THE BIG RACE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17159, 1 October 1923, Page 3

THE BIG RACE.

INCIDENTS BY THE WAY. SEEN FROM THE OFFICIAL CAR. (By * v Star J 3 reporter with the risers.) By the courtesy of Mr W. Harris, a Star ” reporter was enabled to make the journey to Timaru by motor-car the day before the race over the route be taken by the riders. The car was a brand new five-sea.ter Chandler, an ‘L besides the driver, contained Mr W. J. Walter, referee for the big • vent, Mr L. Harris, one of the numerous judges, and Mr L. B. M’Keown, of Raugiora. The party left Christchurch before 10 a.m. ori Friday, havmg previously inquired a s to whether the Selwyu was fordable. A halt was mad© at Holiest oil to deliver some programmes. Again we were told that the Selwyn was easily fordable, there being only eix inches” of water at tho crossing. STUCK IN THE SELWYN. This proved quite correct so far as tie quantity of water was concerned, but apparently our informants "were unaware that in the regular track there was a vast quantity of loose slung!© am] small boulders ‘into which our car dived and etayed there right in mid-stream. There wa s nothing else tor it but for all of us excepting the driver to take off our ©hoes and socks «nd get out and push. But- all our pushing was in rain and the car refused to budge either in forward gear or reverse. Whilst we were thus padrthng about in the water a car went straight through just two or three yards ahead of us where the shingle was quite firm. The look of satisfaction and smiles on the faces of the occupants—a lady and gentleman—as they got out and stood on tho other •id© afforded u 8 quite as much amusement a a no doubt our predicament did to them. Having no rop* with them they found that they were of no use to u R and proceeded on their journev promising to call in at the first farm nous© and 6end the farmer back with a horse, or even two, as our car wa*j a fairly heavy one.

FROM “ A QUID ” TO “ TEX BOB.” Suddenly somebody espied a man mork! [Iq some distance down the river bed and in possession of a horse and spring dray. Our driver set off in his I w C n ioll and 0,1 P u tting the query \\ hat about a pull?” received the answer “ What’s it worth?” Never having had aucb an experience before °" r driver naturally did not know what it. was worth and inquired what the usual charge was. “ Oh, well it's worth a quid,” said the workman. On remarking that this charge was prettyhot our driver was referred to “ the boss, ’ who wa* coming across the riverbed some distance away. On being approached ” the boss” proved more reasonable, and when he said it was worth “ ten bob” the 6pripg cart soon came in our direction. Whether “the boss ” -had anticipated a job such as this we did not inquire, but at, any rate he had a fairly stout rope in the spring dray. This and a. chain which another farmer passing had in a light trap gave the necessary leverage. At the first, pull the car refused to budge, but the little horse proved himself a. staunch customer and at the second attempt he pulled the car right out of the hole and up on the bank amidst general remarks of admiration of his worth to any farmer. PASSING- THE TIME. Generally on occasions such as these the time hangs very heavily on those unfortunate enough to be landed in like circumstances, but though we were “ dabbling abqut ” in the water round the car removing shingle from the front of the. wheels, the time passed very quickly. One of the party known ax “Jock” tried to induce one of his companions, a staunch amateur to turn professional bv offering him a prize of “two hob” if he could run down stream a distance of fifty yards to a kerosene tin and back inside a minute. “ swimming to be barred.” being the only stipulation. You will haTe noted that there was onlv six inches Of water in the stream. " But this was but one of the numerous jokes ‘Jock 1 inflicted oil the party up to this 6tage. An argument on the Rugby offside rule brought u s up to the pulling out stage and when we thanked the farmer and handed over the “ fen bob ” we could scarcely realise that we. had been stuck in the riverbed for over an hour. It was an occasion when one wished he had had a camera with him.

