CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2396, 1 February 1900, Page 45

CYCLING NOTES.

The Otago Cycling Club were unfortunate last Saturday in that the public has recently had a regular run of out-door sports meetings. These, coming on top of the subscriptions solicited for the "absent-minded beggar" now serving in South Africa, cau?ed in fT great measure the attendance on Saturday to be somewhat small. The day was beautifully fine— a trifle blowy, perhaps— and the racing was good enough to please the most fastidious. There were one or two attempts at loafing, but the majority of the events were well contested, and productive of good finishes. The office-bearers of the meeting worked with energy and to some purpose. The results of the various races will be found below.

From a cable received on Saturday last we learn that George Sutherland, of New Zealand, won the Grand National Motorpaced Tournament, of three miles, in smin 39 3-ssec. He must have recovered from the accident that befell him in Melbourne.

At the finish of one of the races on Saturday afternoon one of the competitors shot out from the centre and crossed several others. The sight of that man doing this thing when the pace was a cracker and the riders all bunched was one to make a person's nerves tingle. Goodness knows what would have been the result had he touched another rider' ? machine. At least four or five others must have come down, and what would follow can well be left to the imagination. It is time riders were more careful, or that such practices should be" firmly sat upon. The superintendent of a race meeting has, among other duties, that of keeping the enclosure clear of those persons not connected with the meeting, who stroll aimlessly past the gatekeeper and take up a commanding position inside. Superintendent Begg, on Saturday afternoon, was, I noticed, persistent in asking stragglers to leave the ground. It requires only a little firmness and tact to keep the place clear, and I trust that Mr Begg's example will be followed by other superintendents. The officials would have better space for their work, and the public would be able to obtain a better view of the events going on. Cyclists, and, indeed, all sports, are recommended to go and see the Valdares now appearing at the Reclamation ground. The trick-riding is simply wonderful,, and ,worth a visit.

There is likely to be a loss over the Otago Cycling Club's meeting held last Saturday. About £20 ought to cover the loss. The Tracks Committee i& still doing good work. Their latest effort, the removal back of the fence at the corner of Cumberland street and Anderson's Bay road, is a decided improvement, and one has not now to crane one's neck to look over the fence for approaching riders, as was the case formerly. I have seen some fond embraces at this same corner, but the danger of such things is now minimised, thanks to the energy of the Dunedin and Suburban Cycling Tracks Committee. More power to them.

Mr George Capstick, well known to cyclists in Dunedin, who met with a serious accident to his> knee some five months ago, is about again on his wheel. His knee joint is still somewhat stiff, and to overcome the difficulty of pedalling, he has had fitted on to his machine a 3^in crank, with an additional revolving crank of 3£in attached. The small throw from the crank proper saves a contraction in the knee of 6£in, and makes pedalling easy. From an inspection of the crank and its working it seems to me to be just the thing for anyone troubled with stiff■nes-; of the! knee ioint.

It is stated that E. A. Wall, the winner of the Three-mile Championship run at the Otago Cycling Club's meeting on Saturday afternoon, has volunteered for the Transvaal as a member of the third contingent. If he can ride a horse as well as he can a wheel he's just the stamp of man wanted in South Africa. Of good physique, a nice weight, fit and well, with plenty of pluck, he's fit to join any company that may go to the front.

■ On Saturday, November 11, Major Taylor, the coloured American crack, and holder of the world's one mile professional championship, essayed the world's > (recognised) quarter-mile record of 21 l-ssec, recently made by J. PlattBetts at the Crystal Palace. Several fast quarters have been accomplished abroad of late, but the powers tEat be have not seen their way clear to pass them, consequently both M'Duffee and M. Taylor decided, says an English exchange, to reride their previous records. M'Duffee was successful in beatmg the half-mile flying start, as reported recently, and a few days later the "ne/ro flier" covered the quarter from a flying start in the remarkably fast time of 20sec, which beats the previous best above referred to by 1 l-sseo» Taylor was paced by a steam quadruplet.

On November 15. at Chicago, Major Taylor put up a new mile record. Paced by a big steam tandem, fitted with a wind shield, he covered the mile from a flying start in lmin 19sec, the previous best (with wind shields) being held by M'Duffee at lmin 21 2-ssee.

A meeting of the Dunedin and Suburban Cycling Tracks Committee was held on Friday, 19th uIC, the president, Mr Mondy, in the chair, and the following members being present: — Messrs Wilson, Courtis, Fothergill, Crow, and Misses Rigg and Statham (secretary). An apology was received from Mr Isaacs (treasurer), who was out of town. Correspondence was received from the town clerk, Dunedin, saying that some gravel had been laid in Cumberland street, and from the town clerk, Caversham, to the effect that the council would take steps re the crossings at the bonds. The secretary was instructed to write and thank them for their prompt action in the matters referred to. It was reported that Mr Bateman had finished the top dressing of the track and filling in of the corner by the railway line at junction of Cumberland street and Anderson's Bay road, and that, .the work htfi been -done in a most efficient and satisfactory manner. It was decided to accept Mr Bat email's tender for tarring and sanding the portion of the track between Cumberland street and the railway crossing. The secretary was instructed to write to town clerk, St. Kllda, and ask the cost of forming that part of the road behind the old racecourse, from the hotel to the Roj^al Crescent. A donation of £2 2s from the Dunedin Cycling Club was received, and secretary was instructed to write and thank the club heartily for the same.

