CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 49

CYCLING NOTES.

BY DEMON.

The Dunedin Cycling Club's run, fixed lor Saturday last, did not come off, owing to a very, small muster of members. The roads, after passing through Green' Island, where .there is a looseness, are in first-class order, and a number of riders were to be seen on pleasure bent. During the afternoon I noticed a good number of riders on the Woocthaugh road, no doubt tempted that way by the encampment of the Engineers' corps in the locality. F. W. Hunt (New Zealand) is on the scratch mark of the Austral Wheel Race with eight other riders — viz., F. S. Beauchamp (Tasmania), J. M. Chapman (United States), .I.' Green (England), S. E. Gordon, W. Lawson (United States), W. 'Martin (United States), R. Walne (Queensland), W. B. Vaughan (United States). - The Dunlop Tyre Company announce that they intend following their annual custom of issuing their artistic "Austral Wheel Race" souvenir, in the shape of a coloured folder containing photos of representative racing cyclists competing at the Austral Wheel Race meeting. Last year this company issued close upon 4-0,000 souvenirs, which were readily snapped up by cyclists throughout the. colonies, and as this year's production is on a more lavish scale, a greater demand is expected. Cyclists in any part of Australia will be able to obtain a copy gratis by writing to any of the Dunlop depots, after the first \reek in December. At a meeting of the Otago Centre of the League of New Zealand Wheelmen on Wednesday night, Mr H. A. Clatv.'orthy was elected secretary, vice Mr A. E. AUoo, removed to Christchurch. F. Hunt, the New Zealander, won the One-mile Handicap and rode second in the Two-mile Wheel Race at Castlemaine, Victoria," on November 9. Hunt started from scratch in both events, and in the mile race defeated Gordon, the champion, but the result was- -reversed in the Wheel Race, when Gordon managed to defeat Hunt by a few inches.- • • ... At annual meeting of the Goulburn branch of the New South Wales League of Wheelmen three Americans — Messrs Lawson, Vaughan, and Chapman — made their first Australian appearance. They were iinsuc: cessful in the handicap races, but Vaughan won the scratch race provided as an extra. Vaughan and Chapman gave .an exhibition with their motor cycle. They established records for the track for half-mile and a mile, • doing the former in 52 2-ssec, and the latter lin Imm 45 2-ssep. Platt-Betts's time on the track for the mile was Imin 56 3-s?ec. They also attacked Platt-Betts's five miles record, but occupied lOmin 20 3-ssec, as against his 10miri"8see. Mr Theo. W.Heide is now installed as secretary to the League of Victorian Wheelmen. On the first day ,of his assumption of the duties a most pleasing •• communication came to hand. It was an application from the Australian Natives' Association fete secretary for the league's patronage for the cycling events to be run in connection with the A.N.A- twelfth annual fete on the Exhibition track on Saturday, 26th and Monday, 28th January next. The programme consists of the A.N.A. Wheel Race, of £200; Gold Stakes, £85; Australian Cup, £50; Federation Handicap, £40 ; Five-mile Scratch, £25 ; and an amateur two-mile race, for trophies •valued at £12. The League of New South Wales Wheelmen has withdrawn from the Commonwealth Celebrations Cycling Committee, and has asked - the , Government to grant a sum of money to cover expenses, or to guarantee any loss on a race meeting for League riders only, which it is proposed to run in connection with the celebrations. The question as to the control of cycle racing in Victoria has been amicably settled. The committees of tha League of Victorian Wheelmen and the Melbourne Bicycle Club have arrived at an agreement, and the threatened deadlock has, therefore, been averted. At the conference of the two committees held on sth inst. it was mutually decided-:—^) That the M.8.0. should re-open tho entries for the Austral race meeting. (2) That the meeting should be run under the league rules. (3) That the> respective constitutions of the two bodies should be submitted to three arbitrators, who should hear ten witnesses on each side, and then decide which scheme is most likely to effectively control cycle racing in Victoria. (4) That the scheme adopted should be binding on both parties, and form the basis of a new organisation which would be styled neither LrV.W. or M.8.C.. Having agreed thus far the M.B.C. consulted their solicitors to find whether they could legally carry out the provip ; ..jns of the agreement. They were advised they could not. If they re-opened their entries every man already entered had a good right of action at law. With a desire to honestly carry out. the spirit of the compromise effected the M.B.C. took the opinions separately of Mr Topp and Mr Rig-gins, and both of these gentlemen emphatically declared that the entries could not be re-opened This led to a deadlock. The committees met again on Bth inst. , and shortly before midnight arrived at these determinations: — (1) The Austral Wheel Race to be run under all of the league rules legally possible. (2) The officials controlling the race track to be appointed from the League of Wheelmen list. (3) The arbitration clauses of the former agreement to stand. The L.V.W. to control the sport as before until the result of the arbitration be declared. (4) The M.B.C. to add