HELP TOWARDS THE RENT. Incidentally we learned at this stage that, a neighbouring farmer bad made over £6O this season by pulling cars out ot this very same spot. It was obv'ous that some very heavy vehicle had been stuck m the pruthing am had scooped out a deep track which had become filled loose shingle and this gave wav immediately the. slightest weight was put on it. Motorists, be. ware of this crossing! Keep either to ihc right or loft, where the shingle i, cuUv an<i J OU < a " , rOSS " diffi- “ WHEN WE WERE KIDS.” Once seated back in onr car we lost no time m resuming our journey. they were pulling on their shoes and socks again some of our party complained of having sore tect. the result walking about on the shingle in th» rirprhed. Their feet wouldn’t stand it now. bat ■ ‘ when we were kid* ” .Tuck Donaldson on gra.ws couldn't have Xiven them a alert, and thev on th© •hingle. A POLITICAL ARGUMENT. “ That’s tout* working man ior you,” a, laswy supporter in the r * v - that th© working man was going to charge ns “a. quid” for * pull anti “ the bos? ” did the job for “ Tetl hob led to a big political argument. but th© supporter of Mr Massey and the “cocky” found himself confronted by a solid opposition. This interesting. and at times very amusing, debate was cut- ©hoit bv a halt at Dim-. asndel in order to leave programme'; for th© race. INTEREST IN ASHBURTON. Further programme* were left a t Chertaey. Rakaia and Ashburton, w© had lunch and saw the express pass t rough with a cry large number of com pen tors on i. .anl. We knew then that- the field whs going to >c a very large one. Great inter©#*

Ashburton, and we disposed of a rerv large number of programmes here Whilst tho business was in progress some of our party happened across the Magistrate’s Court, where they joined for a few moments the large throng of “idle and curious” who tilled the body of th© Court listening to the murder trial of an obvious idiot. Incidentally in Ashburton we met the car which had passed us while w© were stuck in the % Selwyn, and tlie occupants were still* wearing ’ the smile—if it- wasn’t the same smile it was something rerv similar. CrOOD ROADS. The roads up to this point had been uniformly good, cither for cycling or for motoring. The only bad patches were, in the. vicinity of Burnham and between Dunsandel and Rakaia. and even then they were not very bad at these places, save for a fair amount of loose shingle and a few small potholes. The road 3 from Ashburton to Timaru were also found to be verv good except for a bad patch outsid© the racecourse at Washdyke, and some loose shingU on the long Maronan road between Ashburton and Rangitata. Halts were made by our car at Geraldine and Te muka for the purpose of leaving programmes. On the whole, th© roads could be described as very good indeed, and th© local bodies in some places deserve credit for their assistance by raking a lot of loose shingle into the centre of the road and thereby making a good track for the cyclists on either side. "When we reached Timaru Mr W. J. Walter declared the roads to be the best he had ever seen them. And lie should be competent to judge, | ci 1 * lie has followed this . ace for a j great many years now.

EXCITEMENT IN TIMARU. Timaru was all excitement on the eve of the race. The town was full of visitors—riders, people- interested in the cycle trade, trainers and sporting folk generally. The hotels and board ing houses were all practically full up. One heard of several “ dark horses ” in the race and, according to one account, it was all over, as a Timaru rider 1 1 act made no secret of th© fac t that he had been putting up record times in trial runs over the course. Some riders from further south of Timaru were also regarded as morals, one going so far as to say lie wasn’t afraid of O’Shea and would like to bo starting off the mark with him. Some of the competitors were so worked up with excitement that they could neither eat nor sleep, and it was evident that a great many would be unable to do themselves justice on the morrow.

♦‘THEY’RE OFF.” There was a very large crowd at the starting point on Melville Hill. Tho officials at Timaru had everything well in hand, and the starting area was roped off and the police and officials had little difficulty in keeping the crowd back. Such points of vantage as the balconies of the Dominion and Hydro Grand Hotels and Sea view House were crowded with peopl© eager to watch the start. The limit men got away punctually on time, 9.5 a.m. There •©ere three riders on this mark, and the other groups of from six up to as many as fourteen left at intervals of one, two, three and tour minutes till the eighteen-minute men were reached. Here two men. M. P. Leathern. Christ church, and F. Hoffman, Gore, left to gefcher. Hoffman was reputed to he a good rider with a great chance of success. Then came a wait of six minutes before the twelve minute men were dispatched. These included a bunch o* six young riders who were considered xo have excellent prospects. THREE HEARTY CHEERS.

