CYCLING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19815, 5 December 1919, Page 2

CYCLING.

rived 111 Sydney. Jiig carnivals will bo held in llrisnane. Sydney iind Melbourne. The following is taken irom an American paper ul October (j:—They «uy Art Spencer is noi. in trie bust, of health, wnich may lie true, but, there, was nothing about his match nice with i'rank Kramer yesterday u|, the Y'elodromo to indicate tluit his brain is alrlietod with desiccation. Like John. Brown's soul that kept right on goose-stepping aftoi tiie undertaker had grabbeu the body, Spencer's brain has hi in up in the trorit rank of cycling's elite despite thoretro.grcssum ot his spiendid physical development. Yesterday tiie big Canadian could uoi have produced enougli .sustained energy to wm a, (.'lass B invitation race, nut by adroitly using what stamina he hod in .stock ho too* two heats ul his match with Frank Kramer. it was an accomplishment that probably the 16,000 spectators appreciated luily, lor Spencer, long accustomed to boos whether be won or lost, was accorded a Mattering recep- ( tiou on the occasion oi this victory, and there was not a discord. "With a body tltiggish with lonnless layers of flabby I tiesii, the curse of a malady that seems certain to abbreviate a most promising career, the Spencer engine that a year ago knew no sprint to be too Jong is iio\V overtaxed by a ioad that cannot be carried at top speed. To bea,t Kramer in Kramer's present form in such circumstances seemed impossible, but it was accomplished, though it must be said it required adroitness seldom equalled in the .-port of bike racing. Spencer still possesses his remarkable jump, and he can still sprint with alacrity tor a. snort distance, a very short distance. On the other hand, Kramer lias lost his jump, but he is able to sprint as last and- as far, probably, as ever ho could. With this knowledge, Spencer contrived by clever niaiiiuiirring to make the sprints short and largely a battle of jumps, and he, won.