to their programme a consolation Race of £100 for registered league riders who have not entered for any of the Austral races. This consolation race will iake the form of a two-miles open handicap, the prizes for which aggregate £100, divided thus:— First £60, second £30, third £10. The prize-money, however, may be reduced pro rata should less than 80 riders accept, and the club also reserves the right to withdraw the event absolutely should there be less than 20 acceptors. ! A race of international importance I was the 100 kilometres Grand Prix de Berlin, ' run at Friedenau, on September 30. Bouhours, Taylor (France), Chase (England), Robl Koccher (German)', and DickentmaEnn (Holland) toed the scratch. - Unfortunately, the race was spoiled in more ways than one. In the first place the weather was very unfavour-

able, and then a nasty smash occurred at ,the seventeenth kilometre, resulting in serious injuries to Bouhours, who had to lie conveyed to the Grosslichterfelde Hospital in a '>**y critical condition, and finally, when the race was nearly over, CLase was left without pacemakers, but Taylor, the French crack, lent him his teams. This was too much for the spectators, who found that their favourite, Robl, could not win ; so they commenced to hiss Chase and his pacers, throwing all kinds of missiles at them. The final classification was : Chase, 1, in lhr 47min 14 l-ssec ; Robl, 2, four laps and a-half behind ; Dickentmann, 3, three laps behind Robl; Taylor, 4. I With ordinary luck there is no doubt that A. A. Chase is capable of meeting and defeating the cleverest of paced riders at any distance up to a hundred kiloms, his recent victory over Bouhours and Taylor, the two clever French cracks, confirming this (says the Cyclist, England). Thirty-eight miles 469 yards in an hour, behind tandem pace, is what Chase covered on Sunday week last, in the 50 miles three-cornered match, Chase-Taylor-Bouhours — this being a world's record for the class of^pace. Chase led off at the start, and was soo'h half a lap to the good, Taylor's machine chain snapping shortly afterwards, thus momentarily placing him hors de combat, but it was soon seen that his fall the previous Aveek had affected him, as he never showed any of his true form. It was, therefore, Bouhours and Chase, and despite the crowd of pacers the former had" compared to"Chase J s two teams, the Englishman always kept the lead, ultimately winning by one aud a-half laps, in the good time of llu< 19min 36 l-3sec, Bouhours being second, Taylor retiring eorly. Herewith Chase's times, which are besf on record for tandem pacing: — 10 kiloms, Smin 42 3-ssec; 20 kiloms, 19min 14 l-ssec; 30 kilonw, 28min 50 3-ssec : 40 kiloms, 38min 35 4-s(=ec ; 50 kiloms, 4cmin 24sec ; one hour, 38 miles 469 yards ; 70 Idioms, lhr Bmin 25 2-ssec ; 80 kiloms, lhr 19min 7sec. On the 3rd of October at the Crystal Palace track A. L. Reed, Queen's CO., regained the quarter-mile flying start unpaced record which A. S. Ingram had reduced on the previous Saturday to 26 2-ssec. After beating the quarter-mile time by l-ssec, Reed turned out later and beat hi? own times, for a half-mile ancl three-quarter-mile, and also reduced W. J. Offen's record for the mile unpaced flying start by 2 2-ssec. The following were Reed's times : — Tmie. Time. MI. in. s Previous Holder, m. f. i A. L. Reed.. 0 272-5 A. L. Reed... 0 -20 1-5 i A. L. Reed... *0 57 4-5 A. L. lit e.l .. 0 £8:2-5 J A. L. T>eed... M rOC-5 A. L. Be d.. t33 1 A. L. Reed.. *2 3-2-5 W. J. Offen 2 54-5 ■* Records unraced— flyictr st^r 1 -. —^-Two important middle-distance paced matches were decided a few weeks ago, being principally remarkable for the fine riding of Michael and the poor form of Elkes, who went under in his first- match race at homo this season. At Springfield, Jimmy Michael met Caldwell in a 20-miler match, the former being a hot favourite on account of the good training spins he had previously accomplished. He fulfilled the expectations of his followers, winning a very interesting race in the good time of 33min lOsec. At Boston Harry Elkes made his^ first appearance since- ho returned from Paris, he being matched to ride Stinson over an hour's course,, and, much to the surprise of the large crowd who attended to see the match, Eikes was beaten, and well beaten, too, Stinson ultimately winning by over half a-lap, "covering 35i miles, in the hour. At the iSew Haven meet several cracks collided m the finishing straight, C. W. Miller, the six-days champion, being seriously injured and he was taken to an hospital ixia critical condition. . ~—ln~ — In China, when a -vealthy mandarin reels patriots, or desires to look big- in the eyes of his fellow Celestials, he does not give to a hospital or endow a college, but takes a poor piece of road, ancl, at his own expense, puts it into first-class condition. This idea of patriotism must commend itself tc cyclists m the Flowery Land. ——There is no question more difficult to advise on than that of saddles. It is continually cropping up. There" is no douH that there are a lot of inferior articles sold with the cheaper machines, but at the same time the main cause for the discomfort which is so much complained about is that many riders odopt a totally unsuitable position, both as regards length of stretch, distance of the seat behind a line drawn upwards from the crank bracket, and from the seat to the pedals when at their lowest, and the