The interval between the dispatching of these riders and the scratch men seemed very long—much longer than the stipulated twelve minute". Three hearty cheers were given for tlie backmarkers just prior to their leaving. They had represented New Zealand most worthily in the Warmambool to Melbourne road race last. year. Hill had won the event. "Wright "had finished fifth and O’Shea had put up the fastest time. Tlie crowd had evidently remembered this great performance on the part of the Dominion’s sol© representatives in the big Australian race last year. A GOOD START. Out of the 170 entrants there were only twelve scratching*, and the record field of 163 riders was dispatched without accident, save that to P. Harnett, of Christchurch. on the fortyeightminute mark who collided with another competitor and had a spoke in his front wheel broken. He pulled it out and set off on own in pursuit of his companions after losing about a minute. ENTHUSIASTIC CHILDREN. The official car set off immediately after the scratch men, and passed numerous group* of people all along tlie route. The kiddies were most enthusiastic. There was onlv one rider in the race as far as they were concerned and his name was a household word. “Hooray! Hooray! Go it, Phil,” they called cheerfully to O’Shea as lie and his two companions pedalled swiftly past. This enthusiasm displayed by the youngsters must have been cheering to the backmarkers. The j official car kept behind tlm scratch men i till Geraldine wa* reached. Here we ! were greatly surprised to find that th© | twelve-minute men had done that portion of the journey in one- minute less ! than the scratch men. HIGH RATE OF .SPEED. ! The cause of our surprise was that j we- had timed the scratch men to he ! averaging twenty-six miles an hour at | the beginning of their journey and to | he maintaining an average pace of be- ; tween twenty and twenty-one miles ; right, up to this point. It was not till | our car bad travelled niar , y miles at I high speed that we again sighted the i scratch riders It was marvellous the j distance they had placed between themi solves and us during the brief halt we j bad marie for telegraphic purposes and jin order to collect the competitors’ number cards. We left the scratch men just after passing the first feeling station at Rangitata. Up .to this point they had maintained their high : rate of speed and indications pointed ; to them putting up very fast- time.

A STRONG HEAD WIND. A strong head wind was encountered on reaching the very long and dreary Maronan Road. This steadied the scratch men down to about -eighteen miles. It also found out the weaknesses in many ol the riders who had not paid strict attention to training. There bad been, a few punctures between Temuka arid Geraldine, hut on this long Maronan Hoad dozens of competitors came to grief. Sonic hn<l punctures, other? buckled wheels an O ,Jd rider or two was to be seen "writhing with cramp and being vigorously rubbed by a companion or by some onlookers. 7 t was most evident, however that a great number-of il«c ri.ier- had broken * hearts. C'Al.m FOR HELP. 0u.e,..« J -cuhi jiot kelp-.feeling sorry for

tb© competitors who had met with mishaps at this juncture as they were miles away from any farm houses and the nearest railway station was a- great distance off and they were* clad only in their racing cosfumes. Their calls for a lift “just to such and such a place ” were almost pitiful, but ours being the official car we were unable to help any of the competitors in any direction whatsoever.

MAKING THE PACE HOT. We set out at high speed to catch the twelve-minute men. slowing down whenever we came across a competitor in difficulties to inquire th© nature of his trouble. We had travelled many miles er© we caught up to the lads we were seeking. and after we had kept behind them for some distant© we could readily understand how it was that, they had put up such fast time to Geraldine. They were travelling at the astonishing rate of between twenty-four and twenty-five miles per hour. If they could keep up this speed or anything like it thev would have good prospectus of success, or at any rate of establishing the fastest times. They actually beat th© scratch men’s times to Ashburton by three minutes! We liad our doubts about their ability to keep it up. and we were right, as was subseqently proved. “CUT OUT THE COMEDY.” Leaving the twelve-minute men we soon caught up with the eighteen minute men. A passer by had informed them that the scratch men were miles behind and were not going so fast as these riders were. “ Cut out the comedy.” came the rejoinder of a. wellknown rider in this group.

SLACKEN lN G DOW N. I We halted for some minutes at Ashburton where t-he re was a very large and enthusiastic crowd. When we set off again w© passed numerous groups of riders and also several ridiu" singly and in two 3 and three© battling against the strong head wind with little hop© of success. The twelve minute boys had slackened to about fifteen miles per hour and it was evident they had spent a. lot of their energy by riding too fast over th© first half of the journey. A COWARDLY ACTION.

Soon after leaving Ashburton we heard complaints from some of the competitors about picking up tacks in their tyres somewhere in this vicinity. These appear to have been laid deliberately, probably by ©mall boys or irresponsible larrikins. One competitor had picked up three in one tvre. It is a. pity the culprits could not be cauwfat at this work and made to realise what a cowardly action they had done toward© the riders who had ©pent weeks getting themselves fit for such a gruelling contest. It was heartbreaking for then) to be riding along near tlie front- with good chances of winning, and then to find that thev had fallen victims to the spreaders of the tacks..

