CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 55

CYCLING NOTES.

BY DEMON.

At this festive season, when pleasureseeking is the order of the day r cyclists will rejoice in the_. present prospect of good weather and make the most of -their opportunity for" cycling. Numerous -parties have been formed to do a few days' touring and otherwise spend the holidays to advantage, and I take this opportunity of wishing all cyclists continued good weather ' and a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. So the New Zealand Wheel Race, the best cycle race in New Zealand racing circles, has this year fallen to the champion George Sutherland. He rode from scratch, a.nd made his win in 4-min 4-Osec. Talking over his victory in Oamaru last week in company with several cycling enthusiasts, his first appearance as a. racing cyclist was goneover by one of the company, Mr Rule, i secretary 1 to the Oamaru Caledonian Society, and from Sutherland's appearance and work ) that day better things were predicted for ( him. It was seven or eight years ago when he made this appearance on the Oamaru track of eight laps to the. mile, and he was described as being then a big, strong, fat boy. He entered for two events, and in the first one fell, but a better acquaintance with the track enabled him -in the second ©vent to make a much more creditable performance. It is a far' cry from a country race on an eight-lap track to the premier race of New Zealand — the New Zealand Wheel Race, and Sutherland's win on the 16th irtst. of the Wheel Race from scratch must be a popular one. My regret is that I could not be at Christchurch to see the race run and won. The North Otago Cycling and Amateur Athletic Club are making strong efforts ~to raise funds to provide" a firs^-class racing track in Oamaru. The race meeting, fixed, for Friday next (Boxing Day) promises to be a good one, and if; the club is fortunate enough to have fine weather on that"* day, the meeting should " result* in a fair sum being realised. The present ' track, which I had a look at'on'Wedriesday. of,last week, is a good four-lap one, .and could, in the hanus . of the present energetic committee of the club, be made into an excellent one for cycle racing. Mr Hood, the present secretary to the club, informs me that the financial difficulty is a serious one to overcome, and I hope to hear that as a result of the Boxing Day meeting the club's position in respect to their finances has been materially improved. * . Officials conneoted with cycling clubs in Dunedin will be gladly" welcomed at the Oamaru Caledonian Society's meeting at New Year time. Mr Rule, the_ secretary to the society, tells me that he will be glad to hear from any office-bearers contemplating attending the Oamaru meeting. — — A± the meeting of the St. Kilda Borough Council on Tuesday evening some of the councillors complained loudly of cyclists riding along the footpaths 1o the : danger of pedestrians, more particularly children. It was pointed out that the latter generally came running out of gates, and that the cyclist, finding himself on a smooth path, went along at high speed, with the almost inevitable result that the children got knocked down and hurt. One child, it was stated, was knocked down recently," and "it cost a guinea to put ita head right." The opinion was expressed that, seeing cyclists would not go at a reasonable pace along the footpaths, they should be prohibited from going on them at all, and one' councillor said that if any of 'his children met with an accident, he would hold the council- liable. It was decided to write to the inspector of police on the subject, with, the .object ot getting the practice of riding on the footpaths put a stop to. The good fortune which had invariably hitherto attended the Melbourne Bicycle Club in the, matter of weather for its Austral meeting deserted it on Saturday, 15th irtst., and when eight heats of the Austral Wheel Race and five of the International One Mile Scratch had been the rain began to fall, and continued so persistently a-nd steadily that proceedings had to be abandoned for the afternoon. The general racing was an improvement upon that of the preceding Saturday, and there was also much more interest displayed in the events. From the outset the track was greasy, notwithstanding the liberal application of sawdust, and in the laEt race run prior to the adjournment all the five riders fell entering the final lap. The crowd laughed long and loudly at the unusual spectacle of the whole field sprawling on the ground at one and the same time. Martin, who was the first to fall, was the first to ?et up, assisted by some of the officials, and he won by some 30yds from'M. Lev/is. Each of the eight heats of the Austral provided a good race. The threatening appearance of the weather about midday, together with the supposition that there would be no betting, seriously affected the attendance, and in place of the customary 20,000, there were not more than about 8000 present. It is a unique incide-nt in the history of the sport that a shower of rain prevented the completion of a cycling programme and necessitated the turning adrift ' of thousands, of spectators when but half the events had been decided. An Australian writer on Walker's disqualification: — "Don ' Walker's appeal against the month's disqualification imposed upon him by the M.B.C. referee and s>tew- ' came on for hearing on Thursday, the . Kbl uut.. before the Ap**-«1 Hn^rd of th«

