STUNT TRICYCLE RIDE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23499, 13 May 1938, Page 10

STUNT TRICYCLE RIDE

FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY <From Our Own Correspondent) SYDNEY, May 7. Accompanied by a crowd of cyclists and pedestrians, who disorganised traffic along the route, Alfred Williamson pedalled merrily into Sydney on Saturday on his little tricycle, and thus completed his 565-miles ride from Melbourne in slightly under 10 days. It was a “ stunt ” ride which was not officially observed by any sporting organisation. Having won £35 in wagers and radio and theatre contracts said to be worth hundreds of pounds as the result of his freak ride, Williamson smiled broadly and waved to the cheering crowd as he rode along George street towards his destination, the Plaza Theatre. “I feel as fit as a fiddle.” said Williamson over a glass of milk when he dismounted from his small machine. “I knew I could do it, and I am very pleased at my success.” Williamson, who had never ridden a bicycle or a tricycle until he left Melbourne 10 days previously, said that he had had a gruelling trip. "During the journey I should say I turned the pedals 2,500,000 times. Some of those hills were terrific, but I managed to get through." he said. Williamson was welcomed by his wife and Mr Les. Bols, the Melbourne business man who had bet him £25 that he could not ride the machine to Sydney within 21 days. Williamson shouted a greeting to his wife, and embraced her in the roadway. “ 1 knew you could do it,” said Mrs Williamson.

A small man, Williamson told of many incidents of his trip. The hardest part of the journey was covering a flat area near Tarcutta, Driving rain and blustering wind caused the tiny machine to skid frequently. Once a roadside idler asked as he pedalled by: “ Haven’t you got any work to do? ” “If this isn’t work, I don’t know what is," Williamson replied. Throughout the trip the cyclist lived on soup, eggs, lettuce, fruit and tea. “I am a strict teetotaller, and I do not drink liquor,” he said. “ However. I smoked a large packet of cigarettes each day.” Williamson, who is 43, said that during the trip a piece of shrapnel which he has carried in his' thigh since the Great War caused him considerable pain. A joking remark made in the bar of an hotel in Melbourne, of which Mr Bols is the proprietor, led to the laying of the wager with Mr Williamson. About a month ago Mr Williamson was casually talking to Mr Bols. The conversation turned to wheelbarrow pushing “ stunts ” in which Mr Williamson had figured a few years ago. A man walked into the bar and was followed by his little daughter, who was riding a tricycle. Mr Williamson said to Mr Bols, who weighs more than 17 stone; “You'd look funny on that! ” Mr Bols’s reply was; “So would you. You wouldn’t ride that around to the G.P.O. for £l." Mr Williamson retorted that he would ride it to Sydney. Thus the wager was made.