MORE LARRIKIN! SM. A practical joke wa© attempted apparently by miscliievoua youths at the other side of Ashburton. At the Tinwald end of the Maronan Road broken glass wa© carefully laid across the road, and had it not been for the fact- that a local resident cut his motor tyre badly, the. plan would have succeeded. The motorist hurried into Ashburton and informed the race officials, who got out in time to sweep the road before tho first batch of cyclists arrived. * A GREAT HEART. I -Tust after passing the Rakaia Bridge onr car happened across C. G. Lange of Ricca-rton. He had been with the leading bunch when he became ill with stomach trouble. He had vomited badly and had lost miles of ground. He was riding along on his own, and remained by himself till picking up a companion near Burnham- He entered the course on his own. and the manner iu which he finished suggested that he would have been either first or second but for his illness. He looked really ill when Tvassed by the official ear. but he stuck gamely to bis task. This competitor, by tlie way, is fortyfive years of age and had not riddeu in the race for eighteen year©.

“ AN OLD DOG FOR A HARD ROAD.” The above is a well-known saying and it has proved correct very, very often. It certainly proved true in the case of Phil O'Shea oil Saturday. He rode with great, judgment throughout. He knows the road thoroughly from beginning to end. With his watch on his wrist he knew all along what speed he was going at and what he had in reserve for th© latter half of the journey. His great judgment may be realised when it is noted that, he gave the twelve minute men fifteen minutes’ start from Ashburton onwards and he caught and beat them all home except one. who won in the sprint to the finishing post. Had the twelve-minute hoys ridden with the same judgment they would undoubtedly have been closer up at the finish. However, they will no doubt benefit by their hardearned experience in this latest race. A GRUELLING CONTEST. The 1923 race will go down as a gruelling and trying contest. The roads were good, but the head wind tested the riders severely and added many minutes to the competitors’ times. The clouds of dust through which the contestants rode fi-om beginning to end were also a great hindrance. THE LUCKY RIDERS. The chief honours of the race, of course, fall to "Watson, the winner, and O’Shea, the rider to put up the fastest time. O'Shea is undoubtedly a. wonderful rider, and h© has had a great run of luck in these contests in the way of avoiding punctures. Watson is a young rider of distinct promise, and he also had a, straight run. He. thoroughly deserved his success as ho did a. tremendous amount of his own pacemaking: on the journev and had previously paid much attention to his training. The fact that lie took barely eleven minute© longer than O’Shea shows what a fine performance Watson’s actually was. < THE UNLUCKY ONES. The unlucky riders were, of course, those who met with mi haps, especially iu the cases where the fault was not their own. There were some very raw riders in the race and they wobbled all over the place, more partioularly when they became tired. They caused many spills and forced good riders behind them to swerve on to the side of the road, where a number received ounctine.s through riding over goes©. In some of the groups, lvo , the re- were-sojue dj -cuca— s. .v.Jiu

deliberately hung back and would riot take their share of the pacing. This was not very sportsmanlike* on their part. THE FEEDING STATIONS. The feeding stations at Rangitata traffic bridge, Ashburton and Dunsandel were fairly well controlled, though in future years it would be as well to give the men handing out- th© pannikins of milk a little coaching on the art of performing the feat. On Saturday a, great many of them pushed the milk out towards the riders, whose hands also shot out to grab the mugs, the result being that when the hands met th© milk went flying all Over the competitors, and a very small drink indeed was left in the bottoms of the utensils. It would be better for the distributors to hold the pannikins on the outstretched palm of the hand and allow- the rider to grasp it a© he passed. Very little would be spilled if this were done. PROMISING RIDERS. There were a number of very promising riders in evidence throughout the race on Saturday. G. Bell, NV. Marsh, A. Leathern. W. Maekie, G. J. Allan, and L. R. Moore, who all started off the. 12 minute mark, look like developing into champions and any one of this number may make O’Shea look to his laurels next year. The champion is getting on in years and lie cannot ]*> expected to keep on much longer. H. W. Birch, 31 minutes, who finished in a place, also rides well. A. H. Wood. C. Woodhouse. who was ta-dly treated in the handicap. W. ,T. Bray. K. Lange, who by the way had five punctures, and L. 'Pye are all liders of distinct promise. But there are no doubt many more youths who would have shown up more prominently 1 had they not met with misfortune. THE FOOLISH CROWD. The liders had had enough dust to contend with on their long journey without having to ride through the clouds which enveloped them from shout Templeton onwards to the entrance to the course. Dozens of motor-cars and motor-cycles, whose drivers pei*s is ted in practically surrounding the cyclists, raised clouds of dust- which almost blinded and choked the tired men. “I could scarcely see th© road in front of mo ” said one of the riders a.t the finish. As the road ir a public place it is a difficult thing

