CYCLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1855, 10 June 1887, Page 26

CYCLING.

WHEEL NOTES. By Demon. The roads during the 'past week, especially to the South, have been in rare condition, and a few cyclists have made fairly long journeys. ■ ! A good deal of excitement was caused in the professional ranks by, the victory of Fred Lees in the Mile Handicap at Leicester from 'the 1 10 yards mark,* the little man' stalling- off Howell's spurt, and winning handsomely. There are a good many people who believe in Fred' Lees, and they certainly had good reason to support him at Easter. On the other hand, it must be remembered that Howell was hot yet fit, a3 a lacerated hand, through the bursting of a pistol, was by no means an assistance in the acquiring of form. Howell won the 10-miles Championship easily from Lees, . whilst, at' Jarrow, T. Battensby- had all bis work to get home in front of the new recruit to the professional ranks, R. H. English. X'K ' Nine members of the Brixton Ramblers B.C. and one visitor had a real good time at Easter touring in France, a very bad passage 'from; St. Katherine's wharf on Thursday night being the only unpleasant feature.' The roufe was from' Boulogne via Samer to Montirieul, where,' at the Hotel de France et de Europe, most excellent accommodation was found at low rates. "Next^ daytbe tour was continued through Abbeville' to' Amiens, thence the next day through, Doullens to 1 Hesdin, the, Hotel de France here being an excellent house ; and,' finally, on the j the party returned via Montrieul to .Boulogne, a halt at Port'de Brique,' where a village/^* was in progress, affording a welcome variety. The*party,'whieh was led by Mr &W. Coe, whose talent- for arrangements is said to' be wonderful, most thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The idea that' a committee of racing men could (says Land and Water) do Union work is absurd ; a racing man needs all his spare time to' train nowadays, and not ' one per cent, of our racing men can find time,' or will take the trou- j ble, to sit up late in stuffy offices in the middle of the racing season to do legislative work which can be much better done by a half a dozen of those practical spectators who proverbially see most of the game. Retired raoing men — if they accept the task — are always welcomed on the executive staff of the N.0.U., but a .real willing worker from this division can be seldom found, for a racing mail usually goes J on racing until the cares of business becomes so pressing that he cannot spare time either to train or legislate. ' , , '; R. S. Bryson, of Edinburgh, has been elected president, of the Harrogate Camp for 1887, and under the rule of the lengthy Scot there is not the slightest doubt that all will go merrily, while the whisky will doubtless be quite good as usual. A long- array of vide-presidents and presidents who hav.e /'passed the chair," .are j duly set forth, and Harrogate will, this year, be j pronounced a success, as it was last season. 1 Mr Alfred Nixon, the veteran bicyclist, was to have made an attempt — weather permitting — to beat his own record from London 1 to Edinburgh. On the last occasion he covered the distance in two days twenty- three hour's, a performance which was' subsequently, handsomely' beaten by Mr W. F. Sutton, of the London 'Scottish B ? C. He was to ride one of Messrs' Singer and' Co.'s straight-steerer roadster tricycles geared up to 54in, and would start from one or other, end of the chosen route, according to the state of the' wind.