NOTES BY BEMON,

Otago Witness, Issue 2199, 23 April 1896, Page 35

NOTES BY BEMON,

Little or no cycling .has been done duriug the past week, for the roads have been-, unfit fur riding, and as I wti'.e the rain is down and putting all thought of cycling cub ot the question'for a ftw days at least* Although S*turd*y and Sunday were fine only a. small number of riders ventured beyond town. Oi c enthusiast with, I am inform: d. an eye to a touring medal did,get as far as Outracn, and reports the roads not bad. Next Saturday afternoon the members of thß Dunedia Club mike a thort club run, and reassemble in the evening at a smoke concert to mark the wind up of a remarkable season as far as club runs are coicernfed. It was intended to have a-run to Heuley, winding op with a dinner iv the evening, bub the. arrangements for this function could not be carried through, so the short run and smoke concert have been decided upon. I have not heard of anything startling in connection with the O C C, but that tbe social comfurts of .members for the winter are being looked after by* a sub-committee, and the billiard table is by reason of continued pa'ronage proving a good investment. My congratulations to Mr A. Dey, who last Wednesday forsook tbe joys of bachoJordom for the bliss of married life. H<3 was ably supported during the ceremony by Mr B. Duthie, another gentleman well known iv Cycling ciicks. , ■ . The members of the Mimiro Cyling .Club intend holding'a social gathering on the " .• evening of Friday, May 1. The Dunediu Club will hold a billiard "tournament some time next month. An effort is beiug made to smd E. JPayne, who rectntly put up a record—lmin 4igec—for the half-mile at Maitland, New EswtSi Walts, to Eagla-nd with Parsons,

I Pavne'a sprint was wonderful, and so enamoured are those who b*w the effort that I strong measures are being- taken to induce the council to send Payne Home. The Roxburgh Cycling Club held a sports meeting on Tkursday las!;. The weather was unfavourable, arid the attendance was not large. The racing was good and the fields fair. Symcs, tif Alexandra, won four events in good style. The details of the racing are af f ollowB : — One-milk Novice Bicycle Handicap. — P M'T-aren, 20yds, 1 ; D. Elder, scr, 2. Time, 3min 1 3-ssec. 100 yds Foot Race Handicap.— J. Haughton, 6yds, 1 ; Ah Wing, ljyds, 2 Haughton won without great difficulty by about three yards. Time, llgsec. Three mile Bicycle Handicap. —J. Syines, i 2QDy-F, 1 ; D. O'Leary, 240 yds, 2. Symes won easily, O'Leary finishing gamely in second pl»ce. Time, Smin 36 45sec. 440 yds Foot Race Handicap. -Robinson, syds, 1 ; M'Donald, 10yds, 2. Thte \ras once round the track. Half-way round Robipsou b?gan to come through his men with long strides, and landed an easy win, M'Donald second. Time, 55=ec. One-mile Bicycle Handicap.— Symea, 50yds, 1 ; T. Michelle, Suyds, 2 This wa^ a nice race from start to finish Fast time was impossible on such a wet track Time, 2min 45sec. 880 yds Foot Race Handicap.— Three started, J. Rooney winning without difficulty, N. M'Donald being secoud Time, 2min 3sec. Five mile Bicycle Handicap.— Symes, ?00yds, 1 ; O'Leary, 300 yds, 2. The best race of the day, . though marred by accidents. Scott fell on the -western sida of the course in the first lap. O'Leaiy lost hia pedal, and iv consequence came I in contact with Falconer. Symes won a creditable ] lace, O'Learjr bairift a good second. Time, lirnin 22st;C. Ten-mile Goldfields Bicycle Handicap.— 1 Shortly after thiß race commenced tbe rain began to fall in torrents, and there were many falls. At last, Symes having then a substantial lead of two laps, it was agreed to stop the race at about the twentyfirtt lap, Watson and T. Michelle taking &econ.d and third.prizes' respectively. iSymes voluntarily went baclc to scratch in this race from his handicap of 470 yds. / The Mataura Cycling Club are making •tftwg efforts to secure a, racing track. At a

