opposed to Kerr, Camoron, and Goodsbn) showed himself, whan not iv the best of condition, very neatly a first-class rider. Certainly Kerr was not at his best, but Siiriuson, I am sure, is a belter man than the handicapper imagines, though he has failed to show up prominently eince ■he raced with the Leaguers. Mr Williams gave him 20yds in the half-mile, 40yds in the mile, aud 115rds in three miles from M'Combe, and with a. little of his best form be will one day make the adjuster look sorry by spoiling a handicap, Morin, the Frenchman, who trains on the advice of Dr A. Aoriac, of Paris, won the Grand Prix of Paris on' two consecutive occasions. Dr Anriac says in his advice on training :—" Notice the beauts of draught and burden—the horst and the ox, for example they do the most exhausting muscular work aud have no need of flesh.. Vegetables are much better than meat for racing men." ■ Particulars have just been received of the arrival of the well-kubwu English cyclist, Mr Robert L. .T. fferson, in Irkutak, the capital of Siberia.'' On the moruiDg of March 21 last Mr Jefferson set out on his bicycle with the iutentioD of cycling all the way to the hftarfc of ABia—lrkutsk, to wit. To accomplish t'hia (says the Daily Nowr) the intrepid ridsr lwd to face what was practically the uukuown. Xhe steppes and mountains of far-off Siberia had never been crossed by a bicycle, and dangers unknown had to be risked. In total Mr Jefferson has covered a distance of 6574 miles in 150 i days, exactly 40 of which he was unable to [ ride owing to the wet weather, which had made

the roads impassable. Naturally the bicycle ia j Siberia is something nf a rari avis, and ia conI scqueDoo the various .nomadic tribes through | which the rider passed viewed the two-wheeled instrument sometimes with alarm and sometimes with resentment. On the steppss Mv Jefferson had a narrow escape from wolves, and in a mountain village further on had, singlehanded, to defend his bicycle from the attacks of peasant', consequent upnn the Bhoofcing of a village dog On August 17 thi3 enterprising traveller rode over the bridge of boats across the river Angara , into the >iberian capital, h».viag accomplished alone a feat which will undoubtedly be credited as one of the m sb | adventurous yofc undertaken by adventurous , English wheelmen. Michael recently rod-^ five miles in 9mia 48gsec nt the Coliseum, Memphis, The capacities oF the leading stael tuba mills in America for bicycle work are far beyond the consumption.- Ifc is estimated that ; 24,000,000 ft; of steel tube- have b;en used this ; year, but there are seven raill«, and one of them alone can turn out 18,000.000 ft; the combined output of the • other six mills amounts to 6-t, 000,000 ft, ao the bicycle-makers have to treble | their product before they can fill th&mills with, orders. This fact miv explain in some degree the presence of the Ya«ke t >-.mnda machine in this country. If steel-tubiug can be git- so readily, the price will bs lower than hi England. Bnb with us this year it was not so much a^question of £ a d as the uttec impossibility of obtaining the materials at any cost —- Land and Water. —-The famous singing teacher, Madame Marchesi, regards the attitude assumed in, cycling as injurious to the chest and lungs, and the rapid progression through the air as detrimental to the vocal chords. Mada,me Marches'! forbids her pupils to., cycle.- v, Nevertheless, Madame Melba, Madame Nprdioa, and M. Jeau de Ke?zke are devotees of tae wheel. ' Laud apd Water notes that "an extremely iut'erenti'ng experiment in military cycling has lately been carried oub in AnVrioi. Lieutenant Moss, cf the 25'.h Infantry B:c>cla Corps, and a equ»d of eight men were detailed for the duty, and seem to have met with suocess. On one stage they rode 191 miles in 27 hours.^and in 22 d»ys' riding h*d covered 1100 miles." The officer in command, in speaking of his experiences, said that this experiment was the first real test ever made 'with the bicjele as a machine for military purposes. They hi^d made and broken cimp in the raiu, ridden through 'mud, sand, dust, and water; over rockn, ruts, and stones, crossed mountain ranges, forded streams, stoppad for nothing,, carried rations, cooking utensils, rifles," ammuniliou, 301b to every marij blankets, tents, underwear, extra tyres aud parts; in fact, all the baggage needed.

ROWING NOTES,

By Arawa,

Mr C. Ebert, ot the Christchurch Union Rowing Club, who has preformed so success fully this season with W. F. Samuels iv the senior events at ttie various Canterbury regatta?, is at present in Dunedin. Mr Ebert is uncertain ,as to whether he is likely to remain here anylength of time; but if affairs prove satisfactory he will probably take up his residencein Dunedin and go in for rowing. -That he will prove. » great acquisition is undoubted, and theD.A.8.C., which he intends joining, will be indeed lucky to have their ranks strengthened by an oarsmen of his calibre.

