CYCLING.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue V, 24 July 1897, Page 140

CYCLING.

THE want has often been felt of something to clean the tyres of a cycle before taking it into a house. This want has been supplied by Mr H. A. Wanklyn, of 17, Manchester Avenue, Aldersgate-street, London, who has invented a tyre squeegee. It is simple and inexpensive, consisting of a plate of vulcanised rubber having a crescent-shaped recess formed in it to fit the tyre, and fitted in a wooden handle. Its usefulness is beyond question, and we should say it is superior to anything of the kind yet produced, as, should the tyre be slightly punctured, its use in no way increases the punctures, which a brush would be likely to do. Bicyclists, presumably of the fair sex, are to be provided with a canopy for protection from the sun and rain, as Mr T. Thompson, of Danbury, Connecticut, has patented in America a readily removable canopy cover, which may be closely folded to be out of the way when not in use. The canopy, of silk or other fabric, is removably secured on a light stretcher frame, which is detachably held in position by an upright standard and a novel bracket clamp, the canopy being adjustable to incline to either side of the bicycle for the better protection of the rider, as occasion may require. Provision is also made for the support of a mirror at the front of the canopy, enabling the rider to se- objects at either side and in the rear, a device which may soon become used in this country, judging from several inventions which have lately been brought under our notice. A tyre invention which the inventor intends shall be a most successful rival to the pneumatic tyres now so widely used is soon to be given a trial. It is claimed it will not be susceptible to the small tack, glass, etc., tc

so disastrous an extent as the pneumatic tyres are. It is made of sections of cork which are almost solid, the centre being made of an endless coil spring, which holds

the section of cork firmly. Any section of cork may easily be removed and renewed. The spring acts something like a bracelet, which removes from the wrist by stretching the spring a I'ttle. A new method of patching single-tube bicycle tires is to insert a tube in the punctnre, through which a flat rubber patch is forced to the opposite wall of the tyre, where it is held until covered with cement forced through the tube, when the side of the tyre containing the puncture is pressed on the patch and the tube is withdrawn. *lt ain’t all singing, I see,' said Mr Porkchopps, at the concert, * Here’s something on the programme—“The Sextet from Lucia.*” ‘Well, that’s singing,’ replied Mrs Porkchopps. ‘ No, it ain’t! A sextet is where six people ride on one bicycle.’ Bicycle weddings are in style again. Perhaps in course of time (says The Cynic) this may grievously affect the popularity of the wheel. THE ETHICS OF CYCLING. The close of the century is likely to pass into history as the period which witnessed the sport of cycling at the zenith of popular esteem. Of all pastimes cycling is the most democratic, and, therefore, of the greatest ethical significance. The roads are free to all ; the bicycle has not yet fallen a prey to any greedy and unsympathetic Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the cost of the pleasure need not be prohibitory to any industrious and thrifty person. Class distinction, like the poor, we have always with us, of course, and great people in the cycling world may be detected by the brilliance of their mount, by the costliness of their fashionable costume, and by the airs nd affectations that are proper to superior birth or fortune ; but nothing short of a broken wheel can deprive the poorest cyclist on the road of his share of glory and delight. Now equality of privilege in respect of the pleasures and luxuries of life is a sub-con-scious factor of social reconciliation ; it removes the sour or angry grudge from the toiler's mind in presence of wealth that is unearned, and makes the thought of revolution obnoxious because unnecessary. Cycling promotes sympathy throughout the social hierarchy, and sympathy is a more potent factor of actual goodness

in this world than imperial edicts or constitutional laws. The impressions received by the judicious cyclist of the silent persistence and the confident peacefulness of Nature operate as a tonic to the mind. The complaint is common nowadays that business costs too great a nervous strain ; that success is getting dangerously allied with ignorance, the valetudinarian habit, and an arrested taste. Cycling may help to redress the balance. No other pastime lends itself so well to change of scene, to fresh experiences and rapid emotional transitions, as the wheelers’ craft. Monotony is inimical to the expansion of character. A monotonous round of occupation, unrelieved by change, may do no hurt to persons of heroic mould, but, for good or evil, the world is not overstocked with hereditary heroes. The average man, if denied some exhilarating recreation ; some fresh excitement, is thrown back upon himself; appetite then represents its treacherous lures, and the jaded will is overcome by some sweet folly, which leaves nausea at the heart, clouds in the imagination, and a sting in memory. All possible ethical gains, however, are forfeited by the intemperate wheeler. Not only may time be wasted, serious duty thrown into arrears, life’s chances imperilled by intemperance in cycling, but positive hurt—especially so in the case of women —may be done to the body, while the finer balance of character may be lost, and mind, imagination, feeling deteriorate until they become less cold, rigid, unsympathetic than the iron and steel of the machine. What, in the wheeler’s dictionary of ‘slang,’ is called ‘scorching,’is an utterly indefensible practice ; equally so is the absurd and childish ambition to establish a record by riding the most difficult hills. The ‘ scorcher ’ misses the country ; he sees only a macadamised road fenced in by two dust-driven hedgerows ; be responds with greater alacrity of emotion to the sign of ‘ The Three Geese,’ or • The Red Lion.’ than to Nature’s appeal to the imagination to mount and revel In regions mild, of calm and serene air. Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot Which men call earth. The passion of the hour for the recreative pleasures of cycling may easily be emptied of ethical utility by being

insidiously allowed to circumscribe energy and enthusiasm within self-regarding limitations. That a danger of this sort threatens society just now is manifest to most observers. Nowhere may the regal grace of selfcontrol (self-regulation) shine with stronger brilliance, or wield a wiser sceptre, than in the matter of duly correlating bodily exercise—that of cycling or other —and spiritual culture. BULL AND TANDEM BICYCLE. On the afternoon of this story, the bicycle was painted a lively red. Its two riders were running over a fairly good road, when they came to the edge of a field in which a bull was at pasture. Presently they heard a bellow, and the next moment saw the bull making for the fence —of three rails and not overstrong—at a run. ‘ How’s the road ahead ?’ asked the man behind. ‘Tain’t the best,’ was the answer. ‘ Well, we’ve got to go.’ And go they did. But the grade was growing heavier, and by this time the bull, in a fury of excitement, was racing along beside them, with only the fence between him and the wheel. A minute more and he came to the corner of the field, and dashed through the fence into the road. It would have gone hard with the cyclers, but just then they saw a downward path on one side. 1 Take it ! Take it!’ shouted the man in front, and down they went at a break-neck speed. They left the bull behind, but their troubles were not yet over. Suddenly there appeared directly in front a creek, and before they could stop they had plunged into the water over the wheels. As they slid off and made for the opposite bank, they heard the bull bellowing in the rear. There he stood, expressing his rage and disappointment. Then with a toss of his head and a snort he turned about and made off. The wheelmen spent half an hour in getting their machine out of the water, and as much longer in drying and repairing it, and then started homeward by another route. Since then they have given their bicycle a fresh coat of paint, not red.