CYCLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2253, 6 May 1897, Page 37

CYCLING.

NOTES BY DEMON.

The perfect weather ab the week end made cycling a delight, and riders were to be seen dotted here aud there about the south road and swarming about the streets of the city and the suburbs. Ab this time of the year one hardly looks for a perfect cycling day — warm, sunny, and without wind — and, posgeaainng all these good points, the weather of the last few

days can rightly be termed, in the beginning of May, remarkable. Apart from the weather there is nothing of passing interest in our cycling ■world. J. W. Jones succeeded on the afternoon

of the 29th ult. in lowering the half-mile, onemile, and thr<=e-raile amateur records, his times being lmin 4s«;c, 2miu llj<sec, and 6min 45 4-ssec respectively. All the amateur records from the half to 10 miles inclusive are now held by this rider.

The Invercargill Cash Cycling Club make a profit of £17 over their Easter meeting.

The Christchurch Cycling Club, after paving £56 11s 5d expenses in connection with their recent meeting, make a profit of £76 11s 3d.

A. J. Body, who won the Eight- Houra' Anniversary Whiel Race, is (says an exchange) a somewhat remarkable rider, his best form previously since he came to Australia being in long-distance scratch events. He has frequently done the lion's share of pacing, and then finished with the best, his staying power being exceptional. He has ridden many a plucky race, and deserves the £200. It will be recollected by my readers that Body left New Zealand in 1893 to compete in

the Austral Wheel Rice of that year. Although

he did not make any show in the race, he was not discouraged, and returning to New Zealand coon made his way back to Australia, finally Bottling down in Sydney. The Melbourne lacing authorities ha?e adopted the ptactice of allowing only the winner of a heat to start in the final, and this is reported to be working a. wonderful change in racing, making a sterling race of nearly every heat. At » recent meeting the committee even improved on this method by paying one man in each field to pace the race, and the pacer who rode in the fastest heat was given a start in the final. A gigantic piocession of cyclists is proposed as a feature of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Melbourne. There should be no difficulty (says a writer) in getting a couple of thousand riders (male and female) to take part in such a function, and ifc may not be oub of place to eugge3b that if each paid a shilling to enter the procession ib would be a very •imple way in which to raise £100 for the Fever Hospital fnnd. Snel), the South Australian recordbreaker, who went from Adelaide to Melbourne overland without sleep, is now laid up with typhoid complicated by pneumonia, aa indirect result of the journey. Another South Australian cyclist lately started out for Port Darwin overland, but collapsed at Oodnadatta, the head of the railway line. It is said that at a recent Sydney race meeting payments were made to riders as under: — Lesna, £160; Dunlop pacing teams, £200 ; Edwards and Grt.cn. £25 each ; Martin and Porta, £20 ; Kellow, Ken Lewis, Walne, and Megson, £10 each ; and Payne, £5. A cjclisb with a stiff leg, due to an old accident, has had a bieye'e built for him with ' the right pedal crank loose, the pedal on that eide acting as a stirrup. He declares that he is able to ride long distances without fatigue. , . . The Scientific American, writing on the

cycles shown at the New York Exhibition held in February, enumerates some of the characteristics of the designs for 1897. The tubing is slightly larger, l^in and ]4in being common. Nearly 50 per cent, of the high-grade wheels have D tubing for the rear forks, and a few use tubing of an oval section, both being adopted with a view to reducing the tread, which has bsen brought down to about 4£in in many of the wheels. There has been an allround advance in the construction of the bearings. Balls are elightly larger, aud the rider who has more than his share of " nerves " will appreciate the introduction of ball retainers, which enable each set of balls to be removed with its own cup, aud prevent the possibility of their beipg lest during a general clean-up of the machine. The good old method of attaching the crank to the crauksbaft by means of a plain key is conspicuous by its absence. Ifc has been thrown aside, not because it was unmechanical, but because il was jo difficult to remove^ especially by .unskilled hands. The most common device is modification of the jointed crank-shaft, in which the crank is formed in one piece with the shaft, the latter being spliced in the centre by some form of interlocking device. In some cases the crank-shaft and one crank ara formed in one piece, and a very few machines have the two cranks and the shaft in one continuous forging. Almost all these devices allow the crank-shsi'fc to be removed without disturbing th 9 bearings. Despite the many promises regarding the ebainleES bicycle made early in the year by prominent manufacturers, there is nothing to show that it is likely to replace the chain aud sprocket machine. The large sprockets which have been in favour in England are making their appearance in America, and as the mechanical grounds on which they have bgen introduced are sound and practical, tlpy have probably come to stay. Large sprockets reduce the tension in the chain and lessen the strain upon the bearings and the frame. There is noticeable x tendency to raise the gear, the change being compensated by lengthening the crank* from 6£iu to 7in. By this combination it is possible to reduce the rapidity of the pedal action and yet maintain the same tractive effort in the wheel. In general the gear of the roadster has been raised from the 68 and 72 of last year to from 72 to 76 for 1897. The wooden rim reigns supreme, and one well-known firm which last year made a specialty of aluminium rims is offering wood rims ns an optional alternative on its high-grade wheels. Great ingenuity is showu in devices for preventing th« warping and splitting of the rim — a defect which now seems to b« fairly overcome. There is rso advance &o marked as that shown in the production, of a comfortable saddle. From tho days of the primitive %< boac-3haker " tha saddle has been the most faulty eltmeub in the make-up of a bicycle ; but to-day the problem has been solved by designing the seat on socalled hygienic principles, and ib is not the fault of the market if the 1897 rider does not sit his machine in cojnfort.

