CYCLING NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18013, 25 November 1926, Page 3

CYCLING NOTES.

ON TRACK AND ROAD.

BY

“WHEEL."

FIXTURES. , « ■ 1 November 26 and 27—Twenty-four 1 Hour Teams Race, English Park 4 Stadium. ■ \ December 4—English Park Sports. December 4—Premier Club s Sports, Kaiapoi. ( December 11—English Park Sports. December 25—Mairehau Sports Club's j Sports, English Park Stadium. | , December 27—Oxford Sports. December 27 Sports. The twenty-four hour teams’ race, ’ j v. hich was to have been held at the Stadium on Friday and Saturday last | was postponed for the second time. ■ The rain commenced to fall just before ‘ the sports were to commence, and the management very wisely decided to ; put off the big event, which will be held to-morrow and Saturday conditionally on the weather conditions , ; being favourable. | x a :: | 1 On Saturday night a sports meeting ■ was held at the Stadium, when a half- : mile open handicap and a two mile open handicap were decided. _ The fields were not large, but this did not j * affect the racing, which was of an in- | teresting nature. Good times were 1 recorded in the half-mile race, which was rather surprising as the riders in most cases had to ride unpaced. X IS X In the first heat of the half-mile N. H. Goodman rode an unpaced race, beating A. C. Walker over the hundred and fifty yards in 61 2-ssec. Jack Silvester . (60yds), with a break of 25yds to catch on S. L. Wiibraham, j rede his best race at the Stadium. I After riding unpaced lap he won J comfortably from Don Speirs in the : fast time of 59 8-ssec. 11. Burnside put in a good sprint in the thirid heat i and defeated C. Bright and Dick Cham- J berlain in a close finish. Burnside is I riding particularly well and should ’ figure prominently in future contests of this nature. Dave Le Fevre had a comfortable win from Cyril Sowden in the fourth heat, which was run in the slow time of 65 l-osec. Le Fevre is improving with every appearance. The most exciting incident in the fifth heat was the fact of W. Croft’s losing his saddle at the entrance to the straight. This was most unusual and it is difficult to explain how it hap- j pened. The heat was slow, being won ! by A. 11. Strut hers in 66. 4-sscc. { The twenty-four hour riders were put in three extra heats of th,e half-mile | handicap. These heats provided good ’ racing, each being ridden in 61 4-sscc. S G. G. Chapman, from a front mark, : lasted long enough to defeat Frank Carey in a splendid finish. A. C. I Ritchie ran W. Mackie close in the ’ next heat. Mackic again demonstrated his pace in no uncertain manner, going through the field in fine style. The last heat, was won by A. A. Morwooci who just beat Henderson in one of th*. best races of the night. Scruise, the Australian, fell. The final provided

a good race. The field of eight riders bunched early, and Mackie was blocked over the final quarter. An exceptionally close finish saw J. Silvester win from N. Goodman, with A. H. Struthers a close third. Two heats of the two miles handicap were run off and then a heavy shower of rain caused the sports to be abandoned. In the first heat Scruise and Marshall led the field at a fast clip which, however, did not last long and the pace slowed down, C. L. Burnand leading the bunched field. He was not relieved and the sprint was won by Scruise, with H. Burnand second. The time was 4min 28sec. Chapman, Holland and Ritchie were responsible for some good riding in the second heat. Ritchie took th* l back markers up to the front men, and then the pacing was divided between Holland and Chapman. The places were filled by Mackie first, Carey seo ond and Chapman third. The time 4min 44 2-sscc, was slow, and the back markers would have had no complaint had they been called off. The third heat and the final of this race have I still to be run^ R. Laskey, who came into prominence by winning the Timaru to Christchurch road race, is now located in the city and intends to take part in track races. He rode in two handicap races at the Stadium on Saturday night, but has not .yet struck track form. His performances, however, showed proxnise. Lasky is mated with Clarrie Bright as an extra team in the tweai ty-four hours’ race. K X X Len Scuffell made his first appearI ance this season, but his riding was not particularly impressive. A few rides in open company should have a j beneficial effect on his riding. Jack Bearman, the well-known sprinter, is again getting fit and will take his place on the track this weekend. Bearman’s powers as a sprinter are well known and if he can develop the form shown by him two years ago he should be well in the picture in future scratch races. The Premier Athletic and Cycling Club will hold its Kaiapoi fixture on Saturday week. Good entries have j been received and an interesting after- • noon’s sport is anticipated. The track [ is in fair order, recent . working bees having put in some hard work. 55 X X i The Mairehau Sports Club, at a committee meeting oil Monday night • last', decided on the following pro- : gramme for the sports meeting to be held on Christmas night:—Half-mile I handicap, £6; quarter-mile New Zealand championship, £5; one pule members’ handicap, £7; one and a half mile Mairehau wheel race, £lO, and heat prizes of ss; half-mile second and thirdclass handicap, £6; half-mile amateur handicap, trophies. Arrangements are being made for a motor paced race between two prominent riders.

The scheme of registered colours came into operation on Saturday night last. The colours were used in conjunction with -the "registered numbers, but as all the riders did not wear their colours - the scheme was not properly tried out.

