CYCLING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 108, 9 May 1934, Page 4

CYCLING

By

i-Pine-

The roads were inches deep in mud and heavy rain was falling when some 40 members of the Wanganui Amateur Road Cycling Club set off on their first race of the 1934 season, a nine-mile course covering a circuit of the Kaimatira block. Phis good muster speaks well for the enthusiasm of the cyclists, and the prospects for a good season appear excellent.

The first to get away from the starting point was Loveridge, who rode on his own off the limit mark of 3min 30sec. He was followed by a bunch off the 2.45 mark consisting of Peters, Walsh, McCormack, Cave, E. Collins, Anderson, R. Jones, Beynon, James and A Forsythe. Next to leave were H. Hodson, C. Loveridge and H. Ander-

son. off tho 2min. mark, and this trio were followed by W. Pidwell, T Bidwell, R. Orlowski, 1. Danielson and S. Forsythe, who were Jmin 30sec in front of the scratch pair, G. Constantine and J. Alp.

Aramoho bridge saw Walsh and Peters making a break from the reit of their bunch, the pair riding strongly, with Walsh doing the major part of the pacemaking. Then the 2min. bunch

passed, having made up a few seconds on the leaders. 11. Hodson had to retire through stripping his back sprocket just after the start. In the Ijmin. bunch W. Pidwell had caught on, hav-

ing been left at the start through not being greedy. This bunch consisted of the two Pidwells, Orlowski. 8, Forsythe and Danielson, and they’ were closely followed by Alp and Constantine, who were gaining ground rapidly off virtual scratch.

Approaching Sparrow Cliff the positions were unchanged except that Alp had been compelled to ease up owing to a severe attack of cramp, Constantine thus being obliged to continue ou his own.

Walsh and Peters continued to hold their advantage at the head of the field until the end of the race, where Peters in a great finish defeated Walsh by two lengths. Next to arrive were Davidson and Anderson, the latter giving the “lead out” and winning by two lengths. Constantine had continued ou his own and still held the advantage gained with Alp. crossing tho line strongly to gain fastest time honours. J. Peters rode a well-judged race and unwound an excellent sprint at the finish. This boy was riding in his first race and in addition to securing first place he also took second fastest time honours. On this performance, big things may be expected from Peters. M. Walsh, the second man past the winning post, showed the makings of a good road cyclist. Lack of judgment at the finish cost this rider first place. Walsh rode a very solid race right from the start and appears to be in firstclass condition. L. Anderson was another who worked hard and rode into third position. He has an easy pedal action and shows promise of developing into a rider of class if coached along the right lines. G. Constantine put up an excellent performance by annexing fastest-time honours. Riding the last half of tho journey entirely unpaced, he maintained a steady pace throughout and picked up a lot of leeway on the large bunch ahead of him. Solo riding under adverse conditions such as prevailed last Saturday is a severe test of a rider’s pedalling ability, and it says much for “Con’s” physical condition that he was able to win through. J. 11. Alp was rather unfortunate in developing stomach cramp at a critical stage in the race. Over the opening stages his big gear made up a lot of ground for the scratch pair, but it told its tale when the heavy going was encountered. However, a little more training will probably make a good deal of difference before the next race eventuates. T. Pidwell was another rider who contracted cramp, due probably to pushing too high a gear through the thick mud. Road conditions were definitely agtinst the high-geared machines, and it was apparent that the riders pedalling smaller gears met with the greater measure of success. W. Pidwell was not even on his bicycle when his bunch left. He managed to get away about 10 seconds after them and this necessitated a long sprint before he caught his bunch, which no doubt accounted for his being beaten in the sprint.

S. Forsythe and E. Forsythe both made hard races, but being in the position between scratch and the winning bunch they failed to ride into a place”. On Saturday next a teams race will be held over two laps of the Kaimatira block to keen everyone fit over the “off” Saturday. Riders are requested to be on the mark early to avoid delay in selecting the teams. An entrance feo of 6d will be charged and points given to riders in the winning team to enable the club to buy trophies for the members with the most points at the end of tho season. The teams will consist of a back-marker a middle-marker and limit rider, the slowest man’s time being taken, so that the teams must keep together as no advantage would be gained by burning one another off. This develops a good team and club spirit and enables the slow niders to gain first hand experience by actually racing with the scratch man off an equal footing. The scratch man being obliged to wait and help them as much as he can in order to get his team along as fast as possible, no one is extended too much as the speed of the team depends entirely on the pace of the slowest member.

The popularity of road cycling was evidenced at Auckland on a recent Saturday when over 150 cyclists participated in the events promoted by tho six amateur clubs now operating. While the older clubs have increased their membership slightly, that of the younger clubs has almost been doubled. The number of registered cyclists with the Auckland Amateur Cycling Centro is now 225, over double that of tho East season.