Page 59 Advertisements Column 3

Otago Witness, Issue 2842, 2 September 1908, Page 59

have a life of about 3000 miles each, but tha stress of tearing around curves at 60 and 70 miles an hour and the desperate application of brakes, together with ths terrifio heat engendered, simply melts the tyres in a few miles. At »n average it would be under the mark to state that each contestant used ap six sets of tyres, which would bring the tyxe bill of the firm who tyrec 1 32 cars up to a figure that would leave little, change out of £7000. -""Frank Kramer, recognised as tho fastest racing cyclist seen on the track during recant years, has written the League of Victorian Wheelmen, that he intends visiting Australia on a racing trip in October tiext. As Ellegaard 1 , the Dar_sh champion, will also be in Australia, some _ good racing should result this season, especially if Viotoria's crack, -A. J. Olark, returns home fronr America in time. --:: — "Englishmen have the bicycle trade of the world now," said Mr J. B. dark- . son, of Christchurch, in answer to an interviewer from the Lyttelton Times, "and it will give you an idea of the extent of the trade when, you learn that about 600,000 machines/ a year are turned out in the Midlands." Mr Olarkson, who has just returned from _ tour of America and England, would not say that the export .extended to Germany, for instance, but the largest manufacturar in Coventry had two large factories in different parts of the Continent, anu although no material was interchanged, the firm was getting better prices for its output in- Germany than it was in England. England' had a large ■ business s with Holland, and four-fifths, or the Japanese supply was English, while there was also a large Indian business. In New Zealand, where nine or ten years ago three-fifths of the imported bicycles were American, there were now, with the exception of a few Canadian machines, none but English imported. He had been asked* whether he thought that fcicyclcs had reached rook bottom in price, and his opinion was that although the profit was. now reckoned only in shillings, there was still a downward tendency, and ttiat improvements would still be effected. The Grand Prix of the Frenoht Cyclieta' Union was decided last July at> tbe Buffalo Velodrome, Paris. The fire* semi-final was won by Thorwald Ellegaard. thft ex-world's champion, who defeated! Schilling, the Dutoh orack, bj two lengths. Pouchois, who won the Grand Prix at Vuicennes, was third. A surprise was forthcoming in the second semi-final:, when Rutt, who won the six days' contest in America last year, beat Poulain, the l^renoh champion, by 6in. Fxiol, the world's champion, accounted for the next 6emi-final, defeating Hourlier and "Van den Born. The three fastest sprinters in Europe — viz., Frior, Ellegaard, and Ttutt, thus qualified for the final, which was decided in two matches. Both were secured by Friol, EllegaardP furnishing a close second on each occasion, with Rutt third. . The Sydney ttiotor-cyclist, J. Do* herty, who is probably one of the fines* racing riders in the world, announces h» retirement from the ' racing track. ™he. game is too dangerous, and he says he iff" quite satisfied- with his already splendid record. ' ' , , Hitherto reliability trials have • beea •confined to motor machines, but the Bath Road C.C., one of the leading cycling club* in England, purposes to hold a reliability test . for cyclists over the road from" London to Bath and back, the total distance being 21H miles, whdoh would be coveree, as one of the conditions, within the iimato of a day— 2* hours. The ride would not, of course, take the form of a race, but a_ average speed of 10 to 12 milee an hour would" be . adopted. The rider who goes through the ride without a dismount — eeve at control stations and places where meaJ» and drink are provided — and had no punctures or mechanical troubles would scor* the highest possible marks. ' Dismountingat a hill, for instance,- would cause a loss lof points. It is regarded as an. attractive proposition by the English cyclist*. Writing of the results of the variou* reliability trials recently concluded in England, Scotland, and Ireland, a London motor journal declares" that as so many care made nomstop -runs that a large number failed in that particular owing merelj to some trivial oaus#, it establishes the point now so frequently made — viz., thai} the reliability trial per se has become outi of date, and will epon be declared obsolete. This refers to their running on the road;| but it is equally true of their ability to start and stop. On the laA day of one of the series of trials, all the vehicles were stopped at a line on a gradient of 1 in 10;. they were then required to run back several yards to another line, and again stop, and front t_e moment of their wheels being at rest were allowed 30seo in which to resume running. All the vehicles passed; the test satisfactorily— and it is eonsideredl that these performances generally should 1 convince the organisers of the trials that . the need for similar tests is no longer present. Two Australian riders now in th« States— A. J. Olark and W. Palmer— have been performing very well on the saucer tracks at Salt Lake, Clark particularly, and= with the aid of Macfarland he has put up some sensational rides. Mayer, the German orack, imported to race there, has defeated the fleet Australian in a couple of match events, though between these two tests Clark and Mayer met in open competition, when tbe German was beaten. Good iudges of racing are of opinion that while Clark possesses ample speed, he lacks finish, and this seems, patent by the manner in which Mayer defeated him in four out of six heats. Clark was always forced into the lead, the Continental rider even bringing his machine to a standstill and waiting, la "a tandem race, when Clark amd 1 Mayer paired, they beat there opponents, makinga world's record^ of smin 57-3-ssec for two miles. Tandem-racing, by the way, is » big feature on the saucer tracks. On the new track at Salt Air, a popular resort in Salt Lake, 15 miles west of Salt Lake City, Clark won the 200dol purse at the opening meeting in the very fast time of lmin 54 4-ssec for a mile. Maofarlandl won a two-miles event in 3m in 58 2-ssec, and a half-niile in 57 4-ssec, in good company. Iver .-Lawson appears to have recovered from his accident, in which ho fractured a bone in his ankle, as at one of the meetings he rode an exhibition halfmile, behind pace, in 47 " 2-ssec. N. C. Hopper, who, it will bo remembered, won the first Sydney Thousand Handicap, met with a terrible accident while following motor pace at Salt Lake. He fell while travelling at a lmin _sseo clip, and a spKnter a foot long entered 1 his abdomen, causing frightful injuries. He was not then (July 1) expected to live. The propiietors of the track have now decided to xofcfik the track with soft pine, which.