CYCLING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 361, 24 June 1897, Page 2

CYCLING

[By

Cyclos.]

Auckland, October 27th, 1896. To the Proprietors, Sporting Review, Auckland. Dear Sirs,—l have pleasure in advising you that the Sporting Review has been appointed the Official Organ of the Auckland Cycle Club. Yours faithfully, E. G. SKEATES, Hon. Sec.

LEAGUE OF NEW ZEALAND WHEELMEN

Affiliated Clubs in the North Island. Club. Secretary. Auckland Cycling Club E. G. Skeates Carterton Cycling Club ... ... A. H. Smith Danevirke Cycling Club .. ... E. A. Ransom Egmont Cycling Club N. Benportu Feilding Cycling Club ... ..■ E. H. Fisher Foxton Cycling Club C. T. Austin Hastings Cycling Club E. Symonds Hawera Cycling Club W. D. Nicholas Manawatu Cycling Club J. F. Manning Otaki Cycling Club A. Knocks Pahiatua Cycling Club G. T. Yule Rangitikei Cveling-Club A. H. Way Taradale Cj cling Club G. Bradley Wellington Cycling Club... ... E. P. Rundle Wanganui & W.C. Cycling Club H. R.- Woon Wairarapa Cycling Club P. C. Reynolds Woodville Rovers Cycling Club H. P. Horne Weraroa Cycling Club ... ... A. J. Galliehan Affiliated Clubs in the South Island. Club. Secretary. Ariel Cycling Club... ... ... J. Forbes Christchurch Cycling Club ... F. D. Kesteven Ellesmere Cycling Club J. F. Donald Grey mouth Cycling Club .. ... E. M. Sheedy Hokitika Cycling Club Alex. Heron Invercargill Cycling Club ... W. E. Gladstone Jubilee Cycling Club ... T. G. Jamieson Kaikoura Cycling Club J- B. Borthwick Kumara Cycling Club ... ... R. Rouse Marlborough Cycling Club ... G. O. Waddy North Otago Cycling Club ... G. S. Nicoll Reefton Cycling Club J. F. Clark Riverton Cycling Club H. H. Twemlow Seiwyn Cycling Club ... ... G. Porter F. D. KESTEVEN, Secretary. 7, Chancery Lane, Christchurch.

New Zealand League of Wheelmen’s Definition of a Cyclist.

A wheelman ceases to be eligible by—(<z) Engaging in cycle racing, or training or coaching any person therein as a means of obtaining a livelihood. (&) Accepting directly, or indirectly, any remuneration, compensation or expenses whatever from a cycle manufacturer, agent, sports promoter or other person interested in the trade or sport, for cycle riding, except where special permission is granted by the League. Note.—A wheelman does not become ineligible by teaching the elements of wheeling solely for the purpose of affecting the sale of the machine.

A New Jersey doctor, who was arrested for scorching along the road at night with an unlighted lamp on his wheel, informed the magistrate before whom he was summoned that he was hurrying to attend a patient stricken with heart disease ; and he thought, under the circumstances, that saving a life was of more importance than lighting a lamp. The magistrate took the same view of the case, and discharged the accused. To meet a motor car in a narrow country lane when it is going at about 20 and you are doing 15 down a hill is not exactly an enjoyable experience, and I am inclined (says a writer in Bicycling News) to think that it is nearly time the pace of those beauties was decreased. If not, we shall have a bad smash-up some day, especially if the steerer yaws all over the place, as did the one we met on Saturday. It slewed and wriggled about, and fairly frightened some ladies out of the saddle, for there was only about a yard and a half between the car of juggernaut and a deep ditch, and it looked more than probable that there was going to be a bad accident. It is all very well for the drivers and passengers to sit and grin at cyclists as they whiz by; that’s easy enough when you are in safety ; but they might have some consideration for those who have to take all the punishment if any is donated. Anyhow, these motor-cars, if we don’t mind, are going to be the biggest nuisance cyclists ever had, and it is more than possible that we shall rue the day when they came into vogue. At present they are ugly, blatant, and dangerous, and a terror to wheelmen. Let us hope the time is not far distant when elegant, odourless, and ably-driven horseless carriages will abound in place of most of the abominations which are now pounding around.

