CYCLING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2612, 6 April 1904, Page 51

CYCLING NOTES.

The unfortunate accident by wl>ioh Hans Joseph Hansen, a cyclist, was injured so seriously by an electric car on Thursday afternoon last as to cause his leath at the Hospital early in the evening: was the subject of a sub-leader in Saturday morning's Times, and as, no doubt, the majority of cyclists .will have read the lesson read therein, there remains for me only to express my regret that such an accident should have happened, end an earnest hope that m future cyclists .will be more careful, and by taking less risks make the work of the motormen—trying enough under ordinary circumstances —

freer from nerve-racking moments than has ' bsen the rule heretofore. I Taylor's performance in the five-mile championship motor cycle event at Christ- . church (7min 43 3-ssec) constitutes a new record for Kew Zealand. It has been mooted to give the three Arnst brothers a >ycle benefit meeting m | Christohurch, and the idea is being warmly taken up by cj-eling enthusiasts and others who recognise the particularly hard luck that these racing meai have experienced lately. I trust that the committee of management may eventually have the satisfaction of handing over a tuir sum as a result of the meeting. In one of the heats of the "Wbolloomooloo Handicap, an amateur event, run during the Sydney Thousand meeting, the whole of the field was disqualified for unsatisfactory riding and alleged collusion. At the Exhibition, Melbourne, on St. Patrick's. Day, when all the events were practically second and third class handicaps, owing to the better men being away in Sydney, the. men comprising one of the heats : proceeded so leisurely that the people jeered, which had little effect. The referee, : however, stopped the raoe, and re-started it, after warning the riders. The pub-lid ap- j preciated this action and applauded loudly, j Iver Lawson, who cam© to Australia ; as team mate with Fioyd Macfarland at the i beginning of this season, and who had rid- ■ den with suoh conspicuous success in Mcl- ' j bourne and Sydney up to the time of his j 'i diaqualification on February 17, left i | by the Ventura. Prior to his departure 1 the Salt Lake City crack stated that he had .< his own opinion about his disqualification ' i affair, and preferred to keep it to himself. 1 Hf*. hopes, if he secures an engagement, to j run over to Australia again next season for ' ] the Ss'dney Thousand and other big events. 1 Ho said: "After what has happened a lot j of people have said that I wouldn't show J 1 up again; but I shall, you bet. A disqualification might have occurred anywhere, ' ( and I'm not going to let that stop me," j <

Lawson won more prize money ((£361) in the three and a-half months' racing he did out in Australia than he could have won anywhere else, and is more than pleased with his trip, so far as the financial arrangements went. He goes straight to his home oh arrival at San Francisco. He had an offer to race in Paris during the coming season, before the world's championships come round in August, but he has not mad© up his mind as to whether he will accept it or not. Lawson stated that there was no intention on J his part to foul Taylor in the match raoe which brought about his disqualification, and this was the first time, during his career that he has been disqualified. Lawson has been racing six years, is 23 years of age, i scales list 101b, and stands sft lOin. He hopes to wrest tho American champioaship j from Kramer* this year, and also to wiu the , world's mile championship. Had his 12 j months' disqualification stood, Lawson, according to his own statement, would probably have given up cycle racing, as when a rider loses 12 months, he states, "he gets fat and lazy, and is never tho same again." Ho considers Walker the. best rider in Australia, but expects Scheps to eventually hold that title. Lawson secured 20 firsts, five seconds, and four thirds during his visit, most of his wins Ueing in .scratch events. ; H. Thompson has lowered the fivemile paced record for Queensland. He covered the distance in llmin 6 2-ssec, lowering the record by 11 3-ssec. The announcement has been made that Arthur Smyth, the well-known New South Wales amateur pace-follower, his placed the world's W miles amateur paced record to his credit. Smyth's time is 15min 53 2-ssec, 27|sec better than his previous record. This is Australian record, and is a very fine r:de for a 16st weight rider ; but it is not a world's record. This honour is held by C 4. A. Olley (England), who last May rode 10 miles from a standing start on the Crystal Palace track (London) in 15min 46 2-ssec. The professional world's record for the same distance is also held by an Enelish rider, the credit being to W. T. Hrdl. who has covered the distance in llmin 29 2-ssec. The French firm of Darracq and Co, motor builders, etc., have in order a monster racing machine of not- less than 160 horsepower. The car will be driven by two fourcylinder motors, acting independently, one situated in front and the other at the r&ar of the car. The top speed that the engines will drive the machine is calculated to be 100 miles per hour, and it is intended to run the oar up to the limit. The "Comet." as ihe monster will be called, has been ordered by the Ameican lcpresentative of the firm of \I. La Roche, who will use it for racing purposes. . Is hill climbing injurious? Under this query an English cycling journalist gives the following advice: — "Let" me &ay that riding up hilh of an ordinary nature is purely a knack. It can only be acquired bypractice. For thj.s reason novices should • make a point of riding up all the moderate , hills they__can. If the effort is never made, cycling- will always be more or Jess irksome. Unless hills can be ridden fairly well, moreover, half the pleasure of cycling is lost. Some novices never make the effort presumably, and walk up hills which they should ride up with ease, which is absurd. Surely it is forth while undergoing a little fatigue, etc , for a month or so, in order to become ' proficient ; at anyrate, so most cyclists think, and I agree. Of course, riders who are very : young, or weak, or who are suffering- frorni any organic disease should walk all but the | very slightest, hills. Bur eie-n middle-aged I people in ordinary health may practice hillclimbing with considerable advantage. The ' groat rule to r&mernber is, keep the ball of ] the foot upon the pedal and ankle properly, ; so that the power is applied fairly evenly ■ for about two-thirds of the complete pedal ] vevolution. Steer straight, and do not pull at Hip. handles until you are positively com- ( pelled to do so. Opinions differ greatly as regards toe-clips. For myself, I have never found them particularly beneficial, except for : very fast liding." , A German lady motorist, Madame , dv Gast, has entered a car for the Germta 1 eliminating contest lo decide *.he Gordon

