CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 49

CYCLING NOTES.

BY DEMON.

The annual general meeting of the Dimedin Cycling Club will be held on the 17th inst., at 8 o'clock. A copy of the annual report is given below. The annual meeting of the Pioneer Amateur Bicycle and Athletic Club was held on Thursday evening last. The annual report referred to the fact that the club had, during the -past year, been working under entirely new conditions, and under the circumstances the success of the year's operations was" a matte- for congratulation. Financially a credit balance of £4- Is lOd had been made, ihe receipts having been £861 14s 7d and the expenditure £857 12s 9d. The balance of assets over liabilities stood at £262 9s 9d. Race meetings had resulted in a net loss o£ £69 During the year a second billiard-table had been purchased. . One hundred aiid ninety -pounds in subscription had been received from 259 members. The election of Qificers for the ensuing year resulted as follows: — President, the Hon. E. C. J. Stevens ; vice-presidents, Drs Jennings* and Thomas Messrs A. H. Anderson and J. F. Grierson ; captain, Mr W. J. S. Hayward ; sub-captain, Mr H. S. Batche1 lor ; committee— Messrs F. H. Harley, C. S. Harper, P. Menzies, and D. Hoare (athletics), and E. E. Daniels, R. T. Lees, W. G. Hall, and K. Wallace (cycling) ; auditors, Messrs W. Tonks and T. B. Ohisnall ; vice-president N.Z.A.A.A., Dr Jennings; delegates to the N.Z.A.A.A.— Messrs F. W. Johnstone, O. Moller, and D. Hoare; delegates to" the New Zealand Cyclists' Alliance. Messrs Cotter and Gunsen; delegate to Sports' Protection Association, Mi T. Ohisnall. -At the annual .meeting of the League of South Australian Wheelmen, it was stated that the league had 11 metropolitan clubs affiliated, representing a membership -of 663, and 15 country clubs affiliated, with a total membership of 64-8, making a grand total of 1290 members. The total 'income from the club room was £250 0s 3d, \\ hich with a "stock in hand of £24- 7s 8d made a total of £274- 7s lid. The total expenditure in connection with the club rooms was £221 18s lOd, leaving a profit on the rooms of £52 9s Id. The racing fixtures had been fairly successful. The October meeting resulted in a 105.3 of £69, the prize money for which was £203 10». The Adelaide Wheel race meeting, held in March on the new track on the Adelaide Oval, resulted in a profit of £215 3s sd, the total prize money being £230 6s' 6cl. The actual profit made by the league for the year was £40 Bs. The actual' credit balance at the "close o£- the year (June '30) was £173 7s 6d, arid of this amount £152 10s 3d was bearing interest ' The monthly meeting of the Otago Cycling Club was held on Monday evening; present— Messrs Myers (president, . in the chair), Capstick, Russell, Monteath, Brown, Townsend, Jago, Eodgers, Courtis, Cole, Gunthorpe, and Begg. The following subcommittees were appointed for the ensuing season : —Musical and Social Committee— Messrs B. Rupsell, Monteath, Brown, L. Russell, and Gunthorpe; House Committee— Messrs. Rodgers, Brown, and Capstick ; Racing Committee — Messrs Gunthorpe, Begg, and Cole. A large amount of routine business was transacted, and several new members elected. Mr H. Gunthorpe was declared the winner of Mr S. Solomon's trophy for the most popular member of the club for the past season. It is reported in the English press that Lord Hopeloun intends bringing a couple of English-made motor cars oiit to Australia with him. Should Lord Hopetoun "take tip" motoring, what a lift it will give automobiles in Australia, for the Governor's ex^mnle would speedily lead to a boom in the horseless carriage amongst Australia's upper ten. The French War Office, unlike Conservative Downing street, has quickly become seized of the importance of the motor car in warfare, and in the coming French army manoeuvre-* some of the best known of the French automobilists will take part in conveying the generals a,nd other important functionaries from 'point-to-point on their powerful cars. "Motor transports, both steam and peirol, will 1 also be extensively used "in the field. What with "cyclists' corps and all these motors, the approaching ' manoeuvres should be looked forward to with much interest. -

It is very ■ disagreeable to ride in the face of a stiff breeze. From America comes the news of an invention that will do away with this inconvenience. It is said that the " protector" is conical in shape, and made of aluminium. When it stands on the ground it- is 6ft high at its tallest point. The apex of the colic when the protector is in position on the wheel is 3ft 3in from the ground. The base of the cone is not quite circular, the bottom being cut out triangularly, so that the front wheel of the bicycle will 'be inside. The rider can see by means of two circular mirrors and a circular piece of plate-glass inserted in the top. There is an opening which point?- ahead in the direction of the path of the rider, and an opening iiiFidc the protector, so that he can look into it. Over the opening, on the outpide, is a piece of plate-glass, circular in shape. This is put there to present the wind from rushing inio the reflector and thence into the rider's face. Inside this appliance are t« o fine French mirrors. These are constructed to fit into the corners of the reflector, to fend the rays of light to the inside opening. The rider, therefore, s,ee-s an exact repioduction of the outside scenery.— Sketch.

——The New South Wales League of Wheelmen have decided «o hold a two days' meeting in October, giving away prize money to the value of £150. The following- is a list of the events to bo decided : —

First Day.— Two-mile Handicap, £31 ; Thirdclass Scratch Race, £6 10s ; Five-miles Professional Championship of Australasia, JC23; One-mile Class "A"' Handicap (Amateur), trophies; Novelty Race, £6 10s; Tandem Scratch Ence, two miles, £13.