Rules for Beginners.—London TitBits recently offered a prize for the six best rules for beginners in bicycle riding The prize was secured by the sender of the following list:—(1) When in the saddle do not grasp the handles too tightly. Sit upright, allow the head of the machine to move freely; have confidence. (2) Look a few yards ahead Shun staring about until you are proficient, or you will “ wobble” needlessly. (3) In pedalling, it is unnecessary to press dur-

ing the whole revolution. A slight, even pressure when the pedal is descending is sufficient. (4) When inclined to fall, • turn the machine gently in the same direction as that to which you are falling, otherwise the fall will be inevitable. (5) Avoid dismounting while the machine is moving fast. Allow it to come almost to a standstill, incline it slightly to the left, then dismount. (6) When the legs feel weary from the unaccustomed exertion, dismount, and rest them by walking a short distance. On reaching home rub them well with a rough towel to prevent stiffness. The New Zealand Cyclists’ Alliance has appointed Messrs Good, Leys, Dunn, Brown, and Langdown a committee to inquire into the alleged practice of winners of amateur events turning their open orders into cash. At the last meeting of the executive of the League of New Zealand Wheelmen, • Mr H. F. Thompson was appointed consul for Marlborough. It is again rumoured that J. W. Stocks, one of the best known pace followers of the world, and T. 0. Sharn, a celebrated sprinter, are coming out to Australia from England. A Sydney paper says these rumours are not authentic. The “Indoor King” of America, •>J. Eaton, has been beaten by W. E. Becker, of Minneapolis, in a five mile scratch race. Becker’s time was 11 min. 25sec., the world’s indoor record. The Yankee rider, E. C. Bald, recently issued a challenge to the world. Morin, the French sprinter, and the Dutch champion, Jaap Eden, have both cabled Bald that they are prepared to race him for large sums, but Bald doesn’t seem inclined to leave America, and it is not likely that matches will be arranged. W. L. Kerr, of Sydney, the Australian amateur champion cyclist, competed at a sports meeting at Aston Park. In the Ten-mile Scratch Race he secured fourth place, and in the Quarter-mile Scratch was placed third. A delicious story is told by Mr. James Payn in the Illustrated London Notes:— . “A friend of mine, a devotee of the wheel, was witness to a collision between a lady and gentleman, cyclists, ahead of him. The lady got the worst of it,' and, indeed, was knocked over, while the - gentleman wheeled away as though nothing had happened. My friend came up, hat in hand, and assisted her to rise and remount. ‘Now lam off after that fellow,’ he said, ‘to get his name and address.’ ‘lt’s not a bit of good,’ she quietly replied, ‘he’s my husband ! ’ ” There are still some very curious laws standing on the Statute Book in England, which, if enforced by the authorities, would certainly make Sunday cycling a thing of the past. A policeman has a perfect right to “detain” any cyclist found riding on the “Sawbath” and trot him off to the “stone jug”—unless he can show a certificate from the nearest magistrate to prove that he was out on “urgent business” ! The law gives the magistrate power to condemn the luckless cyclist to the stocks on Monday morning. This peculiar law was lately enforced against a Manchester tradesman who had used his business vehicle to take his family for a drive on Sunday! The watch of an applicant for aN.O.U. timekeepership has to attain a very high order of merit at Kew Observatory ere he can obtain his credentials. The test is so rigid that no watch has yet been certified to be absolutely perfect, and it takes a very good watch indeed to get 87 marks out of a (remotely) possible 100. The watch is tested in every position, and its rate measured and recorded by the hour. It is hung upside down, hung from each side, placed dial down, and back down, and at any number of angles, and to finish it is baked in an oven and frozen in a pail of ice. When it is considered that 18,000 vibrations an hour occur in a watch, and that it must not vary a second a week, it is easy to see why no watch has touched the “ century.” Anybody having a bicycle stolen would do well to follow in the footsteps of a certain Parisian. He advertised in one or two papers for a machine, “ so and so make, so and so tyres,” &c. He gave as near a description of his own bicycle as possible, and the advertisement had only been in print an hour or two before the thief offered the machine to its owner. This is a tale told by a contemporary, and the news is well worth circulating, for other cyclists may be able to turn it to account.

