CYCLING.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue XXIII, 4 June 1898, Page 701

CYCLING.

On the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday last, Beauchamp, the Tasmanian cyclist, broke all Australian records from 20 to 100 miles. He covered 50 miles in Ihr 46min 56sec, and 100 miles in 3hr 40min 58sec. As many cyclists undertake longer rides than they are physically fit for, and often get cramp in the lower limbs, it may not be out of place to give them a hint as to the best thing to be done under such circumstances. They must dismount as speedily as possible, and resort to energetic friction of the painful part. If a companion is at hand, get him to pull the foot or toes back into their proper position, and so stretch the contracted fibres. To prevent attacks of cramp, the clothing should be warm, light, and loose. No tight straps or garters or waistbands should be worn. Regular systematic riding will much diminish the tendency to attacks of cramp, even in those who are most predisposed to this affection. Cramp generally comes on quite suddenly, and whatever the cause the symptoms are always the same. The fibres of the muscles attacked contract into a hard ball and the pain arising from it is acute and paralysing. A lotion of cologne and quinine is a most efficacious panacea for’aching muscles, if well rubbed into the skin; it is an excellent tonic for strengthening weak members suddenly called upon to do unwonted duty. The proportions are sixteen grains of quinine dissolved in half a pint of cologne, to be rubbed in directly after the bath. This will serve as a preventive of cold, a pain alleviator and tonic. One or two inventions have recently been brought out with a view to preventing the slipping of one’s pedal, which is one of the most frequent causes of accident when cycling. My readers, says a cycling writer, are, of course, well acquainted with the familiar toe-clip, but this is an appendage I have never recommended, and I am glad to say it is less used than it used to be. 1 have once, or twice referred lately to an idea for a patent ‘pedal pad’ which prevents slipping, and yet does not hold the foot on the pedal in any way. Another good thing has just been introduced. It is in the form of a clip attached to an ordinary pedal. It is not easy to explain without a diagram, but the clip fixes against the heel of the shoe, and the pedal supports the entire foot. It is one of the best things of the kind I have seen.

In reply to the oft repeated question, ‘ls cycling dangerous?’ a writer says too many who constantly ride long distances and stoop too much it is. The heart becomes affected after a time, and head and eyes are congested. What is called eye-worry is produced, and thus instead of being a blessing, cycling tends to shorten life. Riding in moderation is grand exercise, and, being a cyclist myself. 1 heartily recommend it. ‘The glass slipper.' says a writer in the ‘London Sketch,’ ‘may have been a myth of fairyland, but the glass bicycle is a reality. Judging by the destructiveness of my table glass, I have come to regard the substance as something peculiarly fragile and brittle, and yet I read that a New Zealander has constructed a glass bicycle, which he regularly rides through the streets of Wellington!

The distance is too great for me to go and verify the statement, so I can only give it for what it is worth; but 1 admit is about the last use for which 1 should expect glass to be employed. After this, one can readily believe that, straw makes an excellent pavement for streets. This is the invention of a Polish engineer. Bundles of straw are saturated in a solution of tar, pitch, etc., and then subjected to great pressure and- become solidified, when they are said to exeel wood for street pavements. As to the glass bicycle it is but fair to say that no one has yet seen it in Wellington. The probabilty is that it is the invention not of a New Zealand mechanical genius but of Home perverters of the truth.