CYCLING NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 6112, 14 December 1898, Page 3

CYCLING NOTES.

[nv lIOVHIIJ There has nnt been a run of slrlling local cycling news (luring llie|ii>l week. Hverylhing stems lo have lien very dull mid quiet. Even (lie training operations on the Mastcrlon Park Oval seem lo linvo been somewhat dead. I notico, through the eoluinns of the local papers, that the Mastcrlon Friendly Societies intend holding Snorts on Dosing Day, and a few cycle events will he placed on the programme. From all accounts, though, all of the prominent locnl riders are riding elsewhere. If so, somebody will have some easy wins. Mr J. 0. Ewinglon almost excelled himself on liace Day, in his ride from the Opnki llacecourso to the Post Office. Considering the rough stale of the road and Iho distance ho had lo rido over grass couutry, thirteen minutes is not a bad time. The New Zealand Wheel- Pace is causing inttch comment among the colony's cycling enthusiasts. The nominations aro just about n record, and it is very difficult lo place the winners. I should sny that Iho scratch men will find no easy task in getting on a level with the limit men, hut it is very hard to sny what scratch men can't do if they pace one another. In my opinion the race lies between the scratch men,

Plunkelt on the sixty yards mark, Chalmers eighty yards, or Stackwood one hundred yards. I see that C. Volhcim aud Iko Allen have nominated at Dannevirke. Their starts are one mile, 130 yds nnd 150 yds; two mile, 200 yds and 250 yds and the three mile, 27oyds and 300 yds respectively. All exceptionally good starts and the linndicnpper has treated them very leniently. Bennett is tho only one on the scratch mark and he will not be starting, so Newman will be Iho stratch man, I notice that Solomon is competing and giving both our local riders big starts. Either this cyclist has improved wonderfully or the handicapper does not know his business. Last New Year's

day onthe Maslerton Oval, Volhcim was giving Solomon yards and caught his man before he had gone a couple of rounds, eventually leaving him a long distance behind. If Charlie nnd" Iko" go to Dannevirke llicy ought to make a win or two.

It is a good plan lo practice dismounting when travelling at a fair pace. Une never knows when the ability to perform this muj' come in good stead. Tho best method in rase of sudden emergency is to slip over the back of the machine grasping the saddle as the machine moves forward, I remember once seeing this done by a local cyclist, He was careering over the Taratahi plain at the rate of about fifteen miles an hour, when a horse suddenly swerved directly in front of him. I made sure that my companion would hnyc to call in the aid of the repair shop, but to my surprise he quietly slipped off the back of the snddle nnd averted what must otherwise have been a smash up. Second-hand crocks at an auction sale

have been described as "repainted frauds, hasty conglomerations of mismated parts, cast iron freaks, grannies made of old sardiuo tins, nnd shiny deceivers of many kinds thrust upon a flurried market to the shriek of " wonderful value!"

A rather expensive ealeh a cyclist proved to an inspector of nuisances in New South Wales not long ago. The inspector caught a scorcher riding on the footpath and he was summoned and fined os, At the same time tho cyclist preferred a charge of assault against the inspector who had knocked Ihc cyclist off his machine as he ennio down the line at the rale of nine miles an hour. The Inspector was lined £3O. A few nights ago two well-known local cyclists, riding without lights, came to grief over a party of ladies walking in the middle of the road. The riders were not aware of the pedestrians' presence until close upon them, Bells were rung and then a dodging competition commenced, but it was no good. A few moments afterwards cyclists and pedestrians were a black heap on the road. What followed it is needless to relate, but the wheelmen were profuse in their apologises and vowed never to ride, without lights again!

■. In a town not n hundred miles from Masterton the, prautico of catching cyclists who ride without lights is made a work of art. One is riding along gently dodging pedestrians, vehicles, dogs, etc., when suddenly a muffled figure is seen to rush out from some dark nook with a murderous look gleaming from his cat-like eyes. He rushes in front of tho cyclist and suddenly displays a bright glaring bull'seye. Naturally the cyclist jumps off and the muffled figure Hashes the light in the wheelman's face, takes his name and is heard of no more, till one day " a piece of blue paper" explains tho mysterious adveuture of soino night's before, Why not adopt such a course in this town ?

At tho recent New South Wales Leaguo Carnival one rider was fined 10s for looking behind in a race. Astory is told of a cyclist who, returning home one night' at a late hour from a moonlight spin, saw two cats running along the road. He rode clean over the first without experiencing anything worse than a rough jolt, but the poor cat uttered a series of startling yells as tho two wheels passed over tier back and body in rapid succession. This seemed to scaro the wits out of its mate-, for it straightway sprang on the cyclist's leg, aud clung to his knee with outspread talons. Then it was the cyclist's turn to yell, as puss hung on for a dozen yards, and then quietly dropped OH and made tracks for home.

The New Zealand Cyclists' Alliance has at last decided to disbaud. Somo time ago the Alliance had some thirty affiliated Clubs on its roll, but gradually its membership dwindled down and down, till, at the date of its agreeing to disband, live Clubs were all that were left to it. As all are aware, the Alliance posed as the governing body of amateurism, but at the same time did not take any caro that its so-called amateurs should be in reality what they posed to be, and while it suffered from inactivity and bad management, the League of Noiv Zealand Wheelmen took the matter up, not only dealing with cash cycling, but also with the amateur section. The Leaguo then endeavoured to countenance amalgamation, but the Alliance would not hear of it. The different amateur clubs gradually began to understand the position and by degrees fellaway and joined the League. The linal disappearance of the Alliance tends to show what groat strides cycling is making in the cash section and it is quite evident that cash riders appreciate tho Alliance's action. The following memorial card found on the Board of Otago Club's room shows how keenly these two bodies were working against each other :-

N.Z.C.A.—At midnight, on the '2nd December, at Tiiniini, the New Zealand Cyclists' Alliance, after a long illness, borne with Christian fortitude. Its end was peace. It.ll'.—(liestin pieces),

I notice that one of our mostprominent racing men has been suspended till certain entrance fees, due to the Hawcra Cycling o|ub, are.paid.