CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21258, 12 February 1931, Page 5

CYCLING NOTES.

OTAGO CHAMPIONSHIPS. The conditions for last Saturday’s championship meeting were ideal overhead, but the track was very bad. It is a question whether it would not have been better to have left the track alone instead of putting down a liberal quantity of soft asphalt the day before the meeting. Combined with the hot sun this new surface was like a bog. and fast times could not be expected. Riders with track wheels were often down to the rims in some of the patches. The pacemakers did not assist towards fast times and did not link up at all well with the field. It would not be a bad plan to try some other methods of pacing instead of the present one, which has proved to be of little use. If a tandem were available, then some fast races would be witnessed, and the danger of losing the public interest would be safely avoided. In the event of one not being procurable, then some other way of working single pacers will have to be , found. The centre should seriously consider the advisability of procuring a, tandem for the New Zealand Championship meeting. One of these machines should be easily obtained from Christchurch. By winning the three titles, J. C. Fogarty repeated his performance of two years ago and well earned the title of Otago champion. He rode brilliantly in every event and proved himself in a class of his own when it came to the final spurt. He should give a good account of himself at the New Zealand Championship meeting at the end of the month. J. Parsons did well and collected two second places and one third. He was going well at the end of the half-mile final, but he had arranged his run badly, and did not have sufficient time to make up the leeway." He made a bold bid for the mile title, but could not withstand Fogarty’s sprint, and in the three-mile he was unfortunately in the position of having to lead Fogarty out in the last lap, and again he suffered defeat at the champion’s hands. He has ridden very promisingly this season and should go well at the end of the month. _ G., Smith did not ride up to expectations and could only register a second and a third plice. It is a well-known fact that Smith always performs well against firstclass company, and it would not be surprising to see him turn the tables on Fogarty and Parsons at the New Zealand championships. A few more displays like those he gave at Waimate last Easter, against Grose and O’Brien, would be welcome here. E. Fletcher rode consistently, but not brilliantly, and filled third place in the One Mile Championship after putting on a late sprint to defeat" Smith. He also qualified for the Half-mile final, and sportingly gave the lead out at the bell, although he must have known that to do so was fatal to his chances of gaining a place with such riders behind him. A. Hay is one of the fittest riders at present in competition, and competed in all events. He was third in his heat in both the Half-mile and Mile Championships, but did not qualify for the finals, as, owing to the latest rules, only first and second places qualify. Ho romped home in the first heat of the handicap, and in the final was placed first, although, owing to a mistake,by the cycling judges, the riders were allowed to cover an extra lap, and the race finished -in confusion. On his showing on Saturday he must be one of the hardest to dispose of in his club’s Five Mile Championship, D. Thompson won his heat from the scratch mark in the Mile Handicap Race, but unfortunately in the final had an attack of “stitch” just entering the straight for the final burst, and finished in third place. He was also placed third in his heat of the Half-mile Championship after making the pace for the fastest heat in this event.

A. Forrest, the Palmerston rider, did not find the track to his liking, and did not gain any placings. He won his heat in the Half-mile, however, from Fletcher, but in the final could not sprint with the Dunedin men. He always rides well on his home track, and has very seldom been beaten from the same mark up there. C. Conroy was riding his last races on Saturday, but he made an inglorious finale to his cycling careex\ He has plenty of speed, but appears to suffer from an “ inferiority complex,” and cannot, except on very rare occasions, reproduce his training form in competition. He was one of the best men in Dunedin over one lap, and held the Otago Quarter-mile Championship. He did not have the necessary determination to make a cyclist of class, but he was often ot great assistance to the back-markers in handicap races, and his defection from the handicaps will leave a gap that will be hard to bridge. H. Stokes showed a return to form, and was second in the handicap event after a sound display. He is about due for a win, and steady training should bring its reward. F. Loades did rather well for his first championship meeting, and sprinted really well in his heat of the Mile Championship to finish in third place to Fogarty and Smith. M. Gordon, the second Palmerston rider, found the track too heavy for him. C. G. Lucas wag third in his Halfmile heat, but showed lack of training in the other events, although he had a hard ride in the Three-mile, in which he was practically unpaced at the head of the field for a considerable distance. W. J. Templeton finished at the head of the field at the end of the mile in the handicap race, but the judges’ mistake robbed him of victory as an extra lap had to be covered. K. Booth, of Invercargill, did not find the track to 1 his liking, but showed that he is a fair rider on the track as well as being a handy road man. A suggestion for a method of pacemaking has been made to the writer, and it seems worthy of consideration by the cycling officials. The plan is to have one pacer at the head of the field, while another takes up his position at the rear. On completing one lap the pacer at the head of the field runs onto the grass, and the one from the rear comes round the field and takes up his position at the head of the bunch, while a fresh pacer tacks on behind ready to take the next lap. In this manner there would be no delay, and a fast, even pace would be ensured. A trial of this method could do no harm, and it appears to be. a peffectly simple one, which would not require much practice to be made very efficient. The officials of the centre must find some method to supersede the present one, and this plan seems to offer the solution. The Otago Amateur Cycling Club will hold its Five-mile B Grade and Ten-mile Championships to-night at the Caledonian Ground. ‘ , , . Mr Alan Campbell, of the Caledonian Society, gave a handsome gold medal for the member of the O.A.C.C. training most points in the Otago championships, and this was won by J. C. Fogarty.