BY DEMON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 59

BY DEMON.

The bicycle events at the local Cale* donian »ports on January 1 and 2 provided excellent competition and Jarge fields. On the first day the cold, heavy north-ea&tef consideiabU affected the scratch men, they having to start in the teetn of the gale, while the limit man went off with th« wind behind them. As a consequence the limit men pievailcd in most of the race* on the first day. On the second day, however the wind had veered right round, and with a .shorter limit to the handicaps the scratch men secured most of the races. Of the local riders H. Withey, Joe Carnegie, and D. >Ste\cnson each won a race, and the latter two give promise of developing into first-class riuer-s. Withey ia now more than an average speedy ruler. The moat successful cyclist att the meeting. however, was S. E, Jamf^nn, who hails from Christchurcb, and is a powerful rider, as will bo apparent from the fact that he was push-, ing a 97in gear. He thoroughly deserved his wins by the manner in which he plugged! into the wind. His style of pedalling waa reminiscent of that of "Plugger Bill" Martin. Of the other riders, W. Goodall, (i. M'Laren, Keen (of Oamaru), and Harvey, (of Balclutha) all rode well, and their performance-, taken in the light of the fact? that they only get their training on tha roads, were distinctly creditable. If Keen follows up the game he should, withy proper training, develop into a. first-clasa rider. The local riders, C. Smith and A. Carnegie, who both figured on the- scratch* mark, only managed to secure first and second! place-, respectively in the Consolation Race. Smith, who is built on a small scale, seem-edt 1o severely feel the effects of tho wind or* the first day, but did better on the second, but threw away one race by foolishly trying to win a lap and a-half from home.Carnegie did not ride up to his last year's form. That the bicycle faces are a very popular feature of the Caledonian Society's New Year sport* is evid-enced by the factoj that, notwithstanding that the Oamaru'] Society gave far bigger prize-money, the"' local society had many more entries for \ their bicycle races. It would be a wsie procedure on the part of the Ot&go Caledonian Society, however, when next year's programme comes to be made up, to largely, increase the prize-money given for the raoeci provided for cyclists. This season's Wesfral Wheel Race was won bj F. Wells, of New Zealand 1 , j from 200yd<s, in the fast time of 3min/' £9s?f for two miles. A. C. Coleman (255yde)ij wa= =econd and J. Cus=ack (200 yds) third. * Wells however, was protested- against, andJ an inquiry is being held. The rather extensive repairs to Mr ( Maeneil's big Daimler car aie now well l under way at Messrs Cooks. Howlison'a garage, and -she should be running on our J streets again shortly. As showing the force j of die impact of the car with the electric! tramway pole, it has been discovered that the frame of the chassis wa» knocked oufc of alignment. ■ The Messrs Wimpenny Bros, inform;,' me that they have recently disposed of a J oouple of 6£ h.p. Humberettes — one to Mr [ O'Kane, of Alexandra, and the other to Mr Ro r s, of tha same goldfields town. } Messrs Cooke, Howlison- have just ! landed to the order of Dr Allen, of tho j Taieri, an 8 h.p. Rover oar with all the» '. very late?t adjustment';. > 1 have just received the new, „ catalogue of Mr Edward O'Brien'' • (Ltd.), of Coventry, England, who ia every w hove recognised to be one of thft world'-i largest cycle dealers. Included? among its feature? is a, testimonial bookie^ containing over 2000 unsolicited letters ofl praise from people who have purchased Liejcles from Mr O'Brien by correspondence through the po^t. Any high-grada make of cycle can bo obtained from Mr O'Brien at the lowest prices, and ho guarantees every machine to \x> brand naw, and supplied to maker's standa'd specification. Mr O'Brien will be glad to send particular* and price-, to corraspoi dents, his ad<]u*= bsiujj Co\ entry, Enfiloud *

Describing rho big- rratch in v, hich the Victorian, A J. Clarke, defeated Fx ink Kramer last month, thf Homing fcitar (Newark) states that Clarke "'showed final sprints which, vould boat almot't anjbc<]y that ever rode a wheel." In the recent annaal hill ci'mb of the South Australian Automobile Club a feature of the motor cycle contest was the narrow margin between the time- ot the low and high-powered engines. In a -uvular way a climbing- contest held rec< i.tly by the Pioneer Motor Cycle Club, near C\ oo;oe, Sydnej", 6ho»\ed that practically as good ■work could be done with a small motor as with a heavy one. under certain conditions. For irstance, the hill in question \va« climbed in 2Csee by a rider n>jr>g a 5 h p. Peugfot. while a 3g h.p. Triumph onl\ occupied 3sec longer, and on the 31tec maik were a 2 h.p. Motc-Re\e and a 6 h p. Buchet. Then came another 3^ h.p. Triumph, three 2 hp. Moto-Re^u^. a 5^ h.p. N.S.U., a 22 h.p Mincria. a 3J, h.p. N.8.U., four more Moto-Pieves. and, lastlj. a 4 h.p. Buchet, which took 49?<h> There are no sensational drop? in prices to be announced from tho howetop^s this j ear (says Athletic Nev.s in refp-rrinc to the Stanley show), but if you go into the values offered, and not merely into the prices quoted, you will find some food for r^flc'tion. C4enerally the price? of thi"" topgrader' have been marked down a guinea or «o, but it is in what is offered at the othor end that most striking things are to be noticed. Thu< you can buy a Rovpr i-oadstor. fitted with a three-speed gear, for Bgs, a Raleigh road-racer with coaster hub for less than £6, and a Humber for 655. Another striking thing is a really class tncvele for 12°;?. In the Transvaal annual hill climb and reliability competition 27 cars competed up the Kloof Hill, and from Johannesburg to Rustenberg and back — 97 mile of bad rocky, and unmade road*. A special prize was awarded to a 12 hp. Star car for best all-round performance". It came second in the hill climb, having been beaten by a eix-cylirfder car. It covered the oourse at an average of over 25 miles per hour. A 40 h.p. siX-c.jlindcr Napier a\eragcd 28 mile: per hour. A cause of trouble v. ith inner tube* has been inticducod with the now popular nar-row-cauge steel rini, and t\hich arises from the pinching of the tube between the two cover-wires, owing to the edges not being properly bedded in the recesses of the rim, fch-e result being that the wires lie so closely together that the tube, excepting for about 3-16 m cf its width, is held up in the river. As the pressure in the tyre i s increased, the narrow strip of tube is forced down between the wires, and unduly stretched until it ren.el*es the bed of th^ rim, causing bubbles, or blisters, in the rubber, v. hich i s thus materially weakened. Careful fit tincr of the cover will prevent any such damage to tJio fubo, and time is well spent in first properly c otrinjr the tjre on the rim. -A patch affixed hurriedly. or viith poor solution, is almost sure to lco«en v\ita the summer heat, causing a deal of worn. a.s the leak is very small at first, and if the tube ig taken out and immersed, it raiely re\eaJs itself with th© pressure which may safely be put i'lto the bare tufco, and the result is that when replaced I under tl.? cover the trouble recuit. Th^ j only way to locate the leak i* to tc«t each patch, even to replacing some of suspicious appearance. Cuts in thp co\er aro but seldom attended to with the caie requi-ite if the best sen ice i s desired cf it. The cover shcukl receive -as cireful trcaTnipnt as is bestowed on the air chamber, and should be watched almo-r daily. Pin-hole punctnr^ rarely afFfr-t the oo\er-. but when tho 1 ul»ber and fabric are lacerated immediate .uteniion is rccessarv.