CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XV, Issue 881, 24 January 1907, Page 12

CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES.

The stiffest grade round Auckland is the road running up by the side of the Northern Club. This is much too steep for ordinary traffic, and ro make matters worse it is covered with loose stones. In a test a few days ago Mr. A. Cleave’s 15 h.p. Darracq car took five people up the hill, which has a grade of about one in four and a-half. Although the published list of prizes for the New Zealand Exhibition Carnival were announced as valued at £5OO (says the “Referee”) it appears that of this total only about £2OO was represented by actual cash, the bulk of the prize money being made up of challenge cups and trophies, one trophy alone being valued at £lOO. As there were only four days’ racing, the visitors would not have much chance of making a fortune out of £2OO split up over four programmes, and the majority of the riders who visited the meeting were dissatisfied with t he prize money available. * * * * A new and startling motor-paced cycle race act has recently been put on one of the London music halls. The new turn is a highly interesting and sensational one, being no less than speed contests on a duplicate saucer track, 18in wide —50 laps to the mile, upon which crack cyclists have ridden at a rate of 30 miles an hour. Motor-paced races and cycle races are held on the miniature tracks, the machines being held on the tracks by an arm support running from a centre post and working on a ball-bearing groove. Each machine, which is secured independently, can be run up to any speed, but cannot leave the track. The turn is in no way a trick performance, but genuine tests of speed are accomplished, mo-tor-paced or otherwise. Crack English and French teams are now providing great contests on the miniature track, challenges flying broadcast for paced matches, etc. * * ♦ Automobile engineers the world over have for the past five years been endeavouring to evolve a two-cycle engine as against the present popular four-stroke engine, with its multiplicity of working parts. Many experimental engines were constructed, but all practically failed owing to the difficulty of efficiently scouring out the burnt gases from the firing chamber of the cylinder, also of preventing back firing, i.e., the ignition of the incoming fresh charge of explosive mixture by the exhaust gases in the cylinder. To overcome this difficulty would practically mean halving the weight and considerably lessening the

cost of the present motor engine without in any way sacrificing the efficiency and smooth running of the multi-cylinder engine. At the recent Olympic Automobile Show held in London there was exhibited a twincylinder engine by the Motor Engine and Manufacturing Co., that attracted a tremendous amount of interest, not only from engineers and experts, but from the motoring public who thronged around the little engine, known as the “ Duplex,” which threatens—should it be as efficient as it claims to be —to revolutionise the present-day motor engine. Experts at the show proclaimed the engine correct from a theoretical standpoint, but what was of more importance—the actual running of the engine at the high speed of 2000 revolutions a minute —proved that the manufacturers of the “ Duplex” had evolved an engine that appears to do all that is claimed for it with less wearing parts, and two explosive strokes to every one of the Otto type of engine. It will be extremely interesting to hear how the “ Duplex” shapes under severe road conditions. * • ♦ •

It is probable that a Cycle Military Despatch Road Race from Melbourne to Sydney—a distance of 572 miles — will be promoted by the Dunlop Rubber Co., who have in the past rendered yeoman service in fostering cycle road racing throughout Australasia. It was, we understand, their intention to have held this about Easter time, and it was hoped that in order to make it of a thoroughly Australasian character, to have had representatives from the whole of the Commonwealth States and New Zealand. This, however, at the present time seems rather doubtful, as should the date suggested be adhered to, it leaves practically no time to promote the necessary test races in order to decide the momentous question as to who is the most capable of represent-, ing New Zealand in such a competition, so that should it be held at Easter as suggested, we fear that it will be purely of an Australian character, which would be a matter of regret, as in the past New Zealand has always established a claim that would allow of no denial with respect to the calibre of her wheelmen in these longdistance road races, and it would be- a pity to mis ; representation in such an important event in the nisti v of cycling W? undertsand, however, that provided the event is run at a more convenient date, there would be no lack of interest or support from the various cycling bodies, and the trade throughout the colony in seeing that New Zealand was represented as in previous competitions of a similar nature and with such material as she possesses, we would have no fear of the result. However, we trust that Mr. James will have something definite to communicate on the subject during the next week or so, and that this colony will be given a reasonable opportunity of being represented in this proposed great race. « * * *