The smooth surface of the thoroughfare was delicioubly slimy. A long file of vehicles of every description was sliding along it, when a feeble-kneed nag came a cropper, bringing the growler to which he was attached to a standstill. The effect was instantaneous. One after another of the vehicles charged into the rear of its predecespor, the poles of the hindermost going playfully through the backs of the foremost. Of course, an unfortunate, cyclist was bringing up the rear ; he, too, careered merrily into the carriage in front of him. "There you are again!" exclaimed an intelligent police-officer, coming up. "You cyclists.be puffect nuisances, dislocating the traffic. Wot's your name and address?? "

— — The difference between dead and live weight is ver3 r remarkable. A stone weight of luggage on the handle-bar makes more difference to the running of the machine than would a child two stone weight. In fact, even v steep hills, one hardly feels that drag ■ caused by a youngster sitting on the frame. It always seemed to us, too, that weight in the machine itself made more difference than weight carried on it. Six or seven pounds extra in the weight of one's Fafety is at once apparent, but the same weight of luggage secured to the handle-bar does not cause an appreciable difference.

The medical man is becoming a cyclist himself, and many of them do not scruple to advise cycling for their patients. They also favour the home trainer as a means of alleviating obesity, both in man and woman. Too much care, however, cannot be taken

in attaching this little instrument. For the cyclist it need possess no terrors, but the nonrider is apt to overdo matter at the start. As with the wheel proper, the muscles of tho thigh do the greatest amount of work, and upon dismounting after a long spell of work', they not infrequently refuse to bear the body. A sharp trot, however, brings them intc balance again, and no ill effects are felt. There have been some wrinkled brows over the invention of a new word for hor»sleos vehicles. Here are some of the suggestions as published in the Chicago Record — " Horseless," " steedless," ahippion," "mobile," "mob," "dynamo cycle," dynamolor," " cyclarette," " vehiclette," "locomotor," " machinecar," " loke," " spontomobile,' " spontocarette," " spontocycle,"' " pponter," and many others. The flow of suggestions is still going strong.

A Californian inventor has produced an air motor and applied it to a vehicle. It operates with an initial pressure of 1200 pounds to the square inch. The piston ares is about 1 square inch. When the vehicle was tried the expansion of air produced such an intense cold that " the engine was at once covered with ice and the pipes were frozen solid," according to a local report. What it was that "' froze solid M in the pipes is not slated. According to the Cycle Age the inventor will now apply a coil heater to overcome the cold, and by the time when he shall have learned the common phenomena of latent heat (and cold) will probably have a motor as complicated and unsatisfactory as that which was recently discarded on th« J ' street railway cars on Twenty-ninth and Thirty-first streets in New York City.

According to meteorological observa tions, gays a writer in a scientific paper, the ninth day of the moon is the' most rainy of the whole twenty-eight, and 4 o'clock in the afternoon the wettest hour of the day. It is well to bear these observations in mind when fixing up a cycle trip.

Time was when the cycle agent had. only to recommend a certain make of bicycle to clients to secure immediate patronage, but now almost everyone rides, and buyers of cycles understand something of jaoints of construction, and invariably refuse to accept any machine, however good, unless up-to-date in design and finish. — Cycler's News. Cycling West says : The glue trust went 'through because (the members stuck together. The leather trust put its whole sole into the matter and succeeded. The rubber man stretched a point and made an agreement. The wheel t"ust went spinning on, to success. The yeast trust -was followed by a rise in prices. The milk tru&t took thft cream of the business. The screw men wormed their way together. The ice trust froze the outsiders. The gas trust inflated. things to great proportion. The starch trusj stiffened prices, and the paint trust painted thing? red.

Statistics have been brought to beai of late upon the miles walked during a twelvemonth by the average rural postman. How many miles, however, does a cyclist messenger attached to one of the London evening papers cover during a twelve-month of racing, on the flat and over the stick?? Look at his performances for a moment, and then calculate for yourself. Suppose a. race-meeting start? at 2 o'clock and terminates at 4.30. This is an inside calculation. During that time each man has to ride from the Strand to Victoria, to the Obeliski. Lambeth, tha Angel, Islington, or to Liverpool Street Station, City, on the average four times daily, exclusive of a longer tour on the final result: The mileage is surprising, if worked out properly.

In Paris nearly half a million of cyclists pay the tax demanded by the law. They get no f'2 3ec i a l concessions or considerations for their contributions to the revenue, but all the main roads of France are maintained by th 6 Government in magnificent order.

" Well, I've heard of a crowing hen, but I was surprised the other day ! " said. O'Quipper. " What was it that surprised voif so much?" inquired De Vicktimm. " Why 3 a tandem crew!" murmured O'Quipper. A Wellington telegram says:- — There are over 250 entries for the league's Champion Cycle meeting next week. The competitors (who are nearly 50 in number) include Reynolds, Chalmers, Lewis. Barker. Bennet, Tierney, Plunkett, Ralston, Humphreys, Wall, and Derretl. As well as the strictly champion events, there will be some handicap races on the programme.