Second Day. — League Amateur Championship of Australia, five miles, trophies; Tar>dtvm Championship of Australasia, tlnee miles, £13 , One-mile Handicap, JS10; Novelty TC.'ca, £tt 10s , Championship of Australasia, mutch between the winners of the Five-mile Pjofossioa;il iiua Five-mile Amateur Championshjps. o\er one mile, fov trophy; First-class Handicap, one mile and a-half, £10; Cla?s "A" Handicap. three miles, for tro_phieg.

The New South Wales council is to be congratulated on the interesting and attractive programme of events put forward for its October meeting, especially in re-introducing tandem racing ; for no class of racing is so popular with the public. Again, the match between the professional and amateur Australasian champions is another innovation that should provide interesting racing. According to the Weekly Times (Melbourne), some developments may be expected shortly in regard to the long-outstanding dispute over the Martin-Walker match between the League of Victorian Wheelmen and the controllers of the St. Kilda cricket grcfund. The St. Kilda' Council recently wrote to the L.V.W., a&king for full particulars, and these were ifurnished by Mr Gurnet. Evidently the Council has some interest in the ground, and contemplate moving in the matter some way. It" will be remembered that the St. Kilda Club was fined £100 (one hundred pounds) for certain irregularities in connection with the running of the above match, and owing to the non-payment •of the fine, the track, the finest in Victoria, has since been outlawed by the L. V.W., resulting in no registered meeting being held on the track for some 15 months. It is to be hoped that some f-atisfactory settlement will now be arranged between tho two bodies, for it is a great pityto see the <■ fine track lying idle. — — That the French cj-cling authorities will stand lio humbug from racing men is evidenced by their treatment of the" Italian crack, Momo, who recently ran Jacquelin to, ■inches in the Grand Prix de Paris, £320.' ."The judge's decision did* not give Moino satis--faction, 'and he addressed a letter to the French "League on the subject, withrather an 'unexpected result to himself, for the governing body has suspended the Italian champion, on the ground that the letter was an insult to the official who acted as judge. As the result of a carriage accident Geo. Waller, the cyclist, who in 1889 won the great six dayb' bicj-cle race at the Agricultural Hall, died at Newcastle, England. He beat the French champion, Terront, by 14 miles. He ' was also the winner of many prizes on the old high bicycle. One of the biggest cycle meetings ever seen in Ireland was that held recently at Ballymena. Many of the best riders in England, Scotland,' and Ireland competed. J. Pla'tt-Betts, Catford, rode a mile in the Irish record time of lmin 37 4-ssee, beating en route they flying quarter and the half and threequarter mile records. "Later he cohered 10 miles in 17min 51- 4-ssec. F. W. Chirm, of ' Birmingham, the professional champion, was defeated in a one-mile scratch race by H. Reynolds,- Dublin, and H. B. How ard, London, Reynolds winning by a few inches. Time, 2min 18 l-ssec. Reynolds and Chirm easily secured a two-miles tandem race in 4-min 15sec. while Howard, the five-miles champion, won a two miles pursuit race in 4-min 26>ee. — — Some very good middle-distance racing was witnessed at the Charles River Park track, Boston (U.S.), in a 20-miles paced race between Albert Champion, late of Paris, Burns Pierce, the vanquisher of Michael, and =Nelson, the winner of the , 100 Idioms, world's amateur cham.pionslnp last year. The event was, thought to.be a gooctthing for Champion, but' -the ex-amateur Nelson' rode in grand style," and won by a lap, covering the 20 mi'cs in 37min 9sec. Nelson it was who defeated Ben Goodson, the New South Wales xepre^enutive .at the world's championships at Montival; but the Australian, who only had' human pacing against motors, rode very well. Fischer, the Bordeaux-Paris winner, has beaten the world's record for 100 kiloiusi (62 odd miles) by doing 2hr 12min. WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS. The Dunlop Tyre Co. are in receipt of the following cablegram from their Parisian representative: — Paris, Monday, August 20. Huret won 100 kilometres (62J miles) World's Professional Championship. Bastion won similar Amateur event. Both races motor-paced. — Dunlops. — The world's championships are this year held under the auspices of the Union Velocipedique de France on the Pare dcs Princes track. Paris, and owing to the great influx of visitors to the Paris Exposition exceptional interest is being taken in the ehampiononipb this year. These blue riband events of tne cycling world annually attract the t fet riders from all parts of the globe, a different venue being selected each year, the 1899 championship meeting being held in Canada. Constant Huret, the winner of the professional event, is the finest all-round cyclist France has produced, he being equally proficient at both track, and road racing. Huret has amongst his victories the Bordeaux-to-Paris Road Race, " 353 .miles in 16hr 35min 45s,ec; the 80l dOr, the great French 24 hours' 'track contest; besides 'many other important European and American races, together with a number of world's records. * Little is known about Bastion, the amateur winner, he being a comparatively unknown ■French rider. These events were won last year by two American riders, H. Gibson and J. Nelson ■respectively. Australia was to* be represented in the profefsional events under notice by G. Sutherland I and E. Reynolds, two well-known New Zealand riders, who were 'sent to Paris last June by the New Zealand League ; but ie was hardly to be expected that either of these riders would be able to successfully compete against the cracks now collected in Paris, owing to thcii inability to obtain proper and f-ufficient motor pace. The most important event to be decided 'during- the Parisian meeting as the Gold Cup (worth .81000);. a 24-hour&' paced race betwesn- a representative field of the long-dis-tance champions, "and for which A. E. Walter? (England) and C. Hyret are equal favourites.