'The unpaced oad record for fifty miles received a shaking up. by the brothers A. A. and F. W. Chasse on Monday' last, on the usu 1 straightaway course on the North Road. heir tandem time was Dhis, Qirins. 25secs., " very fast performance for unassisted rider, the. previous best ride claimed being nearly. thir y The single bicycle record for the same distance is held by A. a. Chase and stands at 2h, 7m. 8%, 0 phenomenal. time when the difference between the types is taken into consideration, pacing being of much greater relative value to single than to "tandem. On both these fast fifties the Chases used Dunlop tires.
The Ripley. Road ts keeping up an unenviable notoriety for thie scorching tht is indulged. in- by reckless riders on tive most frequented of wil the cycling thoroughfares Teading out of London. It is rot to be wondofed at considering the uosuitabili of such a road for tle development of high speed that the magistrates, on having delin-Kents, caught red-handed, before them, Shou'd visit them with a severe punish: ment, A couple of tandem riders charging through Ditton ab twenty miles an hoor knocked down a four-year-old child, and narrowly missed a charge of man: Slaughter. As it was they were fined the full: penalty vf five pounds each for furiously riding so as to endanger the child's life. A few exemplary fines are wanted to check such parading of specd in busy centres. as Every now and then driver is found who forgets thit cyclists have to be allowed their share of room when met upon the road. the " road-hog " who thinks otherwise instill not wholly exterminated, but whenever he is caught he is promptly ecotched, The lacet capture hails from Cornwall, where a trap-driver dashed wilfully into a cyclist, and crowded him against the kerbstone doing considerable damage, Insult was added to injury by his ejaculating as he rode off that he wished the cyclist had been killed. Fortunately he was not, and the driver has been made to pay for his wanton frolic.
'A now idea in saddle construction has been introduced which "presents besides novelty atily, a feature of considerable value. Tt is that the tension of the top, or leather, shall be adjusted by three screws at the' back of the framework on which it is stretched, instead of, as usual, by one single' screw at the saddle-peak. he value ut this method lies in the fact that-lesther. usually settles down at the sides and: not centrally, where little wr no pressure-occurs, and therefore " tensioning arrangement that only pulls cent rally is a poor attempt to-give adequate adjustment.: 2
The United: Hospitals met the London Bicycle Club in xn inter-team race at Sheen Bouse on Saturday last, the newly selected rendezvous of high-class amateur-isin, and the venue of al! the events to be held by the Amateur Cycling Associ The result of the three races ended victory for the medicals by two poi-te, although the failure of the machine ridden by I. McWm. Bourke in two out of the three events probably accounts for the score being so close. He was far the best mon the ground and with a sound me should have won all thr-e events easily as he did the one when his machine managed to stand up.
At Sheen House, cycling polo is decidedly catching on, and forms an interes ing Spectacle 10 watch, xs well as an exciting game for the playes themselves. They use three-foot clubs with rather large heads, and a ball heavier than that used in pony polo, and the game is more of a Gribble than a furious one. The laws of +ffxide and fouling have to. be very string gently observed to prevent lobeless confusion, and a general melee, but there is no more real danger: in the game when fully played than: in. any "ther similarly vigorous form of athletics.
Tt is not always the fastest ra most interesting ur the race in which cracks compete who are miles in front of their fellow competitors. - In Joug di-tance events a man head und shoulders above his fellows is likely to convert the contest into process At the other end pretty equal men, though unknown—or even mediocre—and doing comparatively slow times may produ: ea struggle which viewed sa. competitor is far more excite than a runaway win. A case in poi was afforded. by the Nort Rod Gvab's hundred miles' race f-r member s only, last Saturday, on a slow xnd exp.sed track at St. Albans. The issue was doubt right th ough to the very last decade, Three men fought for leadership all through the contest, not under agreement to lead alternately, as is the case when a time limit compels burrying, but in dea earnest, going for each other till one or nther cracked. All three ere wel served with ere, nnd the conditions were absolutely Impartial, and in turn each of the three felt the pinch, lost a lap or so, and in turn again recovered, and all were together, ber a yard or tivo, when seven-eighths of the journey was dons, Such an open is rarely seen in long-distance events and the find effort to establish a Lead seldom has to take plice at the eleventh hour. In this ease, IL Wingrove, the winner, did not establish supremacy till well on in the nineties; but when he at last did gain a lnp, his competitors were content, not: to renew the struggle.
Louden, 17th June.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.