CYCLING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VI, Issue 311, 9 July 1896, Page 3

CYCLING.

SILK JACKETS OR JERSEYS FOR RACING-. It is simply amusing to read the criticism of different correspondents in some of the Melbourne papers against wearing silk or satin jackets. Some of the riders say it retards their pace. There are very few cycle riders who travel as fast as a jockey on a racehorse, and yet the jockeys do not complain about the inconvenience of the jacket. Of course the jackets are so made that they can be drawn in so as to fit the different jockeys that have to wear a racing jacket, but a cycle rider could have the jacket made to fit himself, whereas a racehorse owner could not afford to purchase three or four different sized jackets to fit the form of the different jockeys —according to weight —that he may have to employ. To see a race without colours is like bread without butter —very dry. The cyclist’s jacket should be made with, a space at the back left for a number to be affixed to the jacket. The material that the number is fixed on to should be affixed

to the inside of the jacket with paperfasteners, with the points pushed out from the inside of the jacket. This would dispose of th*e complaint that the number-cloth catches too much wind, etc. But all the number-cloths in the world properly affixed to the back of a cycle rider wouldn’t stop him from winning a race if he were a good man. It is generally the inferiors riders that complain of any innovation like the silkjacket. They can’t pedal fast enough, and they must ascribe their defeat to something. The semi-agitation against the silk-jacket is all humbug, The public demand that there must be a distinguishing colour, and the public are the chief supporters of cycle-racing, so the executive of the cycle clubs should be careful they do not tolerate any alteration that is likely to alienate the support of the public. I would like to know how any ordinary cycle enthusiast is going to tell one rider from another if they are all wearing white jerseys. It must not be forgotten that thousands of people are not able to get close to the rails to see the rider’s face or get a look at the num-

ber on his back. I have attended a good many cycle meetings, and I know the inconvenience it is to the public in having to pick out the various riders by the numbers, consequently the distinguishing silk-jacket is invaluable to them. I think if a fairly large badge with the number on were attached to the right arm, which would be nearest to the public, that it would be of more convenience to them than the present system. I suppose someone will say, “If three or four riders are riding abreast, only the number on the arm of the rider on the outside would be observable.” But they are not likely to be adhesed together like that lap after lap. HANDICAPPING-. A writer in the New Zealand Wheelman entertains a fairly high opinion of himself, and somehow or other has come to the conclusion, apparently, that he is the only man in the world that can rectify the present system of handicapping of athletic sports, such as cycling, running, and swimming, but he will not touch upon horse-racing I shouldn’t

think so ; it is not an athletic sport. But our friend gets tangled up before ho gets very far, and it is passing strange that the editor of the self-styled “ Cycling Authority of the Southern Hemisphere” did not assist “W. B. Eyre” in putting his article together. Here is a delightful but childish remark: —“ There can be but little doubt that a handicapper would not take proper pains over his work if he knew that competitors would be penalised.” Bosh ! lam sorry the Wheelman allows such stuff to be published in its columns. “ A good plan for a handicapper,” writes this novice, “ to adopt isto analyse the racing (cycling) directly the meeting is over, drawing up a list of the performances from the most successful downwards, and revising the handicaps then and there for future meetings I” Some people might be inclined to ask, “ Why revise a handicap before he has a list of the men he has to handicap ? ” Of course the Wheelman's patent handicapper means that these handicaps should be kept on tap, as it were. These suggestions, anyway, cannot be carried out under the

present system of handicapping by so many yards start, and the man that tries to keep a record under these circumstance will get bald-headed trying to arrive at any conclusion from the “ Ledger” mentioned by “W. B. Eyre,” who has really good intentions, but doesn’t understand the subject. Oh I I nearly missed this funny item, as I only read as far as the end of the second column when I came to the conclusion that some novice was contributing this nonsense, and was not perusing it further when my eye caught the following: — “It is a mistake to suppose that handicaps are solely for the purpose of bringing the competitors together at the finish of a race 1” This is pretty fair, but the verdant one continues :— “ There are other considerations besides that. One is to frame the handicaps so that deserving competitors (z.e., those who have assiduously trained and been unfortunate) may have a slightly better chance to win than those who previously annexed prizes, or have been too well treated in <,former handicaps.” Now, when I am asked, “ What is the height of absurdity ?” I know what to answer — “ W. B. Eyre” on Handicapping.

The requisite number of shares having been subscribed, the Wellington Athletic Park Company will proceed with the formation of a cycle track after considering details with the local cycle clubs. Two hundred and fifty clerks were engaged sorting and indexing the 60,000 applications for shares in the new Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company, representing £9,000,000 sterling. The Cyclist’s Union of Australia is inviting the National Cyslists’ Union of England to send one of the best amateurs to race in the colonies, and undertakes to furnish an Australian rep. to go to England.