CYCLING NOTES

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20313, 24 May 1934, Page 7

CYCLING NOTES

The Avon Amateur Cycling: Club held its road race at New Brighton last Saturday, the idea being to assist the newly-formed New Brighton Amateur Cycling Club. However, the New I Brighton cyclists failed to take part, and a field of eighteen Avon Club men faced the starter. Riders on long marks filled the first three places. W. Cr. Walker (30sec) finished only 16see behind the winner, who was in receipt of a start of 4?.min. The result was a credit to the liandicapper. T. Gibson, the winner, showed improved form. He has evidently benefitted by previous races. In company with his co-markers. W. M’Piehel and L. Barlow. Gibson led throughout and finished with a sjilendid sprint. M’Fiehel, second place, is a newcomer who gives promise of developing into a useful rider. Barlow, third plaee. has had a great deal of racing experience as an amateur. He showed improved form. Walker, fastest time, returned good figures for the distance. He has been performing consistently of late and should give a good account of himself in open races. A big field of amateurs competed in the twenty-mile road race conducted by the Rangiora Amateur Cycling Club last Saturday. G. R. Giles (scr) was given a big task, and he failed to catch the big hunch on the Sjjmin mark, finishingover two minutes behind them. The field included a large number of new riders, and this, combined with the fact that up to the present only a few races have been held, made the handicapper's task a difficult one. ■C. Creeb, the winner, gave a good account of himself. Tie has had little racing experience. Creeb showed good sprinting ability and should be prominent in future road events. K. Robinson, second place, also performed well. He can be depended on to show improvement in his finishing sprint. _ E. Blake, third place, rode from the 13min mark and was unlucky in not being able to bead off Creeb and Robinson. He rode the distance in fast time, his figures being only a minute slower than those registered by Giles. G. R. Giles is the best amateur road rider at present competing. His form during the past twelve months has been most consistent. He should be hard to beat for championship honours during the next few months. J. C. Murray, second fastest time, was only beaten by Giles by two-fifths of a second. He is undoubtedly the most improved rider at present competing. Murray can always be depended on to give a good account of himself. R. Wildernioth, the winner of last Saturday’s cash sweepstake road race, registered his best performance since he began racing, this being bis first win. Wildernioth rides a good race and deserves to meet with more success. H. Smither. second place and fastest time, rode from scratch, covering the distance unpaced. It was a good effort and the time. 38min 2,2 1.-ssec for fourteen miles, was excellent. A. .T. Robertson, third place, is a much better performer than be was last year. It should not be long before be leads the field home. The Canterbury Amateur Cycling Centre lias issued a schedule of road races, starting with an event next Saturday. Road races are provided practically every week by the Rangiora, Avon, Papanui and Technical Clubs. The season will conclude with the 1 championship to be conducted bj the Papanui Amateur Cycling Club M\t Saturday’s amateur race will be hem by ™X bl cours* ang The event will twenty-mile course. ine start and at Rangiora. The Prebbleton Cash Cycling Club will open Its road racing season nun a twenty-nule e\ent on 16. The following prizes ai e ofCe _ 1 ® U A , First 27s 6d, second 15«, ‘ s fastest time unplaced 10s. Lhe rs * c ® win start at the Prebbleton Hotel at 2 P-m. ... At a special meeting of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Assentation held in Wellington this week, a resold tion was adopted expressing tuc NZA.C. Association’s acceptance of a change in the control of cycling in wm a be’ separated a! together^ fr ™^] *J]g Cyciing 6 Feder ati on disbanded. The kj: ter states that the N.Z.A.C.a. can firm its present c ? n "® c t V°" -. revert U.C.1., while the cash section majrcxei to its old affiliation with the Federal cycling body in Australia A spec ml meeting of the New ealai Yx on( £ v Federation will be held on Monday _ consider the . matter The control of amateur cycling has been a n - • cussed question for a considerable time, and matters were only conchidM iaMarch, when the present New Z.ala cycling federation was formed rhe writer is of opinion, however, that^the theirthe sport and the cash body looking after its own interests—:s the most satisfactory. Cash riders are not supporting the officials who are looking- after their interests by promoting road races. Only small fields have turned out for the road races held recently. Several prominent riders are playing football, and others are spelling. There is no doubt that the cash side of the sport has suffered considerably owing to the fact that there was no track season in Christchurch last summer. A fifteen-mile road race will be held at Mairehau next Saturday afternoon, starting at the corner of Brigg’s and Hill’s Roads at 2.30. Following on the recent official insneetion of the alpine section of the Centenary 1000-mile cycle course by representatives of the Dunlop-Perdriau Rubber Company, which is organising and controlling the race on behalf of the Victoria Centenary Celebrations Council, Harry B. James, the organiser, has prepared some interesting data which should prove invaluable to competitors. He has charted every tenth of a mile on the mountain roads in each directions, and is emphatic that the Wanga-ratta-Buffalo-I-Totham-Omen stage of 153 miles is not so formidable as was nt first imagined. But serious and intensive training is essential. The Canadian pair, “ Torchy ” Feden and Julies Audy, won the recent Pittsburg six-day bicycle race. They lapped the field in the final hour of desperate sprinting, beating the world’s champion Holland - Czechoslovakia combination, Peter Van Kempen and Frank Bartel!. Audy finished with a broken finger in splints. He and his colleague collected £3OO and the runners-up £2OO for the week’s work, during which 236 S miles were covered. Mr John Kennedy, secretary of the New Zealand controlling body, has notified Mr W. Smith, secretary of the Australian body, that Hubert Turtill, allround champion of New Zealand, has been nominated as one of New Zealand’s official representatives in the Centenary | events. Turtill. who holds (ho quarter- | mile, half-mile and one-mile track chain- ’ pionships of New Zealand, is an ex- I holder of the 25-mile Australasian | championship. Track cycling appears to be booming in London judging by the crowds which attended the Herne 1-1 ill track when Toni Merkens, the German amateur sprinter, easily accounted for Denis Horn (Eng.) in three heats of their match race, one of which was a 4 40yds time trial. Harry Grant (Eng.), holder of the world’s onehour motor-paded record under IJ.C.T. conditions. defeated Toto Grassin (France) in two out of three heats behind the rollers. Alarm has been expressed that the f cycling events at the Empire Games at Manchester in August of this year clash I with the world’s championship contests at Leipzig (Germany). At the moment the matter is agitating the minds of the National Cyclists’ Union (Eng.), because England cannot very well keep out of the Emptad. The solution may be an alteration of the English dates. Opperman Brilliant. Riding brilliantly and putting up a < great fight ill the sprint for the line, . Hubert Opperman, the Australian <

