CYCLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1966, 29 October 1891, Page 30

CYCLING.

NOTES BY DEHOX. At the orosß-oountry run of the D. A. A. 0., held last Saturday, the Brat prize was won by J. W. Haynea, an old oyolist and member of the D.O 0. The third prize was secured by W. Low, one of our raoing members. Low ia training hard just now, a.nd on a suitable maobina should make some good raoing this year. S. Steadman was in town at the beginning of the week. He intends to have a shot at the bicycle events at the D. A.A 0. sports meeting on December 5. T. 0. Rallingshaw, one of our coming riders, is , under orders to prooeed to Ohristohuroh at an early date. Dunedin can ill afford to lose auoh a raoing man ; but as the transfer means promotion we can but wish him good luok and every success on the raoing track at the City of the Plains. 1 would remind members o f t ne run to Lawrence and back during the 9tb November holidays. It is proposed that as the 30th November (St. Andrew's Day) falls on a Monday advantage be taken of this, to ran .to Moeraki and baok; The Nortlfroad ia little known by oyolists,,and thepropoßalis an excellent one. It should meet with the hearty support of club members. The olub run this week is to Blueskin, starting from the olubroom at 2.30 o'clock. It ia some time since there was a run to Blueskin, but pleasing reoolleotions of the reception at the Saratoga serve to keep the memory of that visit before us. Mr A. J. Muller has been eleoted Beoretary and Mr A. P. Williamson treasurer of the Ashburton Oyoling Olub vice Messrs 0. G. Mobs and H. H. Stephens, resigned. The members of the club have deoided to obtain a clubroom. ——In anticipation of T. W. Buast'n visit to Ohristchurch at Ohristma3 time, the committee of the Pioneer Bioycle Olub have already started work on a programme. The meeting will extend over two days, Saturday and Monday. W. H. Langdown has definitely deoided to again enter the racing arena, and will no doubt render a good account of himself. He rides a pneumatic racar during the season. A meeting of the Midland Cycline Olub was held in the Eirwee Hotel on the 21st inst, Mr O. Roper (subcapta,in) in the ohair. Owing to the wet night there was only a poor attendance, and the eleotion of captain was postponed. Two members having volunteered to go to the river bed mid screen