Our Canterbury correspondent writes : The Cyclists’ Alliance has at last ap- - pointed a committee to investigate into the alleged practice of its members cashing their orders. The report will be interesting no doubt and will be patiently ■ waited for by the large body of amateur club men in New Zealand. If the committee makes its inquiries in the proper -quarters I am sure the report will be very interesting. It is an open secret that numbers of amateur riders in the colony do cash their orders, and I know of one firm in this city which has cashed more than one order this season. The accounts were rendered to the Club thus : “To goods supplied.” —-Numerous attempts have been made lately to break Bert Pither’s 50-mile New Zealand road - record which stands at 2hrs 36min 45sec, but up to the present no rider has been successful. Pither also holds the 100 mile road record, his time being 6hrs 39min. lam surprised that none of the North Island road riders have attempted toJbwer these records. Mr. U. Jones of Christchurch has very kindly placed at my disposal a letter he received by the last mail from his brother, Champion C. H. The following extract ■ from the letter will I am sure prove of interest to all wheelmen: —“On Easter Monday I attended a bicycle meeting at Birmingham and had a long talk with A. W. Harris previous to a ten mile race. Poor Harris had only ridden about three ■miles when he touched the back wheel of a rider in front, which buckled his (Harris’s) front wheel. He had a terrible spill, falling on his head and you know the rest I attended the funeral and sent a wreath with the following printed on a card “A. W. Harris—ln loving memory and respect of one of England’s truest and noblest sportsmen from C. H. Jones, on behalf of the Pioneer and Christchurch Cycling Clubs of New Zealand.” At the inquest on the body of the deceased a verdict of “accidental death ” was returned. With reference to the above it may be stated that similar expressions of regret were received from all parts of the United Kingdom, Aus"tralia, New Zealand, America, France, ► and Italy.— Weekly Press. The Bangitikei riders, Hunt and Forbes, have been made hon. members , of the New South Wales League of Wheelmen during their stay in Sydney. Two methods of inflating pneumatic tires without a pump are being, or about to be, placed before the public in England, one by means of compressed air, and the other by carbonic acid gas. The carbonic acid gas inflator, invented by Mr Moffat Ford, consists of a small cylinder containing ’carbonic acid compressed from a gas into a liquid. The cylinder is connected with the valve in the usual way, and by a mere turn of a ’ cock the tire is blown out to the required degree of hardness. Carbonic acid gas is stated to have no injurious effect, but rather the reverse, on rubber. The compressed air system is the invention of Mr ■ B. H. Thwaite, and with both this and the carbonic acid system it will be easy to get the cylinders re-charged when their contents are exhausted. On June sth, in Tasmania, in the sixteen mile road race for the Bass Trophy, W. Hallam put up the Tasmanian record, namely, 45min. 35sec., thus lowering the previous record by smin. 35sec.

Another transcontinental rider ! William Snell reached Adelaide early last month, having ridden on his bicycle from Menzies, in West Australia. He left Menzies on 7th May, and for the 19J days actual travelling averaged 80 miles per day, one puncture being the only mishap experienced during the journey. Snell followed the route taken last year by Arthur Richardson, who occupied 30 days, and he reports that Denial Bay—appropriately named apparently in at least one respect —was the only place at .which he experienced any difficulty in obtaining water. Three leading riders in America this season will, during all their training and racing, carry gold presentation cyclometers on their machines. The mileage record at the end of the season should be interesting to learn. Writing to one of his brothers from Chiswick, under date May 14th, “ Wally” Kerr states that he had just concluded a tour in England on his bicycle. The weather during the whole of his trip was favourable, with the exception of one day, when it rained incessantly. At the end of this day’s ride “I finished up at

Honition, a small town in Devonshire. I was covered in mud, but was soon all right, as the hotelkeeper got me a warm bath and a complete change. You would have laughed to have seen me. He rigged me up in a hunting suit, as it was the only thing he had to fit. Had a splendid tea, with loads of real Devonshire cream. This hotelkeeper was very kind to me; indeed, I have found it the same wherever 1 go. As soon as they know I am an Australian the fact really seems to be a passport to their good graces.” The amateur champion speaks enthusiastically of English scenery, in praise of which he exhausts a whole vocabulary of adjectives. After leaving Honition he rode through Exeter, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Torquay, Dartmouth, Totnes, Ashburton, Chudleigh, Collumpton, Wellington, Taunton, Bridgewater, Highbridge, Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham, Evesham, Strat-ford-on-Avon (where he visited Shakspere’s house and Anne Hathaway’s), Skipton, Long Compton, Chipping Norton, Oxford, Henley (he had a row over the famous regatta course), Maidenhead, and Windsor to London. Speaking of racing matters he says: “ Saw PlattBetts do a mile in Imin 41 4-ssec last night. He was wonderfully paced. I start training next Monday at the Crystal Palace.” In 26 weeks New Zealand has imported 6826 bicycles, or an average of 262 a week, besides a weekly value of £1387 of bicycle materials. Into Wellington alone the number of machines is about 104 a week. The aggregate value of bicycles and materials, plus duty paid, is £130,859, or an average per week of £5,033. The averaged declared value of bicycles is about £ll 7s, minus the duty of 20 per cent.