CYCLING ON TRACK AND ROAD

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17833, 29 April 1926, Page 12

CYCLING ON TRACK AND ROAD

BY

“WHEEL.”

FIXTURES. May S—Mairehau Amateur Road Rare. June 12—Amateur 30 Miles Championship.

The Mairehau amateurs will hold a road race on Ma>' 8 over a nine-mile course. A championship road race over thirty miles will be held on June 12 by the same club. A liberal prize list has been drawn up, and the prospects for a successful race are bright. If sufficient encouragement is forthcoming the committee has decided to put on weekly road races for members of the club. The Mairehau Sports Club held a thirteen miles road race at Mairehau on Saturday afternoon. The course was the usual one of six and a half miles, traversed twice. A small field of twenty-five riders started. A. Leathern, C. Bell and C. L. Burnand were on scratch, giving a limit of three and a half minutes. The limit riders, Clark, O’Flaherty, and Weir, were caught by the second bunch about three miles from the start. At the end of the first round the riders passed in the following order:—l7tr.in 57sec, Clark, Weir. Chapman. Pither, O’Flaherty, and Wills; 19min 6sec, Orton, Austin, J. Jordan and S. A. Jordan. B. Leathern, J. H. Parsons, and D. E. Speirs. 20min Isec, Bell, A. Leathern, Morwood. Flanagan, Burnside and Duggan retired in the first round, and B. Leathern and Morwood did not complete the journey in the second lap. The sprint was particularly close between the first four riders, and the judges had difficulty in making a decision.’ Don Speirs was placed first, and the veteran Chapman second, with Pither and Archer very close up. The riding times of the riders who finished are as follows:—D. E. Speirs (lmin) time 33min 23sec, G. G. Chapman (tlimio) 35min 63 l-ssec, L. Pither (23min) 35min S 2-osec, A. J. Archer (2min) 34min 23 3-ssec, C. Austin (lmin) 33min 24sec, R. R. Wills (23min) 35min 9see, C. Clark (3imin) 35min 55sec, W. K. Weir (3Jmin) 36min 22sec, A. Leathern (scratch) 33min 21 see, fastest time. C. L. Burnand rode _Lcathem to a fine finish for fastest time, C. Bell being close up. A. Leathern only gained 1 3-5 seconds on Speirs.

D. E. Speirs, the winner, has been particularly successful in road races held by the Mairehau Sports Club. Last year he won the medal for most points gained in road races. Speirs is a most consistent performer and on his next appearance will be in close proximity to the scratch men.

G. G. Chapman, second place, is a veteran with a past record. Although only recently again taking up the sport he has made remarkable progress and if he continues to improve at the same rate he will prove a tough proposition in future contests His sprint on Saturday after a hard ride was a worthy effort. L. Pither, third place, has only recently taken up professional rtacing after a season with the Mairehau amateurs. His track experience stood him in good stead and he has developed a very useful sprint. A. J. Archer, fourth place, has had a fairly successful season and on the track he bids fair to repeat these performances on the road.

C. Austin, fifth place, has not had a great deal of road success, but his wins on the country tracks have made up for this. Starting off the same mark as Speirs, he could not foot it with him in the sprint, finishing a second behind him. R. Mills, sixth place, rides for the love of the sport. He is on a good mark now and it should not be long before he secures a well deserved win. A. Leathern, fastest time, put up a very creditable performance in riding the distance in 33min 21sec. This time is almost the best ever recorded on the Mairehau course. When in form Leathern is an unpaced rider of undoubted ahilitv and has few equals in the Do minion over a hard ride up to fifty miles. 8 8 8 C. L. Burnand continues to ride consistently and if he can retain his present speed he should be a strong favourite for fastest time honours in the coming big road races. 8 8 8 C. Bell this season has failed to show’ up to advantage and has only appeared on the track at irregular intervals. 8 8 8 George W. Duggan (“Jumbo ") has decided to retire from cycle racing and has already commenced to dispose of his racing gear. This decision is to be regretted, as he is still in his early twenties and at the latter end of the track season was riding in winning form. Duggan, however, is not satisfied with the progress he has made during the season and has definitely decided to retire. 8 8 8 The Mairehau Sports Clpb will hold a road race on Saturday, May 22, at Mairehau. Particulars of the race will be announced at a later date.