It is the intention of the D.A.B.C. to icslitute a series of rescus races, with the object of giviDg the members a practical idea how to proyerly secure and briug a drowning perßon ashore should the occasion unfortunately arise The races are divided into two clashes—swimming and rowing. In the swimming rescue a person will fall overboard,, a,nd ths competitor (fully dre.-iaed in walking attire) is expected to rush to the side of the staging, and after divestipg himself of coat and. boots plunge in and briDg the supposed drowning person to terra firma, The rowing rescue is somewhat on the same lines, with the exception that instead of plunging in the cjmpetitor will lauuch a boat and row to the floating object, draw same aboard, and return to stagiug. These ■ race 9, besides being, extremely useful and of great benefit to all, are alao likely to provide I a good deal of fun. The .heats will start next week, the semi-final and fm»l heats being set down for ileci*wn on Ladies' Day, Saturday, February 6 Besides thexe evc-nr.s several he.us in thaDiugey E,*ce aud the finals o£ the Light- '' weight Fuurs aud Trial P«irs, are also to be decided on that occasion, so that a good afternoou's 'hport is bound to be provided for the ! friends of the members who are fortunate enough' i to secure an invitation. In the intervals between the races a musical- programme, under the I direction of Mr G. Robertson, will bs goue ' | through a:id refreshments dispeusetl, the usual I wind-up dance taking place in the oveniug. _ Owiug to the want of a double sculler and the luability of some of the men iv the Junior aud | Maiden Fours to get down to practice, very j lttt!o-wo:k has at yet been done by thft N.E.8.0.'« regfttta crews. The. club is, however, negotiating for the loau of a practice boat, and hopts to havsall the crews in full gwiug in a few (Uyti. ■ Mr Georga Liudsiy, who coached the Burke brothers with '■success last season, has again, taken this pair in hand, and judging by the way theyhold their own'with the " fours " they do i pot gfem to have deterioratsd in auy way sine- ! last February.' • The club have received advics from Norton j that their double S6u:ler will be ready in about i a fortnight, aud Walls and Bceen, who will ! represent the club in the soulling events, are in the meantime doing good work in the ' dingeys. , . " _ .■ >: • V. O'Driscoll (stroke), R. Magson (3), J 1 Logan (2), and H.O. Cuttris (bow) have baen selected to represent this club in the Youths' Race. O'DriscoH it will be remembei-Kd stroked' the Maidens last February, aud Cuttris is for his weight considered an Weal baw. No. 2 aud 3, bsiug thja season's meu,are consequently a little rough. The crew average lU<t, and if properly CBached should give* good account of thomnelveß on the 20»h • ' ' : The weather of the last day or two has not been of the pleasantest, but nevertheless things at the D.A.B C. shed huve bieu going on j msrrily. The club races for pairs and light- I weights are to be contested next; week, and in I view of thU the competing crews are training steadily,' and good races arts looked for. The "Dibs" regatta crew are doing good work, or, I ahould say, some of them are. ■ The ■ Maiden Fours and Double Sculls are, I believe, j being altered, Isaacs taking Anderson's seat as I stroke ot the Maidens aud Columb replacing I Isaacs in the Double Siulls. These latter will i be toußh nuta for those who meet them, and j will take some cracking. The Maiden crow j will be improved -greatly by the change, a*d j shou'd'iiow settle down to work and remember j tbafc bad training will beat a man quicker th*n,'i anything.--'- The No;' 2 in this boat does not sac-mi to put enough life into his work. Ha should giTe ! more atteiition t6 'he bracipgof liis bp'dy. More I lift 6q the first parbof the sirokewould give this j craw a lot more pace. Iv fact this is a poiut ! i which ahould ba tikeu into account by all the crews. ".'-■' ' The Juniors are the most likely looking ciew of the lot. They are very nicely balanced. The stroke and No. 3 are the right sort, but No. 3 is yet a bit raw. Stroke should give him more time, seeing that he is new to the work ; while I would Btroogly recommend floorwork generally. The No. 2 is rowing in good form, but should remember that opposite the abed is not the only place to work. Bow, I am sure, will not disgrace his record of previous yoars. The Youths' crew ara not.a bad lot, but, of course, as this is their first attempt in a racet they are hardly a 1; home yet. I Bhould recommend them to pay as much attention as possible to their water work. A cr«w goiug into the water as one man and standing on the stretchers is the nan that will win ofteuest. Thn Juuior Pair are not very well ■ chosen us regards weigh \ and are thug rowing under a great hauciirnp. The stroke, I fancy, wonld do bettsr if hg wera given a Rant in the Maiden crew, and, say, stroke and No, 3 of the Junior Fours sent for the Pairs. When the various crews have got into shape a little more I will comraeut further on them. Arrangements in oouuectiou with the regatta are going ahead merrily. The committee are flhowiog praiseworthy energy, and mean to make is a big success. A hi«hly attractive programme is to be served up to the public, the side shows in particular receiving a.lot of attention at the hands of an energetic ArnusKmenfc Committee. It is a pity that Lord Bragsey'H visit did not occur at regatta time, as his presence would hive been a prominent featuce.. Lady Brassey his, however, given a handsome trophy for competition among the yachfcß. In addition to this, most of our leading firms-have subscribed h.iudsomely. The moonlight excursion and also the concert aad fireworks display, which proved so successful last year, are to be held on a larger and more attractive scale this yrsar. It only remains for the public to give their support, and the success of the '97 regatta will be assured.