some shingle for the new traok, it was resolved to accept their offer with thanks. Several others offered to oart the shingle free of coßt. After transacting some routine business the meeting terminated. The members of the Ashburton Oyoling Olub were to have formally opened the season on the 21at inst. with a procession and a run into the country, but for the. third Wednesday in succession heavy rain damped their ardour, ana delayed their contemplated pleasure. The club has now a very strong membership. Lately *f^ Ur n»? « f members have been busy soon \HZJ 1 Ck *2 «"> morning Bpreading a fresh fchl ayand omderß « ««* willing tl£ track. The sharp curves that were a hindrance last S^J 1 " baen rounded off, and the track should shortly be in splendid order. mi^i ™ ?° rt £ Otago OycHn B 01 «*> held its ?hS?S mm 1 ce u D - gl^? ce H- The re P°'t shows m a m£r«° Ub fj 8 Btill £ ourl « hhe.i °c. toere being 63 members (aotrve and inaotive) on the roll Jffii? « hl f th9re waa aa expenditure of The weather at the sports meeting militated against its success but the club is to bTcongratulated on being ma Bound financial position. The following ofhoe-b,earera were elected: -President, Mr James Martin: vice-DrasidAnra Messrs G. M Procter, fr. 0. 'aXKjH£ M, Burn, and J. Moss ; oaptain. Mr W Law S5i Oi«O i«* c M- a ° a *"'*»* *« Thursday? 29th mat. Nine new members were eleoted. - — At the annual meeting of the Cyclists' Alliance, held at Christchurch, Mr W H Wynn-Williams was elected President, the presN dents of . affiliated clubs being eleotea vicepresidents, with Mr Waller as secretary A sub-comnaittee, consisting of Messrs Waller, Withers, Ousack, Lowry, and Byre, was appointed to amend the rules of the Alliance, and report to an adjourned meeting on November 23. The committee has also' to define trophies and consider a priza scheme; bat, on the motion of Mr Eyre, ib was carried that under no circumstances is a cyclist to have the handling of cash, neither are expenses for hotels, &c. to be considered. Tho allotment of New Zealand championships will be dealt with at the adjourned meeting. —-The Tourists' Cycling Club's road race to Winchester and back took place thia week There were six starters, and despite the heaviness of the. road some good times were made Denby, the limit man, turned up first, having accomplished the distance in 2hr 34imin. A record for the distance was set up by Hall who did the journey in 2hr 14cnin, a very creditable performance, — A.oyclist up ABhburton way took advantage of a horseman to give him a ♦' tow " The paae waß two rapid for the man on wheels and he signalled to let go. This was done, and the, rope, fouling his wheel, ha and the machine turned a somersault. He prefers now to use the ordinary motive power.' --—The usual opening run of the Auckland cyclists took place on Satuaday afternoon, „°. ot v° beIV .Th 9. Th 9 mu * ter . wni °h was attended by some 50 cyclists, was witnessed by a large number of spectators. „ — '-" PoiHbußter," in the Australasian, says that last year there was a split amonesfc cyclists, and many good riders were absent from the Außtral, but now there is no breaoh, and it would be difficult to get a better lot of namea anywhere.. Araongßt them are F, P Stokes, a veteran rider of the 70's, but now stronger and swifter than ever, W. H. Lewiß, the amateur champion, H H. Lambton and Tom Busst, previous winners of : the Austral prize, A. E (| Sampson, the well-known Adelaide crack, A. F. Gblding, the Taamanian flyer, G W. Ohrisp, who. has also come over from tho island, spatially, , W. J.,0, Elliott, a. IS. Ooote, and all, the other leading lights of the day. There is no , doubt about it now, the Austral has made its name, and is looked forward. ta annually by riders all over the colonies aslhe " Gup race " of cycling. , Iq . inventions, a obainless safety ia the latest. Mr H. Parsons, a Birmingham mechanio, la the inventor. The cranks and pddals operate direot on an axle geared in the usual way to the frame. When the crank is turned it carries the driving wheel. The mechanism is said to be extremely simple, and the invention may causa a sensation in the cycling world next season as a safety bioycle. , The entries for the Austral raoe meetine have finally closed, and %he result is an extraordinarily large number, showing undoubtedly the high favour the cash 1 systsm of prizes is held in by racing men. The total is made up as follows :-Novioe B R ace, 69; Open Bicycle Race, 61-; Seoond-clafis Bioycle Raoe, 53 ; the Austral Wheel Race, 65 ; Safety Bioycle Race, 67 ; and Obstacle Race, 26. As all the races have to be run on one day, the committee will have some difficulty in v arranging events so as not ( to have 'dangerously large fields. The Austral, of course, will be run straight out, and there will probably be 50 starters for the £200 prize. It ia interesting to note that the four previous winners of this big prize— Messrs Lambton, 1887 ; Davis, 1888 ; Mullins, 1889 ; and Busst, 1890— are all entered on this ocoasion. Looked at from any point of view, the whole meeting promises to be a most notable one. —-Mr G. W. Burston, on his arrival at Melbourne, was to reoeive a very hearty weloome at the hands of h,is cycling friends. He has been on a, lengthened tour in Norway and England, and as a cycjist full deserves a warm welcome from hia fellow wheelmen. "Handle-bar.", in the Adelaide ObBerver, gives a few particulars conoemine the contests between Busst and Davis, two of Australia's oraofc riders hatting from Melbourne and Adelaide iespeofcively. Their firßfc meeting was that in January ISBB, in the Mile Australian Championship. Run in heats, the event waa a splendid one, and Davis jußt managed, to defeat the Victorian in the first heat the distance occupying but 2min 28 4 sseo* Davis won the finaj, in which Busst did not oompe'e. At the same meeting in the Fivemile Championship of South Australia Davis agam had the best of matterß, though J W H. Busßt won the event, Tom Bufst being fc d " .. 11 ° DD T °° t0 H 3in fche Ba *eyear, in thf Tw iu m S e v 1 f dwß £ racel at an excellent finish resulted between T. Bdsst, Black, Mills/and S^ °r m « nndt M urn the Victorian fMErii g^ tbrou & h and win, but Black SSri. 2? T'WT** «P? eadhi g °»t blocked Davis, who had to submit to fourth poßition Time, smm 24 B eo. In the Two-mile First Glass won by Black, the two champions waited on each other, with the result that Busst proved the better in the spurt. At the