cyclist, finished third in the Criterium Le Havre (about 156 miles) held in France last week. The race was won by Bono, an Italian ace. with Gairncort (France) second and Onnerman a close third, (’on menting on his performance, “ L’Anto,” the French daily sporting newspaper, paid a tribute to Opperman’s great riding considering he has been training only a few weeks. Opperman is now competing in the Tour of Italy, extending over twenty-three days. FIXTURES. May 26—Combined Rangiora clubs’ race. May 26—Sweepstake cash race, Mairehau. June 9—Avon Club’s road race. June 16—Prebbleton cash race. June 16—Papanui Amateur Club’s race.

Amateur Centre’s List of Road Races. The Canterbury Amateur CyclingCentre met in the Papanui Cycling Club’s rooms, Papanui, last evening. It was reported that £ll 11s had so far been received towards cost of sending the Canterbury rider, F. J. Grose, to the Empire Games. After considerable discussion, it was decided* to grant affiliation to the Cycling section of the Kaiapoi Amateur I Athletic and Cycling Club, providing an J assurance was received that the club I was purely an amateur body. Affiliation I was also granted to the New Brighton Amateur Cycling Club. It was agreed that for all races up to forty miles the minimum value of the prize money be £2. It was decided to apply for permission to make the Round the Gorges race, of 100 miles, a New Zealand championship event. It was resolved to protest against the race between Palmerston North and Wellington being made the annual 100 miles championship event, the centre :avouririg the championship being derided alternately in the North Island* ind South Island. The following schedule of races was lined Rangiora club’s; June 2, * twenYv-ive-mile New Brighton Club; June ‘9 :wenty-five-mile Avon Club: June 1C wenty-five-mile Papanui A.C.C.; June !5, thirty-mile Technical Club; June !0. thirty-mile Technical Club; .July 7, liirty-mile Papanui Club; July ' 14. hirty-mile Canterbury championship Halsv.-ell) ; July 21. c lub races: July 2S hirtv-five-mile combined -Rangiora '■ubs: August 4. forty-mile Avon Club; Vugust 11, forty-mile Papanui Club; Vugust is, forty-five-mile Rangiora i.S.A. Club; August 25, fifty-mile chamlionship Technical Club; September I. ;eventy-mile championship, to be conlucted by the centre; September 8, ombined clubs; September 29. 100-mile hampionship Papanui Club (Round the iorges). 1