At the Dwt cycle show in America, held in the spring of 1891, a machine weighing 421b was regarded as * marvel of lightness. Tho newest machine weighs less than 121b.

In Paria, before using a motor cycle, all persons are required to furnish detailed accounts of their machines ; also a copy, signed by a magistrate, of their birth certificates (and marriage certificate, it they have one), with two unmounted photos of themselves.

If there is a place in this world entitled to be termed the cyclists' paradise, that place must be Pretoria,' the capital city of the Transvaal, or Boers' Republic. The extraordinary privileges wheelmen enjoy here are nothing compared to those of the cyclists in Pretoria. There the roads, although a bit dusty, are fairly good, v and • are regarded aa the undisrmtable territory of the cyclist, and tho pedestrian who ventures thereon has to make way for the rider of the wheel or suffer the dire consequences. No compensation, beyond that of physical retaliation, can be had — and, as a rule, there is precious little chance out of that for the pedestrian. Lamps, bells, and brakes are carried at the rider's sweet will and pleasure.

One of the most complicated and delicate of operations in cycle buildiug is the making cf the crank, cays an American paper. The cranks are drop forged. Toe steel comes to the mill in cylindrical bars, about 2in in diameter, and is heated in furnaces, fed by crude oil, brought in pipes from large tanks. The oil, in tcaneit, is mixed with air, under high pressure, creating a roaring blast of over 2000deg Fahr. When the iron is while hot it is placed on a die, and dowu comes the big drop hammer with a force of 1000 tons or more. The glowing mass of steel is crushed into the die, and takes the crude form of the crank. It is then plunged into a cub of water, as blacksmiths ccol a horseshoe, and is again heated and put into anothtr dia. Again the hammer cercends with a heavy bcom like the discharge of a cannon. A press between two forges, diiveu by eteam power, cuts off the rough edges, and the crank, still glowing, drops on the floor. From the forgeroom to the crank department; is

the next step. Here machines are engaged in milling and drilling and the various turning operations for smoothing the surfaces. Then comes the threading for the pedal shafts, the polißhing, the brazing of the spider, the case-harden-ing, and bo on through many operations before it reaches the nickel bath, after which it is carefully inspected and tested. When one considers the strain put upon a crank in Lillciimbing snd riding over rough roads, he rarely thinks of the patient care arid skilful labour in this one part of cycle construction that enables him to travel miles without accident.

The Sunlight Soap Company have ordered over 1200 machiues, all of which are to be given away as advertisements.

A contributor sends the following to an exchange, and fmm it adults may Lake a lesson :—": — " A terrible eurgic&l operation w*s recently performed ab ft Couuectieuii hospital on the person of a bright boy 10 yaars old, who*e mutilation had been made necessary through use of an improper bicycle saddle. The surgeon iv charge of the case said that he considered saving the boy's life a. high tribute to modern skill, but that from au unprofessional standpoint he would have prefer/red to see him die. saddle which caused this sad affair was a hard racing saddle of wood thinly covered with leather and fastened directly to the seatBost with no intervening springs. la form ifc was of fche pronounced racing type, with deep curves, aud desigued to be ridden only when tilted far forward, with tho lider lenuing over the handles ; yefc the icmooeut victim had wseo. it in the ordinary position, and »s a rosulb ot the pounding, bruisiug. and succeeding iuflamniatiou, will remain in a pitiful condition for Gbs rest of bis life. The stupid father of this poor boy bought the saddle to replace a eennible one which had been broken beyond repair The discarded racing seat was sold to him for half a dollar by a dealer who know nothing of its intended u«e. This is therefore- to be regarded as an isolated case, and anything exactly similar may never occur agaki, but ib still points to a grave responsibility which rests upon the parents or guardians of growing boys or girls wb.o ride. The juvenile saddles commonly sold are safer No child should be permitted to ride an adult's saddle, a cheap saddle, or anything bub a saddle made and designed by a responsible manufacturer solely for children's use. If a child's saddle produces the slightest discomfort, it should be taken away immediately, and further riding permitted only when an adjustment has been found which produces no undue pressure. Undoubtedly there is now and then a child who should not be allowed to ride at all ; but such cases are rare. It is very seldom that complaint is heard of any evil effects resulting from juvenile oyclipg, but this matter of the saddle should receive the careful and separate attention of every purchaser of a juvenile wheel."