•to prevent this kind of occurrence, and it is left to the public’s good sense to see that th© riders get fair play. But that a., crowd of peopl© have no good sense was fully evidenced on Saturday, and it was more by good fortune than anything else- that some of the riders did not meet with mishap, or were not run over. It was due to the uncontrollable crowd© of former years fbat the. officials wore compelled to find a suitable finishing place for the race. “It’s cruel to a*k the riders to go round that track after such a long ride,” was a remark one could frequently hear at Canterbury Park on Saturday, out it was entirely due to the stupidity of the crowds that such a thing was mad© necessary. And even now it appears that the crowd will not stay behind the fence, as on Saturday they persisted in crowding on to th© actual course to see the finishes. PRESENTATION OF PRIZES.

A smoke concert was held in the. evening, at the Orange Hall, when the prize© won in the race were presented. Tlie function was conducted by the North Canterbury Centro of the New Zealand Athletic and Cycling Union

the president, Mr "NY. J. Walker, occupying the chair. The chairman congratulated th© riders on the very fine race that they had given th© public that day. He mad© ©peciai reference to th© very fin© rae© put up by O. G. Lange, a veteran rider, who twenty-two years ago w;us

champion of the Marshland Club. He had raced hi R son on the road during the day, and had beaten him. Mr "Walker briefly’ traced the history of the Timaru to Christchurch road race, and mentioned the importance of the event to wheelmen.

Mr TT. J. Otley. president of the Canterbury Park Trotting Club, said that the race tliis year had been a very fine one. Unfortunately ('anterburv Park would probably not always he available for the finish, but he assured those present that it wa© not because those iu charge did uot desire the race to finish there, but- because they had now taken over the lease of the Metropolitan course. He paid a tribute to the fine race put up by P. O’Shea off scratch, and congratulated him upon again winning the blue riband of the road.

Mr A. S. Lee. manager of the Dunlop Rubber Company, said thay the company had again decided to give. £3O towards the expenses of sending P. O’Shea to Australia for the Warranambool to Melbourne, road race to b© held on October 27. ( Applausel.

Mr J. A. Flesher (Mayor of Christchurch) prior to presenting the prizes said that tho Timaru to Christchurch

road race was second to none in importance in New Zealand. He made mention of the cycle races which used to be held at Lancaster Park in the old days, and said that the conduct of racing now compared more than favourably with the conduct of races in the past. -So long a s the sport of cycle racing was kept clean, so long would th© public support it wholeheartedly. He stressed the importance of physical fitness, and said that as long th© vouth of the country was prepared to train conscientiously for a. race of the kin-d just held. New Zealand need bare no fear for the future of its manhood. I"h© Mayor then presented tho prizes to the successful competitors. The evening closed with cheers for the riders, and a vote, of thank© to the officials. The following is the list of special prize© with times attached : Fastest time CSew Zealand road championship), I’. O’Shea, 6hr Omin 60 l-6sec. Second fastest time (not winning first prize), G. J. Allan, 6br 12min 60 Fastest time (riders under twentyone years), H. G. Watson. 6hr Ilmin lsec. Fastest time unplaced between 20 and 30 minutes, J. Welch, Ghr 28min Fastest time unplaced between 30 and 40 minutes, G. Wylie, ©hr 33min SOsec. Fastest time unplaced between 40 and 50 minutes, D. B. Fitzherbert, Ghr 42min 5 4sec Fastest time under eighteen years, NY. Maokie, 6hr 12min 63see. Fastest time outside first, second, third or fourth prizes: for nder© from affiliated centre outside North Canter*

bury. .T_ Temptaton, fibr 21min 35seo. Veterans’ prize, G. C. Wellman, 6hr 46m in 40sec.

Special prize for first competitor to finish who has not previously won a raop. !E. G. Fuller, 6hr 34min 55sec. Special prize for youngest rider to finish, H. C. "Lovell, aged fifteen years, Bhr 13ruin 4-seec.

WARRNAMBOOL RACE

The Dmilop Rubber Company haring granted' £3O towards the expenses of the rider securing fastest time to visit Australia for the Warm am boo l to Melbourne road race on October 27. it is probable that P. O’Shea will make the trip. The North Canterbury Centre of the New Zealand Athletic and Cycling Union may nominate another to lepresent New Zealand, and if so it is understood that the winner of Saturday’s race, H. G. Watson, will be asked to make the journey. New Zealand representation in this big race will.be decided upon at a meeting of the centre to be held this week.