lon beat Davis in a mile test match, the distance occupying 3min 1 2-sfieo, and in a three-mile event Busst covered the distance in 7mm 57 4 53e0, Davis bning second. Two days afterwards at the Norwood sports the mile took 2min 41sec, with Busst, Fenlon, and Davis in the places. The three-mile event waa won by Mullina, and neither Bußst nor Davis were placed, though the Victorian led Davis by syda when passing the post. The distance was covered in Bmin saeo. In January 1889 Busst competed here, but Davis waa not amongst the competitors. On April 22, however, at the S.A.O.U. sports Feulon won the first olaas mile, with Davis seoond and Bußßt third, the time being 2min 42 3 saeo, and Davis covered the half mile in lmin 16seo, defeating both Fenlon and Busst. Busst was first in the Ten-mile Australian Championship, but the event was declared " no race " on account of the time limit being considerably exceeded. On Saturday last Davis won the half-mile in lmin 18seo, and the five-mile inlSziin 46sao. The respective victories are thus :~Bußßt, 10 : .Davis, 6. This includes the mile and 10 mile events, in which no prizes were awarded through the time limits being exceeded. Davis has won four Australian championships, and Busst two, whilat eaoh rider baa won the Austral Wheel Race from Boratob. A proposed novelty ia a cyoling watch with a good- sized dial fixnd to the handle bar. The rider ib thus enabled to regulate hia pace without constantly dragging out his own timepiece from the depth of bis breast' pocket, ——In England the 24 hours' road raoe of the influential body, of cyclists styling themselves the North- road Club ia invariably one .of the chief events of the cycling year (says a Home paper, and it as often as not results in the institution of quite a new Bet of records. The performance of M. A. Holbein, last year, in covering 336J miles, was at the time considered a moat marvellous achievement ; and so it undoubtedly waß ; but when the- time came to make the arrangements for this year's oontest, those on whom the duty of, mapping out the course devolved did not feel, safe until they had provided a route of very • little leas than 400 miles, a distance which it, was felt the leading division would nearly, accomplish. Unfortunately the miserably wet, weather -whioh haß been bo general this season, did a great deal to mar the success of the whole, affair. The members of the North- road Olub, and the other organisations who have been invited to take part in the contest are not by any xneana of the "butterfly" order of wheelmen, and I don't suppose that the moat persistent and heavy downpour of tain it iB possible to conceive would have the slighteatchance of prevent-, ing them commencing any journey on which they had determined ; but all the same, when 82 of them set oat a few minutes after midnight the other Friday, from a point just four mileß beyond Hitchen, on the well-known Great North road, it waß not with auoh plea-, Burable anticipations of record-making as' would have been entertained had the weather been of a leaa wretchedly miserable desorip-j tion. The roads, too, were in a terrible state, and the whole of the conditions under which' the ride waa commenoed were of a most disheartening charaoter. Mills, Shorland, Holbein, Bidlake (the last-named on atrioyole), and many othsr well-known long-distance riders were amongst the starters, though before many miles had been covered Holbein and two othere were involved in a spill caused by the slippery state of the road, which waa attended with' each disastrous effects to Holbein that he was' unable to continue hia journey. Mills and) Shorland kept close company all through' the dreary hours of darkness, and until the morning was well advanoed towards noon, at which hour Shorland, who was leading, had done 193 miles, or nearly a mile more: than the previous 12 boura' record, a really! wonderful performance under the bad conditions, while Mills, owing to an unexpected' attack of rheumatic pain in the right knee,' waß compelled at about the same time to relinquish the contest. This left Bborland with Buoh a long lead of all the rest that hia ultimate victory became only a question of his keeping on hia machine, and left but little interest in the race. About S in the afternoon rain came down again, and continued without cessation right up to the finish. Shorland, however, stuck to hiß task in the most gallant manner possible, and eventually succeeded in covering 326 mileß, or only 10& leas than the record made 12 months ago. Taking into consideration the bad weather and the roads, and the fact that for the last half of the time he bad no one to push him, hiaperformance was a highly creditable one. Walsh was waa second with 311 miles, Bidlake, the trieyclwt, third with 304. Regarding pheumatio tyreß, the editor of the cycling department in Outing for July say a :—" There ia no doubt about it, but a better air valve must be devised, made with an air-tight cap, whioh cannot be detached. Some Buoh device I bear haa been tried in its experimental stages/ and when completed it, j will be a vaat improvement on the brude valve, j now generally in use. Dealers must take pains to instruct purchasers of pneumatio tyrea how to inflate, and to what tension — the heavier the man the harder the tension. Riders must use brains and common sense, and not be afraid to take a bit of trouble if they would get the beat results out of a pneumatic tyre." , A Btudent has been known to be mobbed in the streeta of Berlin when, while studying in the university there some 13 years ago, he ventured to appear on his bicycle. Now the German Union counts .nearly 14,000 members, haa f eßtal marches composed in its honour, and ia entertained by the authorities of the chief city of Silesia. The other day a procession of 450 cyclists, among them aix ladieß, and 80 carriages bedecked with flowers,, with four bands of musioians in old German costumes paraded through the town to the Soheitniger Park, where races were held. The Emperor William showed hia interest in the sport by presenting a handsome vase as one of the prizes. The largest ordinary riding cycle ever made is a hansom cab coolie cycle, manufactured last year for bis Majesty the Sultan of Morocco. It measures 16ft long by 6ft wide, and 7ft high to the top of the oab. The whole of the framework is nickel plated, and the body of the cab is finished in light green, with gold] panela and gold front. The machine ib driven by four ooolies Bitting in the rear of the cab, but hia Majesty has perfect control of the steering and brake power, Tbißmaobine is probably the moßt expensive oyole ever made, costing 300ga. A firm in Coventry recently made an 80in maohine, whioh wai propelled by means of levers. — —An American inventor proposes to attach a musical instrument to the driving wheel of a bioycle, bo that the oyoliat will be able to grind out tunes aa he rolls along. Even now the wheelmen have enemies among those who dislike being cut down in the pride of their youth when they cross a street. If they add the profession of organ-grinder to their present tole they will run the danger of ( being exterminate,

J' Lebeau " Champagne. J