In Dublin the bank and railway companies assist their employees to purchase bicycles. The Great Northern railway has advanced a large sum for a big purchase of machines, the cost price being deducted from each clerk participating in the arrangement by small monthly payments in proportion to his salary. It is a mistaken idea in these days of wheel touring that a woman can never go to any place without a trunkful of clothes. Your wheelwoman has long since proved this a fallacy. A young lady who went on a long cycle .tour last summer thus tells what her luggage was, and how ib was carried: — "'We purchased half a yard of black silesia and two yards of half-inch wide ribbon. Then we returned to our hotel, put four clean handkerchiefs in the toe of one bedroom slipper, and into the same sA the other end an extra pair of stockings. In the interstices we put a comb, a tooth brush, a nail file, a small piece- of soap, and a portion of tooth powder. Then the full slipper went inside the empty one, and a nightgown was tightly wrapped about- both and tied with a shoestring. One or two postcards and a washcloth completed the tout ensemble. which was then pinned in the aforesaid black silesia and tied with parb of the ribbons, the rest setving to secure the bundle to the handlebar."

A galvanised woven-wire cycle saddle is a novelty of the flay for which several special advantages are claimed. It is made in three parts, consisting of the wire saddle and two side pieces, and by means of sn ingenious arrangement of springs the side pieces are constructed so as to give with each motion of the rider's legs, thus forming a broad and comFortable seat. Another special feature is that instead of being hollow in the middle, !iks an ordinary leifcher saddle, tho wiraworis curves upwards towards the centre ro abou"; li-lu, which renders ifc much easier to tide on. The «ad>3le is supplied with a light felfa cover, but if required can be ridden without ifc. The saddle is cool, comfortable, and light, whilst itsuss greatly reduces vibration and entirely prevents saddle soreness.

£6852 is the "balance iv hand " of the Cyclist*' Touting Club (England), or just as 11-id per member. An atcempl to arrive ab the number of people who u«e bicycles in England has been made, with the result that a total of 1,500,000 ha 3 been fixed upon. Inquiries have revealed the farther fact that during the last 10 years the number of cycle factories has increased from 61 to nesrly 700.

— >- Cycling, for all bhafc the dismal prophets fancy, is (says a writer in Bicycling News) a wonderful c-xercise for astonishing the doctors. An ardent cyclist will bsat records for the rate of recovery from wounds and confound his medical advisers by gettiDg well at lightning speed. A thoroughly sound body in a thoroughly healthy condition, such as that induced by plenty of cycling, is not only fitter to resist disease, but responds raoM quickly to the attentions of repairers Look for example at the case of the racing man, E. Gould, who fell in the last Anchor Shield race, when a qundri-

cycle ran over his neck and a triplet bounced him up in the air like an indiarubber ball. Ha had a hole in his neck you could pub a fiugor iv, and lumps of flesh were misßing from his chin and cheek. His wounds were not merely bruises and t cratches and shock, but he actually lost flesh in big pennyworths at a time. What was the result ? Being thoroughly fib he rallied aii once, and his own automatic natural repairing gear being in good order, . in less than a week *ll the yawning chinks were filled iv again with nice homegrown meat, and to-day no scars* or soains indicate that any s,ccidant ever occurred. This kind of experience is by no means unique, and though nab every cyclist is as fib as a man racing in a ciwaic event, yet in proportion ao they ride well so will they be well. More than once ray own experience has shown that the iitae-i« induced by cycling" overthrows tho opinions of fche doctors. Whore I have been ijivea a week bo be well I have taken a couple of days, aud once when I fall on ray eye I was told that 'the sigkb was damaged and a lifelong scar was certain. .That eye.js scuud, and the scar has yet So pufc in an appearance ; aud on another occasion, when a broken machine Ist me down heavily ou my knees, my surgeon told me that one of them would always be stiff and i should never rido again. I changed my surgeon, and have ridden more than 30,000 miles siuce that prophecy. Similar instances abound on all hands, and I fancy that some of fc'ae doctors of io-day who are juat beginaing to t. ( »k» ao interest in the effects of cycling do nob realise its imtueuee valus as a preventftbive of e*od restorative from disease. Their view too often is biassed by tlie foot; thab they only como iv professional contact; with those few whom injudicious cycling haa injured, bub for everyone of these few there aro countless thousands who cycle hard, and either need no doctor, or when needing him astound him by their speedy recoverie?.

ENGINEERING AN ATTEMPT UPON JIECORD.

(The Hub.)