tilt. We all differ so much in our style of riding that it is impossible to lay down any hard and fast rule on the subject, and besides, different requirements require a different position or j tilt." It may be taken as a general rule, however, that the back, of the saddle for' comfortable riding should be 13in to- 14In behind the_ crank bracket ; that the seat, not necessarily the saddle itself, should be perfectly horizontal, ancl the stretch shoijld be such that ,when the pedals are at the lowest you can lift (y,ourself from the saddle. ' The proper course, however, to adopt, is, that when you feel the slightest ache or chafe, which you certainly will .if you ride a dozen or more miles without a dismount, to assume that your position is wrong, and make a slight alteration somewhere, and you will soon find out where the shoe pinchas. A saddle is too often condemned for what is really the fault of a bad position. —^The latest development of the Salvation Army in New York is a bicycle band for the purpose of carrying on " warfare " among wheelmen. Difficulty was experienced in the manipulation of the big drum, but this was finally surmounted by .an arrangement of wires in front of the handle-bar, so that the driver steers with one ;hand. while he bangs away at his instrument with the other. The following description of the first Dunlop tyre thai reached America, read in the light of to-day, is rather interesting: — "The tyre presents a queer or rather ridiculous appearance. It is white in colour, and entirely surrounds the metal rim" (which was the case of pneumatics in 1889). Its size, 2^in in diameter, gives the wheel the appearance of a road-roller, and even the most hardened cycler will feel some hesitancy about riding, it on a public street. The action of the tyre on roughly-paved streets is nothing short of wonderful, every particle of vibration being absorbed, and the riding is nearly as smooth as on ordinary macadamised roads ; the sharp vibrations of the stones are converted into gentle undulations, causing a new and not unpleasant sensation. ... On the whole, the pneumatic is a grand success, provided the tyre will last a reasonable length of time." . What is the weakest part of the modern bicycle is a question sometimes asked and always answered in the same way. The front fork is the part that has this unenviable reputation. To be precise, this allegation is not correct. The fork is quite as strong as any part of the frame — frequently stronger, in fact — and will stand fully as much strain. But it is called upon to stand a great deal more. Upon the fork — meaning by that com-

|(ft;?:ensive torm <3[q forksides, the crown, ard " the deck — are Q^entrated shocks such at no f*"jer part or the machine is compelled to withstand. Were it otherwise, «iore than one ]""t would succumb to thtSm, just as the foi does. Forba may be divided into three classes — those that are too weak, those that are too strong (i.e.,.tco heavy), and those that are just right. Of the second class, it may be said that they areonly less vicious than the first, for they impose on the, frame strains that did not enter into the calculations of the designer or maker. For the weak fork there is little or no excuse. The chances are that it will break sooner or later, and frequently with results disastrous to everybody concerned. It is not as much in evidence as it was a few years ago, when the featherweight craze was at its 'height. But a further improvement would be welcomed and should take place. — Bicycle News, — — All cycles intended for the export tradct to -India and the Philippines are made with steel guards and rims. Even the Americans admit that in these countries wood rims ara impracticable. In the.Phillipines.the rainy season causes the rims fh swell and split. In India the greatest' and most unyielding 1 obstacle to the wood rims is the ant. This insect eats everything made of wood that comes in its way. They took a great fancy for cycle rims, insomuch that manufacturers were compelled to abandon the shipment of cycles thus equipped. In many pursuits and competitions - strength- and weights have their full advantage, and the light man. can only oppose to " these superior qualities those of skill and agility, in which he will,, in all probability, excel. When, 'however,- the' contest is one of speed, the advantage of the heavy man disappears, and he can only show superiority if he possesses a strength" fully proportionate to his weight. In a wide range of athletic pursuits weigh j ' and strength tell to the full, and heavy and light weights cannot compete upon an equ-~ lity, the latter having to resign the conte?:.. unless the competitors are classified according to the judgment of the scales, by which those more or les' of a size are brought together. Where,- however, men contend over a distance, and the prize goes to the fastest, the, advantage of the heavy man disappears unless he possesses greater power in proportiois. to his _ weight than the light man. Thus in bicycling, rowing, running, swimming, etc., the latteu can hold his own, and can enter the arena practically on an equality with those of greater bulk and substance, though it has often been said with truth that "a" good bigman h better than a good little man." This view found ample corroboration in the earlier days of the bicycle, for most of the men whowere conspicuous in racing on the old high, machine were