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New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VIII, Issue 388, 30 December 1897, Page 7

have been introduced at different times to these troubles, but so far without great success. Nothing daunted, however, Mr Thomas Foster, of this city, has had a try, with the result that he has completed a device by which no less than five gears —28,42, 57, 71, and 85— can be obtained on the one machine, the change from one to another being made instantly by simply shifting a lever in front of the rider. The mechanism (which does away altogether with the chain) seems rather complicated, and should be seen to be understood ; but we can say from personal inspection that it works easily enough. As showing how little friction there is, when the cranks are spun round they will revolve about two hundred times before coming to a standstill. No doubt more will be heard of Mr Foster’s invention.

Speaking of licensing system, which has been adopted by the League of New Zealand Weeelmen, G. L. Hillier, the English cycling authority, says “ Through a long period of years, the ‘Jockey Club’ of cycling, the National Cyclists’ Union, has sought means _to secure complete control of the racing path, and that control is now secured by what is known as the ‘ licensing scheme.’ Every man who desires to race, must hold a license to enable him to do so, whether he be novice or expert, amateur or professional. Many inexperienced persons have objected to this rule, and at the first blush it certainly seems drastic, not to say arbitrary ; but cycleracing is a sport apart, and must not be compared with any other form of athletic exercise. * * * As soon as a rider

has had any experience of racing, he usually realises the advisability of maintaining the scheme. Those who are doing wrong, and are likely to fall under suspension and lose their licenses, naturally condemn it; but, on the other hand, the amateur recognises its value—which is now, I think, acknowledged the country through—and the centres of the National Cyclists’ Union have found the provisions of the scheme satisfactory.

Details of Platt-Betts’ records of Dec. 14 came to hand in the Australian Star of the 15th : —Platt-Betts, the famous English cyclist, accomplished a marvellous ride on the Sydney Cricket Ground last evening. There is ample evidence that he is in superb form, as on Monday night he lowered his own Australasian mile standing record of Imin 53sec, against a strong wind. He was paced by a quint and quad manned by a Bennett and "Wood team, and the quarter was covered in 33sec, the half in 58|sec, the three-quarters in Imin 24£sec, and the full distance in Imin 50 2-ssec. Last night he mounted his beautifully finished Rover with designs on the flying mile. The quint team provided by Messrs Bennett and Wood is probably the fastest in the world, and had already broken a world’s record. The 220yds was covered in the quarter in 23|sec, (breaking Ralph’s record of 24 l-ssec), the half-mile in 47Asec (a new Australian record). The previous half-mile record was 49sec, held by Platt-Betts. The little pacefollower cried for more pace, and the three-quarters was covered in Imin 13 l-ssec, against the previous record of Imin 14 l-ssec. The quint paced Betts right through the mile, and there was

great cheering when the full distance was covered in Imin 38 2-ssec, beating the previous time by 1 3-ssec. The new half-mile record is only 2-ssec outside Stocks’ world’s record, and the mile 3sec outside the world’s record held by the same rider, Platt-Betts intends to challenge those records with two quints at an early date on his Rover. In compiling statistics as to which is the most popular bicycle, and backing it up on the number of races won in Auckland this season on the different makes, we find that the Rambler bicycle is leader by a large margin, as will be shown by the following list: —Ramblers 20 firsts, Alberts 5, Cleveland 4, Sterling 3, Royal Enfield 2, Reynolds 1, Rothwell 1, Saltley 1, Red Bird 1. Maxwell, the Dunedin champion, had a nasty spill whilst training at Carisbrook lately. The crank of his machine broke, and he was thrown to the ground with great violence. His ribs were knocked about, and his hands, face, and knees were badly cut. It is said that he had just had the crank of his machine lengthened. The Austral Wheel Race, won by Jas. Carpenter, is the Melbourne Cup of the Australian cycling world. Inaugurated in 1886 by the Melbourne Bicycle Club, the first Austral —a three-mile handicap at that time—carried a first prize of £2OO, known as the Drummond Trophy, presented by a leading firm of fashonable Melbourne jewellers. The winner, W. Brown, an Englishman, won in rather a clever manner. The track was like a ploughed field, for rain had been falling in torrents, and those days the small hard tyres of the ordinaries cut deep into the ground. While the other competitors ploughed through the slush Brown rode very wide where the grass had not been cut. In 1887, when the event was named the Austral Wheel Race for the first time, the distance was reduced to two miles. That year W. J. C. Elliott, the rider who won the big Sydney Wheel Race a few weeks ago, was amongst the three men on scratch. W. H. Lambton, of Sydney, won, but was disqualified by the N.S.W.C.U. for two years for alleged unaccountable “ fluctuation of form.” The disqualification was removed ere it had run its course. The Austral of 1888 will always be remembered for the phenomenal display of Dick Davis, the South Australian, Davis and Fenton (an English rider of repute) were on scratch. The former paced bunch after bunch of opponents, never slackening for a moment, and he swept home an easy winner. Another South Australian, J. J. Mullins, carried off the coveted trophy the following year. The 1890 Austral marked the inception of cash prizes. The 200 sovs were appropriated by Tom Busst, who, starting from scratch, was admirably paced up to the leaders by his brother, J. W. H. Busst. H. H. Lambton won his second Austral in 1892, thus achieving a feat which stands unequalled to the present day. This was the last year of the high ordinary machines, and the last occasion on which all the competitors started in one heat. The 1894 Austral went to A. A. Middleton, a young Dunolly gold miner, who was only recently disqualified for suspicous riding in West Australia. Amongst the 88 starters in 1895 was Arthur Zimmerman, but he had no chance with the Tasmanian representative, Basil

Crisp. Out of the 1896 Austral the M.B.C. made a clear profit of £l5OO. The race produced a sensational finish between Hellow (50yd) and Walne (20yd). They finished in that order, the time being returned as 4min- 29 4-ssec. It is pretty generally agreed that the timekeeper made an error, the time returned being some 13sec faster than the best previous record for the race. The time put up by Carpenter was more than lOsec slower than last year, which lends color to the belief that a serious mistake was made by the watch holder in Kellow’s year.