On Friday and Saturday night next the riders who are not taking part in the twenty-four hours’ race will race in a one and a half lap handicap and a half-mile handicap. All the riders who are not participating in the twenty-four hours’ race hat-e been entered for these events. The South Malvern Cycling Club held an eleven mile road race at Coalgate on Saturday afternoon. The race resulted : H. O’Connor l Rakaia), 2imin; Time 35min 34sec, 1: C. Stuart (Coalgate), 2Jmin; time 35niin 36sec, 2; R. R. Wills (Christchurch), time 34min 48sec, 3: J. Welsh (Parfield). limin; time 35min 35sec, 4. The winner made the fastest time under eighteen years and R. R. Wills fastest time for the race. X X X A boys’ race of five miles was also held by the club and provided a great finish, a big bunch participating in the ; sprint. The result was as follows:—R. j Stuart (Darfield) 1, R. Todd (Glentunnel) 2, T. Charles (Coalgate) 3, R. Sutherland (Whitecliffs) 4. The winner also secured fastest time. The following handicaps have been declared for the half-mile Derby race to be held at English Park Stadium during the week-end:—Scratch—R. Jamieson, R. Bradley, H. F. Mills, F. G. Bull. 10yds—R. Forscutt. 15yds— J. Burborough. 30yds—D. Broad, G. Forward, F. Logan, G. Farmer. 30yds ■ —II. Harris, W. Rusbridge, L. James. i 50yds—B. Stewart. 70yds—H. Rob- i erts. 80yds—R. Gimblett, J. Armstrong, C. L. Hensley. 90yds, J. Hath- 1 away, W. White, B. M'Mahan, T. Glee- I son. 110yds—E. Law, T. Matthews. | The twenty-mile amateur road race which was to have been held next Saturday afternoon at Mairehau, under the auspices of the North Canterbury centre* of the New Zealand Athletic and Cycling Union, has been postponed indefinitely. There are still a few racing cyclists who have not registered for the present racing season, which commenced on August 1. These riders have been warned by the centre that they must register at once, otherwise they will be disqualified. U nder the rule, riders not registering are liable to disqualification for life. The weather appears more settled this week, and the prospects of getting off the twenty-four hours face look bright at time of writing. The teams are the same as published last week, with the addition of C. Bright, R. Laskey and F. C. Ward. A large number of riders favour the chances of C. Austin and C. L. Burnand, but the general opinion, is that the Australian team, comprising J. Scruise and R. Marshall, will win. Jack Henderson and W. Mackie are also strongly favoured. Oil January 8, the Rangiora Athletic Association will run off the following cycling event at its annual sports meeting:—One mile maiden open handicap-; one mile, boys under sixteen years; district; and half, one and twomile open handicaps. The prize money for the Wheel Race, of two miles, is £l2. *: x Dave Nicholson, who defeated Harris Horder and Phil O’Shea in match races in New Zealand last year, is now located in Sydney, being under contract to ride at the Sydney Sports Ground. He belongs to a family that has made cycling history in New Zealand. He is a brother of Ron Nicholson, who won the road championship of the Dominion in the Timaru to Christchurch road race last year. Dave has been riding for five years, and has a long list of victories to his credit. AMONG THE AMATEURS. A fourtcen-mile road race was held last Saturday by the Christchurch Club, twenty riders taking part. The result was an easy win for M’Nicholl, a very young rider off the limit. This lad shook off his co-markers from the start, and never looked like being caught. He rode unpaced for about twelve miles and finished like a champion about half a mile ahead of the next man. More will be heard of this lad before the season is far advanced. The second to finish was T. O’Brien, who rode off the ).3min mark. This rider is also good on the road, and with more experience will be a top notcher. Third place was filled by H. Robertson, who rode a good race and is much improved since last season. A. Mutton, who finished fourth, had bad luck, his chain coming off before he had covered a mile. lie was with the bunch in the finish, but in the sprint for second place his chain again came off, costing him a prize. J. I’Arson, on lmin, rode well for three laps. In fact, he had the fastest time up till then, but he” tired over the latter portion of the journev. 55 55 55 R. Fleming, imin, rode a great unpaced race to secure fas.test time. He deserved his success, for he is one of the most consistent trainers in the amateur ranks. 55 X X Frank Grose, scratch, rode well on his own, but lost the time by about live seconds. A quarter-mile handicap was held at Lancaster Park on Tuesday evening. The first heat was won easily by R. Fergusson, 15yds, with 11. Robertson, 30yds, second. J. I’Anson, 10yds, won the second heat, with S. Maindonald, 15yds, second. In the final I’Anson never looked like being beaten, winring easily from Maindonald, with Fergusson third. Another race will be held next Tuesday evening. Entries close with Mr G. G. Lockwood at 12 noon on Saturday. A sports meeting will be held at the Halswell Domain on December 11, the cycJirg events being half a mile, one mile and one mile and a half. Entries for the Christchurch to Amberley race close to-morrow, Friday. Frank Grose, the New Zealand amateur champion, left for Wellington on Tuesday to take part in a forty-mile road championship on Saturday. In his present form this fine rider has every expectation of adding this blue ribbon to his collection. The Halswell Club will hold an eigh-teen-mile road race on Saturday. Post entries will be accepted. There should be a large field, as the event will serve as a try-out for the ChristchurchAmberley championship.