At the National Show there was a device show: on one of the minor stalls intended for the protection wf Indy dere from the weather, e-pecially from the effects of windy weather. The bicycle was fitted with two half-aprons stretched in front of the rider, covering the front of the machine from the handle-bar do-wards. The on-it resistance afforded by this pro utterly impracticable except on the calmest of days, and at the lowest of speeds. Another device for la ies' us- in unseason-ble weather was the handle-ber muff. Each handle has fur protect"r, something after the fashion of the "glove" ofa fencing stick, into which the rider's hand is in-er'ed for protection.
Tt may be urged that when weather is bad enowsh f-r such accessories it would be wiser fora Indy not to ride at all, but in this country, and to yreaver extent in the Sister Isle of Erin, the energy of la-ge number of Indy riders prompts them to winter excursions in every sort of weather.
Among the enthusiastic ladies of all-weather proclivities is Mrs. Hardy, the wife of the famous novelist, and she affects a somewhat novel costume for winter work. She has a skirt and jacket made of vel-voteen, treated in sucha way as to render waterproof. hose articles are lined with a thick woollen material. In cold and wet weather such a costume is practically weather-proof, xco"rding 10 her experience, albeit the idea of velveteen does not seem particularly defiant of the ravages of mud and wet, Wind-shields such ay those above des.
cribed xro hardly the same as the windshields seen at the Crystal Palace when Cordang rode his 616 miles in the day. a feat which has earned him such fame t {he has ewe to Englind for a season's record-breaking on path and road in 1808.
ihe essence of a record-bronker's wind-eld is that he shall be shielded and that me-one else shall carry the shield and bear the burden of the air resistance. Yet an English cycling paper has cue out this week with the remarkable announcement that Zimmerman is going on a racing trip to America, avd that his machine is fitted with wind-shields The disaffection of the road clubs is increasing, in consequence of the restric-us imposed by the National Cyclists' Union. The Yorkshire Rond Club has decided on secession, as its work is wholly of a road-riding character. It ix an influential cycling or ion in the most "port-loving county in England, and as it numbers 330 members, and in 1897 gave away 192 medals for road performances, its decision to carry on its road work is a very important one. The Union is halfhearted in its policy of suppressing road work, for its latest explanation of the meaning of its rules is that it will not allow licensed men to race, but they may go for standard medals (short of record excell provided no better medal is! awarded to the one who beats the standard by much than to the one who only just reaches the standard.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.