Bennett team. This wealthy lady last year started in the disastrous Paris-Madrid aufcoI mobile race, and made fast time until she • gave up the contest to atten-4 to some of ' the injured motorists along tho route. Even I theu she reached Bordeaux, at which stage ! the- race wa* abandoned. J The One-mile American Motor Championship has been won, from a standing ' start, by B. Oldfield in 43sec. W. K. Vanderbilt was sec-ond. ! Of the 28,000 tons of rubber produced j in Soiith America last year, Europe- took • 15,261 tons and America 14,506 tons. j Thp. English Automobile Club has be'en making exhaustive -experiments- as to I the cause of the dust-raising by motors. j Ha-I it not been for the aid of photography j nothing- could have been done, as the eye , was not quick enough to notice the effects, j The tests: were made at the Crystal Palace. Over 60ft of the track there was covered with flour to the depth of half an inch, and over 500 photographs of the cars were taken. Dust-raising, it was found, was occasioned by air currents thrown out sideways by obstructions tinder the cars and by the inrush of air behind the car after it had passed. The first was caused by low-placed croas silencers, or tool-boxes, or by a tangle of gear, and by certain sorts of mud-guards. The difference caused by tyres was not very marked. Hard tyres weve better than soft, and narrow tyres than broad, but neither had any preponderating influence. Smoothness of tho bottom of the cars and an absence of any forward cone were very desirable. The bottom of a car should slope upwards towards the back. the comiug English season the size of motor cycles for track racing will be limited to motors' having a cylinder capa- | city of 3in x 3in. In the case of indifferent tracks 2|in x 2|in is the maximum. Some such wise provision will have to be made to render motor racing safe on the majority of the inter-State racing tracks. The proprietors of a well-known Eng-lish cycling journal have, staited a novel competition, which promises to arouse a large amount of e-xcitemant amongst cyclists. It is nothing le«s than a eearch for a safety bicycle. In each issue of the paper appears two photographs of a stretch of roadway. No description is given whatever of the locality of the views, the rider having to recognise "the spots and thus trace his way to a certain hotel away in tha country, where he. must apply to the rroprietor for an ordsr on a firm of cycle manufacturers to deliver up a high-grade maohine. The views as they appear will lead the rider nearer and nearer to the goal • until the filial view—no doubt a view of : the inn, or rather a part of it —is given. A hotel syndicate in Hbmburg has ' announced that during the Gol-don Bennett week £15 is the price of a single bedroom. : This figure is expected to rise as the lime ', for the race draws near. '