D.C.C. ROAD RACE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11399, 17 April 1899, Page 6

D.C.C. ROAD RACE.

The nineteenth', annual road race of the Dunedin Cycling Club was held over a course from Riccarton to Titri and back, a. distance of about 26 miles, on Saturdayl.last. The day was fine, though a blustering strong wind was. blowing from tho south-west. The roads proved to bo in splendid order for the race, and ul Iho aptioiutod timo 13 out of the 20 entrants for the prizes of £8, £3, and £1 faced tlio starters. The first rider to set out was J. Urtiton (with Bmin 35sec handicap), followed at intervals hy D. Johnston (Bmiii), J. Fiiulks (7min 55sce), A. Pirie (7min 20sec), M. Higgins (6miu 30sce), A. Will (smin 50i.ee), AY. J. Pearse (smiil 15sec), D. M'Gregor (Smin 15sec)_ Then came F., Caulton (off the 2min mark), Gunthorpo (lmin 50sec), anil Pctor and Noil Ralet-m, of 45see start from thoir brother " Andy," the well-known Taieri racing crack, who was on' the scratch mark. Al Greytown tho Ralston Bros, wero racing together, taking turn and turn about at pacing; and after passing through Otakia had picked up Caulton and Gunthorpo, but Hearing Henley tho latter retired, and Bruton also gave up. Meantime AVill and Higgins had led tho rest throughout, excepting Pearse, who ran into ,-i mob of sheep and bent his pedal, while Faulks had punctured early in the race. Pirie and Johnston cried enough at Henley, as the scratch men had overhauled thoni there, and tho position of tho men at this stage was: Will, Higgins, Ralston Bros., Caulton, and M'Gregor! tho last five being bunched together. Coming to Titri, Caulton punctured and fell out, and >i little later P. Ralston fell while changing the pace,, and brought down M'Gregor. Ralston re-mounted but immediately punctured, reducing the riders to four, of whom AVill was coming home, followed by M. Higgins, who in turn was a long distance ahead of Neil and Andrew Ralston. Passing Henley, AVill still retained his lead, but the Ralstons had improved their position by passing Higgins, and wore coming hard after the leader. Passing Otakia, nnd Allantoii, Will still held pride of place, and from here lo homo held the backmarkers safe, and turning the bend to Riccarton sprinted homo a winner by 350 yds from A. Ralston, who beat Neil by 6yds for second place. Result: ' - r A. AVill, Smin 50sec .. .. ' .. 1 A. Ralston, scr 2 N. Ralston, 45sec 3 M. Higgins finished fourth, a mile away, and tho • only other rider to complete the journey was P. Ralston. The time taken by tho winner over the distance was lhr l.mm 24sec,'while A.'Ralston took lhr llmin, and' secured the prize for fastest time. This is the second! occasion on whicli 'this race has been.-wph.:by an,outside rider, • the winner being a member of the 'Varsity Club. The oflicials at" the Riccarton end were—-Messrs 1... Crow, R. Scott, A.. J. Sullivan, and J. C. Seelye, jun., while Mr AY. B. Bell had charge of the ride at Titri..-The win .'proved highly popular, as .AVill has proved at all times a hard1 man. tb: ; b.at on the road.' He rode a Record, geared'td.'96.

A AVellingtb'n'.telegr'dm.tat-S.that Red Lancer has been scratched Vol-,the.first day's.-eh-gagemonts at the' Welliiigtriii meeting.' '.' On Friday night.O.-.S.' Baron, broke theNow Zealand Cyclists' Alliance'-half-milo-and one-mile records at Lancaster Park-,' Christchurch, tho time for' the half-mile boing lmin 2sec ; for the mile, 2min 9sec. A .AVcllington telegram states that the cricket match to decide the' Senior championship for the season, between the Midland and Wellington Clubs began on a dead wicket. The latter batted first; and have lost seven wickets for 94, runs,, the scoring being exceedingly slow. Ashbolt (38) and Richardson (23) were the chief contributors.