CYCLING

Otago Witness, Issue 2003, 14 July 1892, Page 31

CYCLING

NOTES BY DEMON.

I see from a cable to the Sydney Referee thab Zimmerman not only carried off the One-mile Safety Champioaship at Leeds on the 25th June, but succeeded in annexing the Five-railo Safety Championship also. In the cable message to New Zealand there was no mention of this race, but as the event was one of three of the National Cyclists' Union Championships fixed to be run at Leeds on 25th June, I think the Sydney cable may be taken as authentic. The time is not given. Last year's holder of the championship, A. W. Harris, did the distance at County ground, Bristol, on 18th July, in 18min 25 4-ssec. The record for the distance, 12min 16 2-ssec, was made by F. J. Osmond, at Herne Hill, on 15th July 1891. A cable to New Zealand informs us that the Fiffcy-mile Safety Championship has also fallen into the hands of the American. The race was fixed to be run at Paddington on 7th July. Zimmerman's success in carrying off three of the N.C.U. championships is astonishing. According to the latest English cycling papers he waa not near fit, and these results can only bo accounted for by the old story that Zimmerman does not get properly into racing order till well into the season. As far as the N.C.U. championships are concerned, this completes the American's fixtures, and we await with eager expectation the arrival of cycling papers giving detailed accounts of the racing so far as has been recorded. Zimmerman's tour as regards racing will close at Harrogate Camp 011 30th July. Ho will then visit Paris, and return to America for the racing season there. Yet another world's record has been broken. T. Berlo, of New York, has succeeded in reducing the quarter-mile bicycle record to 28 4-ssec. The previous record was held by F. G. Bradbury, who at Home Hill on 23rd May 1891 covered the distance in 33 4-ssec. The Melbourne Bicycle Club have appointed a racing board to control the racing in Victoria. Members of the Fernside Club, Melbourne, won no less than L 448 14s in prize money during the past season. The largest contributors towards this amount were: E. Elliott, Lll2 2s ; L. Scharp, Llollos ; A. Browne, L 53 ; H. Lewis, L4l; and G. Broadbont, L 37. Although starting late in the season, Elliott finished up with nine firsts and two seconds to his credit. Three of these wins were made on the ordinary and the remainder on the safety. Scharp got six points —three seconds and one third —all on the safety. It is computed that there are 500,000 cyclists in England, 200,000 in France, 200,000 iv Germany, 60,000 in Belgium, and 40,000 in Switzerland. The French War Office propose to enrol 6000 or 7000 wheelmen in case of war, their chief use (according to Vanity Fair) being as messengers, though it is thought by some that this will lead to a multiplicity of instructions. The great bicycle run from Chicago to New York with a message from General Miles to General Howard has ended. The average speed was over 10 miles an hour, but the weather and the roads were about the worst that were ever travelled in and through by cyclists. The big man (says Cycling) has secured most of the advantages of the air tyre. When the new style of rim cover first came upon tho scene, the prophecy was freely made that at last the chances of all men —light or heavy, big or small —were to bo equalised. The strong and powerful man was to be placed on an exact level with tho lightly built pedaller. Now, however, it has been clearly shown that the little man is at a discount in cycling, as he seems always doomed to be in all branches of athletics. When air tyres commenced their history, the general idea was that on account of the immunity from jarring and vibrations the frames of machines could be constructed much lighter than they had been before. This, however, proved a great fallacy, for the extra weight of the wheels had not been taken into consideration, and it was found that the strains on the frame were quite as great, if not greater, with the new tyres than with the old. So the hopes of the light and small men were shattered there. Then came the long wheel-base fashion, and here again the big man got the lion's share of its advantages. It is manifestly harder for a small or slightly built rider to propel a long and comparatively heavy mount uphill than a short and light one. The manifold advantages of the air tyre are of course not to be gainsaid, and no sane man would ever dream of returning to the old style of " bootlace" tyre ; bub the fact remains that, for the reasons we have enumerated, the balance of benefit is on the side of the big men, to whom a few pounds of weight, more or less, are as naught, and who have the necessary strength and stamina to compensate for the extra exertion to be entailed.