decidedly above the average height, and }t is. only necessary to mention such names as Keith - Falconer, Cortis, Billier, Furnival, and "Osmond." Ab the same time the superiority or such men was mostly confined- lc> in bicycling are regarded as shorn distance contests, few, if any, of them retaining their. pre-eminence where real endurance was required. An advantage possessed bj>the tall rider in the days of the old bicyefo. was that his reach enabled him to ride a. higher machine, and thus derive the same benefit that an increased gear gives. Times, have changed, however.' " The modern bicycle permits of .each rider using the gear best, suited to him ; this and the severe training undergone by the modern professional who is now the only man who regards bicycle racing as a serious pursuit, have greatly altered the conditions. Of this 'class, many Oi" the most prominent performers have been' on tho small side, ancl this may be accounted: -for by the facts that such men will stand 1 severe training better, and that their smallei." size enables them to derive greater protection, from the wind-shields, known as pacemakers, than a big man could expect to obtain. Under modern conditions of racing and recordmaking, especially over the longer distances, the light weight has certainly held his own, even if he cannot be said to have establishe L a superiority in this phase of sport. The multiplicity of the patterns of cyci^ saddles makes it very diffcult for the ordinary rider to choose as to which is the best fo • him. If he is a rider who cycles for pleasure and health, he should have a saddle wit'i a fair amount of spring, and, of course, sufficiently heavy in proportion to his weigh. Cycle agents, however, when turning out freewheel machines, should bear in mind the necessity of fitting" them with a comfortable: saddle. The fact that tKe legs are stationary when coasting makes the rider feel concussions and shocks -to a greater degree than with a fixed wheel. A spring saddle'is almost a necessity. Manufacturers. bo)b in England and the States, have not the !: $ desire to exhibit at cycle shows nor is their belief in the potency oi these exhibitions to augment their businesses &o deep as in past years. Several of them have said in effect that they have triec 1 the shows thoroughly, and the only advantageabout being in them is that they escape the harm it does if unrepresented. Anothe* manufacturer observes that the shows anfwe red the purpose of introducing the use o," the wheel, and creating an interest in bicycles at a time when but few were being tised, and were practically unknown to the masses. Ai. the present date the utility of cycle shows must be judged by those who are in positon to Ictinvv by taking part in them. in, late years the main reason given by manufacturers fxiiibiimg at a cycle show has been because tlieii competitors were there, and they did not feel vhat they could afford to be absent . Thi* T>Taciicalry i? the fame opinion expressed in different words, and, seemingly, illustrates the fact that the necessity of cycle shows is a thing of the pasc. They have outlived -their usefulness. One of the sporting events of Labour Day, says an American paper, was an auto race from Rsading, Pa., to Lebanon, a distance of 50 miles'. An even dozen "sports" had entries for the event, but when" the bell rang only four put in an appearance. Al: the others wers left at home on account oL"o L " accidents to their machines. After several hours of scorching in front of the Mansion House, the things started at intervals of five minutes ; one "blew out" after a successlul spurt of 20yds and the rest reached theii destination — best time, 3hr3 6min. Each machine had a driver and a "doctor." The promoter of this "big" race was kept at home by a peculiar mishap to his "loco." Just as be was going to the line to start he found he was a few seconds ahead of time. This being non-sportsmanlike, he backed the machine. Just in his rear was a coloured boy, on a bicycle. The two collided, and the boy fell on to the asphalt, while the "loco" became entangled in the rear wheel of the bike, which was smashed. ''The sport" alighted. Several men assisted him to lift it clear of the wrecked bicycle, when it suddenly started off, making a bee line for a big

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crowd at the curb in front of a hardware store. A young man who was still in' the machine grasped the tiller and pulled it aside in time to (prevent it mounting the curb and dashing into the crowd, and in doing so struck a r \vhee]barrow of glass jars, which, with the (machine^ were completely wrecked. J A very enjoyable euchre tournament was flayed last Thursday at the Otago Cycling CRooms between teams representing the Otago & jvDunedin Cycling Clubs — 12 a-side. At the end Yai an. hour's exciting play it was found that -the D.CiC. had won. by 10 games, the scores ;being 32 and 22 wins respectively. Messrs R. Scott ana W. Matthews gained prizes for the highest individual scores. At the end of the .tournament a short programme of songs was gone through, and refreshments, liberally proJvided by the 0.C.C., -were handed round. This is the first of such contests between the two 'clubs, ' but, judging by the success of last night's tournament, it is certain it will not be "the last. A special word of praise is due Mr H. Russell for the trouble he took to entertain Uie visitors.