Very few of the outside public recoguise or are aware of rhe vast amount of work entailed by an attempt, successful or otherwise, upon a, record. We do not refer to the persona! effort* of the rider himself ; but rather to the mauce-o ia which such an attempt is arrangsd by cb.'j supporters of the man himself, «r the company to which he is attached.

. In the first place, the rider has to be located at the track for a considerable time in order to become accustomed to the bands and the beat methods of clipping in behind the pacemakers. His trainer has an anxious time of ifc, for everything depends upon the condition in which his charge is sent to the post. We will suppose the would-be record-breaker has gone through the preliminaries *11 right, and that he has ridden a trial of a satisfactory character. The gentleman who looks after bis arrangements steps in now, communicates with the pressmen, who generally attend these trials, the company, and last, but nob least, cne of the official timekeepers of the N.C.U. The last-named gentleman is supposed fco hold himself in readiness to rush off to the selected track upon the receipt of a wire, notifying the time of the start ; and, to their credit be it said, ib is an almost unknown thing for one of the watch-holders to disappoint.

The weather, however, is a gre at factor in the success of the attack made upon previous bests. Upon* a warm, not ttfo sunny day, with little wind, a man will get yards further in the hour, or be seconds faster in the mile or three miles, than would otherwise be the case.

Once upon the track, in readiness to get away at the/srack of the pistol, is where the trainer, or rather the man who arranges the relays of pacemaker.?, steps in ; he has to know to a fraction of a secosd upon each lap of what his charge is capable. Before starting, he has to draw up a schedule of speed, by which the cyclist must necesesarily be governed. If he is attacking, say, an hour record, it does not matter if he is slower than previous beets at the intermediate distances. If he gets inside record at the finish — that is all that is asked of him.

To this end, the previous distance is divided up into lap?, and the time is allotted in similar proportions. Then the art of the trainer comes into play. Perhaps his charge is slow at the start, and doss not get warmed to his work until several miles are reeled off.

Allowance has to ba made for this, and he must be ao nursed that he will be able to pick up his lost ground nearer the end. His bad tiroes musb be noted, and the general rule is for % mark to be placed at about the distance they o )ine on upon the list held by the Ynan who is engaged in regulating" affairs. The paciDg machines musb also be carefully looked after. Wheu Stocks was riding in the great chain matches at Citford last season he had practically won his match ab one period of the race. He had lefb hi 3 man and was drawing steadily away from him. Choppy War* burton, however, had his eye upon vim : and pub on his most powerful crew and largest machine — a quartet, if we recollecb arighb.

Behind this Linton rapidly reduced the gap which separated him from the plain chain man, and set about him at such a pace that he was ran off his legs.

Record breaking is engineered in exactly the same way. As long as a man is travelling inside his time he is all right. A shrill whistle at the end of each lap tells him that.

Bub if he drops away ! A couple of toots as he flies by, and he knows he must buckle oovrn to bis work. The best quad on the ground is put on at once ; perhaps the back man holds his coat wide open and so keeps off the wind, and at attempt is made to get back the few seconds, perhaps, that hava been lost.

Everything depends on the pacemakers now. The man who occupies the back saddle must keep one eye upon the safety rider and the other oq his work. They must shield him m much

aa possible*, and take him round at an evea pace, i Too fast, and they leava him. Too alow, and he ib just an unfortunate in another respect, &s there is a chance of touching the back wheel and a smash. Constant sprinting to keep up with the pacers rapidly wears him out, there* fore they must regulate their pace to his. Careful nursing will assist the single rider more than anything else, and no one welcomes -the single whistle that tells them they have succeeded more than a pacemaker.

Once well up, their task has not finished. They have to keep their man up to his speed, and musb lose not a yard when taking him on or dropping him. Sometimes, however, and this is a more delicate operation, ib is nob policy to break all previous times by too great a margin. If this was done, ib would be out of the power of their man to recover his*laurels again if another man went for and won then; . So they musb not let him go too fasfc, and a, little slower pedalling will get him over the previous best, and yet nob draw him " all out." ~ For a short-dißtance attempt upon record tho procedure is mainly the same, although -for a. mile or five miles the time is split up into sections of a lap. To lose two-fifths of & second on a three-lap track would mean non-sucoess, but if each of these laps were divided into four portions, there would be a chance of getting in front of OKI Father Time again.

One man will stand near tho starter, and others at the head, tho back stretch, aud afc the sweep round >nto the straight for home with handkerchiefs ia their hands. A single sweep downward will tell the pacers^ and «afety ridetthat all is going well, while a general wave round will tell them they are outside their schedule.

Matters must then be lefb to them. There ,i<? go timo to pufc on the beat beam afc any pftrticular lap, and all musb do their utmost to drag their man along. The least hitch and all is over ; so that these men earn the money they are paid for taking their turn at the donkey work.