It is now some years since any longdistance trans-continental rides were attempted in Australia. In the nineties some very fine cycle rides were accomplished across and around the Australian continent, the names of Jerome, J. Murif, Arthur Richardson. Donald McKay, Mather and Coleman, the White Bros., and A. McDonald being amongst the plucky band of wheelmen who established wonderful rides that focussed public attention on their plucky efforts, and at the same time demonstrated what a remarkably sure, safe and trustworthy means of locomotion is afforded by "the Dunloptyred safety bicycle. One of the last and most meritorious of the series of trans-continental rides from a cycling standpoint was undoubtedly that of Albert McDonald, of Orroroo, a telegraph operator on the Northern Territory section of the overland cable line who in 1898 rode from Port Darwin to Adelaide, from sea to sea, a distance of 2066 miles, in the astounding time of 26 days 15 hours 30 minutes. Word is now to hand that, after a lapse of nearly ten years, another long-distance cycle ride across Australia is to be attempted. Theadventurous cyclist is a Victorian youth, about twenty-five years of age, named Francis Birtles, who has cycled considerable distances in South Africa and Westralia. Birtles, who has resided for some time in the West, left Fremantle on Wednesday, December 26, with the object of cycling across Central Australia, via Kalgoorlie, Menzies, Laverton, and Alice Springs. The journey undertaken is not only a heartbreaking one to tackle, but at this time of the year is a distinctly dangerous one, owing to the difficulty of obtaining water supplies. The overlander’s intention is to try and average about fifty miles a day.

In some interesting notes on speed records, “ Auto” writes in Melbourne “ Punch” that the flying kilometre record is considered to be the “ blue ribbon” of motor records, and every motorist takes an interest in the attempts to break it, therefore we will trace the growth of speed from the year of grace 1898, when the first attempt at creating a record was made. It is strange that the first records were made by electric cars, and then steam took a hand, but when petrol came on the scene the other two motive powers resigned the contest. The first record for the flying kilometre was 57sec (39.2 miles per hour), and was made by an electric car fitted with a special boat-shaped body to lessen wind resistance. In 1899 this record was challenged, also by an electric car, and reduced to 54sec (41.4 miles per hour), but the first holder had another try, and further reduced it to 51 1-5 sec (43.7 miles per hour), but not for long. A few days after the last successful attempt on the record, another was made, and the time was brought down to 44 4-ssec (49.9 miles per hour). Nothing daunted, the original holder tried again, and lowered the record to 38 2-ssec (58.2 miles per hour), a big; advance on all previous speed. Spurred by this rivalry, Jenatzy (of late Mercedes fame) constructed his famous electric torpedo, and knocked 4 2-ssec off the existing record, reaching the fine speed of 65.8 miles per hour, and setting up the new figures of 34sec for the kilometre. This car was the first “ peak” constructed, with its small wheels and low-built, cigarshaped body. After these efforts, the record stood for nearly three years, until 1902, when a Serpollet steam car cut down the figure to 29 4-ssec (75 miles per hour). Up to this time petrol cars had not developed any great speeds, although the famous Napier, which won the Gordon-Bennett race, had been timed over a flying kilometre in 32 (69 miles per hour), but the performance was not considered as official, although correct. Now the petrol cars began to bid for the record, and in August, 1902, a Mors car put up 29 2-ssec (76 miles per hour) for the distance. In the same month a Panhard car reduced this time by 4-ssec, but this performance could not be accepted as official. However, the record was improved upon shortly after by Mors cars, which succeeded in doing 29 1-5 sec (76.6 miles per hour), and then 29sec (77.1 miles .per hour) on the famous Dourdan Road, a perfect piece of road construction.

Fired by the spirit of rivalry which has always characterised the battle for this record, the practising of the speed monsters on the Dourdan Road became so incessant that the authorities stopped the record-breaking for the time being. In 1903 the GobronBrillie car came on the scene, and had the distinction of being the first car to reach the coveted speed of 100 miles per hour, but not until after many progressive stages towards this point. Its first effort was to cover the flying kilometre in 26 4-ssec (84.2 miles per hour), and then to better its own figures by doing the distance in 26 2-ssec (84.7 miles per hour). In 1904 the record suffered greatly, the Gobron-Brillie car breaking it twice in one day by doing 24sec (93.2 miles per hour) and 23 3-ssec (94.8 miles per hour), at Nice. Two months later the Mercedes car took the record for the first time by covering the kilometre in 23sec (97 miles per hour). But this famous make, was not allowed to hold it very long, for the Gobron-Brillie car made the astonishing time of 21 3-ssec (103.5 miles per hour) at Ostend, and motorists wondered when the breaking of records would stop. Six months later the Darracq cars began, to put in their claims for world’s records with big cars, and succeeded in capturing the flying kilometre by putting the time at 21 2-ssec (104.5 miles per hour), done on the Ostend Road.