L.V.W. Walker put in an affidavit 'deny- 1 ing that he rode in the interests -of any ofthe other competitors, and further that he rode to win. Affidavits were, also submitted from Morgan, Walne, and hunger denying any collusion between them and Walker. After a lengthy deliberation, the board decided to uphold the disqualification, which was regarded as being justifiable on the grounds of Walker's inconsistent riding. , It is putting it mildly to state that this decision has caused much astonishment and dissatisfaction amongst patrons of cycle racing, few of whom dreamt that the Appeal Board would perpetuate one of the worst blunders associated with the history of cycle racing in Victoria. Does a man's character and good name, extending over a period of 13 years' racing, go for nothing? Walker has the reputation of being the straightest rider on the and until thi3 Austral meeting it has never been -impugned. As for inconsistent riding, Walker has always been affected this way, but because a man rides inconsistently, it does n^ot follow that he is riding 'stiff.' As the -matter now stands, Walker is sacrificed, and must stand down for a month. The actual loss of the. month's racing will not' trouble Walker much. It is the- stigma that will eat' Don's heart out, and, the chances arc, break -him up for fhe remainder of the season. -'One" thing is certain, and that is the disqualificaj tibn ia against popular opinion; and -will do much to shake the "confidence of patrons of the sport -in the M.B;C. Officialsl; Amongst the racing^ men 1 -.themselves," the action of -the stewards is viowed'-with dis-. trust and repugnance, as they are "unanimous ! in the opinion, that tliere has been a'miaI carriage of justice in Walker's case."' Another crack American ' rider, " Dutch " Waller, baa arrived tin Sydney straight from the land of Stars and Stripes. Waller is one of the best-known riders in" America, and has been racing for a great number of years in almost i every country with the exception of Australia. The latest arrival has ridden with sucq<?ss in nearly all i the big six-days' races that have been held duriag the laet decade in different parts of ; the world, and is a rider of great stamina. I Waller has also gained distinction as a crack pacing expert, and has brought out a fast pacing motor, which will be available for paced riding, matches, etc. Waller will remain in Sydney for some, time, and will no doubt race at the New South Wales carnival to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground next month.~ Robland Dickentmann, with a number of pacing experts and a larger supply of pacing machines, are to arrive in Melbourne' at the end of this month. It is the present intention of the team to remain in the Commonwealth for about three months, during which time they will give exhibitions of paced riding throughout the States, and meet any Australian riders who are game enough^ to meet either of the formidable pair in a paced match. Robl lias already issued, through hie manager, a challenge to race any rider in. Australia a 'paced match "for £1000. Robl is perfectly safe in issuing this challenge, but it would be interesting" to hear ,what Martin lias to say in respect to it. He has beaten. H.'Elkes^the prince of American' pace, followers, ■-'Tn. ; a paced' match,^, and., -the chances" are .that" Martin', "with' 1 propier' training behind His-Sceicin '"motor,^couid. 'give . Robl, ' good' man' as he \mrloubtec\!y ; is, a bard fide for* 10 or 25 miles' on' eiiher'jfche. Sydney Crielcet.Ground or the Adelaide Oval:,; '- Eddie Bald,* the" one-time champion of ' i An: erica, has given racing enthusiasts', some-" thing to talk I'about1 ' about on/the Continent. Bald; retired "from racing in 1899, after 'being ch'am-' pion of America for three consecutive years, but the fascination of the game proved too great and Bald made his reappearance on the racing-tracks during the past American racing season. Subsequently he went to France with Zimmerman to again try fortune on the Continental tracks, and has succeeded J in proving that he is no " has been " by defeating Ellegaard (Denmark), the one-mile world's champion, in a three-heat paced j match. The Danish crack has been almost invincible on the Continental tracks during the past racing .season, consequently few were prepared to see him beaten by Bald in ! two out of three heats. After the match, which waa held on the "Velodrome track, Paris, before 18,000 spectators, Ellegaard remarked that Bald was a«a extraordinary | man, and that he had beaten him (Ellegaard) fairly and squarely by speed as well as head work. During the training trials at the Velo-drome-Buffalo in Paris, Da.rrgon rode 40 kilometres (6imiles) without pacemakers in 14min 19 2-ssec, beating the record by nearly 17sec. — — The big American six-days' team race takes place at the Madison Square Gardens, N«w York, this month. This eymtr is limited to teams of two riders each, neither of "whom are allowed on the track" for more than an aggregate 12 hours out of every 24. AH the crack American long-distance rider.? are competing, besides several Continental, teams. Last year's race, worth £300- first, prizer resulted' in a win for the Walthour-MacEachern combination, who covered 2555 miles during, the 6ix days. The large sum of £1500 was made by the promoters over last year's race. Following upon Chase's record of 41 miles 1325 yards in the hour at Crystal Palace last October came little Michael, with yet a better record, viz., 46 miles 1365 yards, and little by little the world's paced record is creeping close to 50 miles in the hour. The latest lift has come from an unexpected quarter, a new and promising I French paced rider named Contcnet ridincr 48 miles 718 yards in 60 minutes. The record was accomplished on the Buffalo- Velodrome j early last memth. Certainly the pacing was meat artificial, he being practically drawn along by a 16-h.p motor bicycle, fitted with substantial wind shields; but the public are fond of pace, and the greater the risk the greater the attendance. The proof of the artificial pacing was well evidenced by the fact that Contenet seemed little distressed after his hour's ride, and continued for the 100 kilometres (62 miles 246 yards) record, which he beat by over five min-ites. However the mere fact of keeping over end at such a pace behind a motor for 100 kilometres is 'a meritorious performance in itself, while much credit is due to Marius The, who nursed the record-breaker throughout the ride. During the first half-hour Contr/net cfid not make much impression apon the previous bests, but getting well inside record at 50 kilometres, he made vaei improrement'to the fiijish. Herewith are the figures: —

New Records by Previous Contenet. Bests. Kils. h. m. s. h. m. s. 50 .. .. 038 45 .. 039 11 60 .. .. 046 21 2-5 .. 047 0 70 .... 054 1 2-5 .. 055 53 3-f 80 .... 1 1 41 2-5 .. 1 5 8 1-6 90 .... 1 D 44 .. 1 13 23 2-5 100 .... 117 23 3-5 .. 122 7 1-5 lhi 77 kils. 897.m. 75 kils. 492 ill. (48 miles 718jr<U) 46 miles 16C5y«Lr.