meeting held last week the prospects of getting a track wore discu»fed, and a small otuaiittee (consisting of Messss • Arnett, Palmer, Thorp, and Sutherland), was to make arrangements to interview the different parties' interested in five acres of ground leased by .Mr Henry, being » reserve/set aside for the Wyndham A, and P. Association. There is- an evident deaire to put down a good track, and I' wish the Malflura.cycHstf, whoa'e'go'hijrto work in a j roper manner, tvery Nieces.* m theic work. Miss Macdonald, a daughter of Captain John Macdonald, of the Bluff, on Good Friday rode from Lumsdcn to the Bluff, a distance of 76 mil«s. The road k in many parts very rough, and Miss Macdonald was not in any way fatigued after her long ride The latest and most successful attempt over the overland route fiom Adelaide to Melbourne has just been completed by W. Kur, the^ German long-distance rider. For tiial of both tider and machine this is now looked upon as the recognised trip. . The first record ride between the two capitals was accomplished by T. D. Scott, who, with limited pacers and withont much knowledge of the country, did the distance in 4 days 19hr 25min. The next to attempt the distar.ee was Frank Toms, and he out down the tima by some 20 hours. Toms took a different rofite to gcott, lessening the distance by about 15 miles. The next aspirant for record honours was J. B. Bnell, and he again was successful, lowering the then existing record bj some 18 hours. Snell cime right through the journey without a wink of sleep, and his performance was looked upon as a splendid one. Several attempts have sinoe been m&de, but all have ended in failure, the. rider either losing the track, or, as in the case of Reeves, suffering collapse before the d-sfcance was accomplished. Inlhe case of the lattetf rider Geelong was reached some 40min ahead of -record time, but there* Beeves went to pisces, and cirald not resume the journey for" several houn. v , Kux left Adelaide op the morning of* the 30th tilfe. He wss paced as far as Strathalbyn, and from there to Maccle3fiVld, a distance of eight miluß, he continued the journey alone. He was v then taken along by facers to Motuat Qambier. A.t Casterton he was taken in hand again, and from Colac to Melbourne" was assisted by a tandem. Towards the cad of the journey he wan cheered by the company of Miss Lucy Be)er, a well-known lad/ cycli&t. He reached Melbourne at 8.32 a.m. on Thursday, thu« doiug the distance in 69br 32aiin. On arrival Kux was comparatively fresh, and was at once examined by Dr L Henry, who found that he bad in no way suffered from his arduous ride. The first 40 hours was ridden without sleep, the first nap of four hours being stolen at Casterton. A 6 Werribee, when he found that he w'»s well under record tim», another rest of one hour was snatched. The ride was not withont mishap, as Kux fell twice en the sandy. deseit stretch, and at another time he ran into a railway g»ta. TBe machine ridden wap an Electra, weighing 251b, aud fitted with Excels'or tyre*. Kux is a relive of G*rmany, 25 ye»rs cf Bge, sft lOin io height, aud weighs about 10 t. He holds German records, and since beiug iv tbe colony bas uot entered actively into cycle raciug. During tbe journey bis food consisted of sfcrak, chops, egge, chocolate, &c. Thet'mes and distances are as follows : —

—Sportsman. The tnosfc important feat of the day at the Porta benefit; (sayu the Argus) was the new quarter-mile record put up by Don Walker. With characteristic modesty Walker only intimated his intention of attempting to reduce tbe record far tbe Exhibition track, 30 4-s*ec, made by Zimmerwau at the carnival held in tbe champion's honour on the memorable cco&Bion when Walker and Pither defeated him in the Scratch Mile Race. Walker not only succeeded, however, in reducing Zimmerman's record, bub he got under the Australian record ot 28 4~ssee, established by Parsons on tho Melbourne Cticketflroand on P'eeember 8, 1695, atidwith 28Jsec has brought the Australasian quarter within a second of the English record, which stands at 27g<ec. Considering the difference in the tracks and the pacing, Walker's feat is quite equal if not superior to the best performance yet done in England. Parson's time, 28 4-sstc, wab made on grass, and still holds pride of place as a world's teeord fox* a grass track. Dahlberg and Broadbeut paced Walker on a tandem in bis succec s r ul feat, and immediately afterwards Dablberg left to catch the boat for -Western Australia, where he intends to reside for the future. Later, Walker made two [ attempts to reduce Zimmerman's half-mile record for the track of 58sec. But the pacing was so bad that he could o.nly manage 59£ sec ! and6l£sec, and retired disgusted. * At the cycling meeting in Melbourne onSaturday for the bet) efit of Parsons the>priucip»l events resulted as follow :—: — International Scratch Mile. — Megson 1, Harris S, Walker 3. Won by a length and a-kalf. Time,2min4B3-saec. Five-MiLE International Scratch Kace.~ Porta 1, Parsons 2, Kirk 3. Won by a length. Pither, Megson, and Harris also started. Time. 2min 39sec. Parsons Handicap.— K. Lewis. 30yds, 1; Kuhle, 90yds, 2. When leading Martiu fell. Won by a hnglh. Time, 4min 49J-pec. Victoria Club Championship. — Beeson 1, GarguwitcU 2, Hicfeok 3. Time, 2niia 48 S-ssec.

Adelaide ... Wellington - Meuingio ... Kings-ou ... Robe Millicent ... Mt..Gambier CJastcrton ... Hamilton... Oaramut ... ' Oamperdown Dolac GeeloDff ... Melbourne Tii/ie. Date Dist, ...10 a.m. ...Mar. 30 ... MR ... 2 37p.m i ... 65J- ... 5.2G m ... „ ... 94 ... 4.40 a m 31 ... 186 ... 7.30 ii ... ' „ ... 214 ■ ... 150 p.m. ... ii ... 2«6 ... 5.10 ii ... „ ... 298 ... 1.42 a.m. ...April 1 ... 346 .:. 10.57 ii ... ii .. 38*> ... 2.30' p.m. • ... ii ... 410 ... 6.35 ii - ... „ ... 463 ... 10 pm. ... ii ... 493 ... 2.10 a.m. ... ii 2 ... 539 ... 8.3J .. ... 555