Now that the road season has opened the writer would be glad to receive notes from the various clubs regarding fixtures, results, etc.

ROAD RACING. HINTS TO NOVICES. The following article is what Hubert Opperman, the allround champion cyclist of Australia, has to say in the Melbourne “ Sporting Globe ” on how novices should train for long distance races. In view of the coming big races, his advice should be invaluable:— CLEAN LIVING ESSENTIAL. I have always believed that the first and most important aid to an athlete is a clean constitution. I can certainly look back with a degree of pride and no small measure of satisfaction and reflect that right through my career I have practised the strictest abstinence from any intoxicating liquor or tobacco. I would go even further than that, and remind my young friends of the wellknown adage, “ early to bed, etc., etc.” and, although this is a rule which I cannot claim to have carried into effect as conscientiously as others referred to, I definitely a.ssert that I have proved beyond question the value of observing regular hours. DIET FOR ROAD CYCLING. I have written previously my views on diet, and must confess, too, that at times my comments on the subject have brought forward some very interesting questions from my readers; but while not having extreme views on this subject, I still maintain that the choice of the right foods does have a very important bearing on the cyclist’s condition. I would not attempt to lay down the cyclist’s menu. In my opinion the matter is more a question of what not to eat. To mention diet broadly, I would say that with whole-meal bread, fruit of every description and plenty of it, with milk, eggs, nuts, honey and such like, one can afford to shun sweets and pastry, which are so often dear to the palate of the cyclist. I have even gone so far, to the consternation of some of my friends, as to exclude meats from my diet, and have fouffd that, provided care is exercised in judiciously substituting fruit and nuts which contain the necessary vitamins, a beneficial effect has been noticeable in my condition.

Now we come to the question of the cyclist’s friend—the bicycle. I would say that my road racing machine, with its faithful performance of thousands and thousands of miles, over all classes of roads, and in all weathers, has won a place in my affections. It causes one to reflect on the wonderful efficiency to which the modern bicycle has been brought. On this point, let me urge my young cyclist friends first of all to make sure that the bicycle they are riding is one worthy of the trust they place in it; and, secondly, to remember that if they are to get long use and continued service from their mount then reasonable care and attention is necessary. Having acquired a suitable mount, the question of position is very important, and although the correct position for one rider may be absurd for another, owing to the difference in build, a few general words on the subject ma3* not be amiss. POSITION ON THE MACHINE. For road racing I consider that the rider must first of all be comfortable. I have found that the position with the point of the saddle immediately over the bracket and the handle-bars in such a position that the weight of the shoulders is rested lightly upon the handle-bars, without the arms being unduly stretched, and with the saddle' pillar adjusted so that the rider can sit astride the machine with both toes touching the ground, practically speaking, to be the position from which the average lad can commence operations. Then, as experience is gained, the final adjustments will suggest, themselves, until the perfect position is acquired. USE OF GEARS. One of the most important points in the training of cyclists is the use of gear. Many young riders make the fatal mistake of trying to race on gears that are too high. That Veteran of the sport, “Snowy” Munro (holder of the Warrnambool to Melbourne world’s record), goes so far as to lay down a schedule which is briefly this:—He suggests that one should estimate the overage speed at which the journey will probably be made, and this speed in miles per hour, multiplied by three, will give the most suitable gear for the occasion. For instance, a journey which will average 22 miles an hour would thus find the rider on a gear of 66, and 25 miles an hour, 75 gear. This would be accompanied by the use of a clutch and brake which would allow the rider to take any downward gradients at high speed and thus avoid the necessity for furious pedalling cn such occasions. At first sight Mr Munro’s view sounds almost extreme in his leaning to low gears, but when one remembers that the French road rider uses gears (in conjunction with the clutch) down as low as 50*s and 60's and yet attains very creditable average speeds for long distances and hilly country, one is forced to admit that the argument has more than theory to support it.