Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-09
The SPEED OF BICYCLES.
How the Mile-Racing. Record uss
Gradually Been Reduced.
From the New York Herald.

From the New Ycrk Herald
Many scientists have demonstrated that th~re
pleasure, physical and mental, in ,peea
and perhaps that explains why one take, p,c..-
ure IN rushing down toboggAn slide. s.boh-
oing down the hillside. whirlinr ,hropgh
space on a railroad train and in wheeling along
the road on cycle, called by the romauois,s.
the flying steed of steel"
In all sports there is q deal OF tnt~r.st .,x
pleasure taken in trials OF speed. ana he a.
Voices OF q sport. no matter how slow thew NAV
De. take more or less pleasure in knowing thse
the record" has been broken or reSnosS
The speed possibilities of the cycle slthopSh
tne sport OF cycle racing has been IN yorue
9,er nt'een Years. are just becoming known.
ne standard distance has been one mile,
which has been cut from 9m lss down A Pm.
q 4-5s. The record OF SIM ia M. ,n.1.
about 1876, aud the first time an event -
ever timed IN this country, at least was ON July
OF that year
CoRris rsvIABLE CARTER
The hrst great cut was made by Hubert L.
Cortis, the Myers of cycling, who repe.,edlv
cut the record during his short ana brtlli.ns
career and left II at Pm. al s-ss. when he re-
tired IN 1873 In America we SCARCELY hens
pace with the English the record rsn1.,n,a.
over three minutes until the appesranoe ~
george vi. hendes who between the wears
iosO and 1854 cut Il down Go 2m Ala In this
latter year the visit TO this country OF Saunders
Sellers. the English crack gave new zest 10 IN.
sport and IN the fall Of the wear he reduced
the record TO I'm. 39s., Hendee pushing him ali
the way 20 the tape. After Sellers n new star
appeared on the horizon. William A Rowe Of
Lynn Mass, cut the amateur record 70 Am. IS
Eos. on October %, 1875. Rowe afterward be-
came professional, and on October "a, 1886.
ne RODE mile IN the phenomenal time OF 2m
~ los, placing himself at the very top OF The
line.
THE ENGIIsHMEN BEGIN TO CUT.
The Englishmen we're making good use Of
their time, however, and with the assistance OF
three new tracks-Coventry, Long Eaton and
IadHington, the latter the finest path in the
world-they cut the record OF On. Al s-5s
made by Cortis IN 1879. down TO ON. 81 asa.
made by f. j. Osmoud on September ia. 1854
| since october lsS6. the American record has
remained AT I'm. - i-js. During the late fall
OF 1888 T. turniyal rode mile in Pm. 80s., but
owing To a technically it was not accepted as
record and Osmonds 2m. 81 4-5s remained the
Lhghsh standard until few weeks since.
THE EMERALD AGE" OF CYCLING.
The months Of June and July might be CON-
sidered the golden age of the English racing
path. Perhaps the emerald age would be bet
ter. since II Is due to the visit OF two Irishmeu
| TO England that tho record has at last been dis-
| placed. Ii must he mentioned that last wear a
NUMBER oil riders developed remarkable speed
1
machines that r. J. Mecredy on July 10. made
a record of 2m. 30 4-js., and q few months later
anoiher record OF I'm. % ass, beating Osmond,s
record and equaling Rowe's record Mecredy
Is Dublin man and no doubt the Englishmen
who witnessed his trials were much
| chagrlned that an Irishman should cut
all English times. so they urged p. J. Osmond
TO make trial, and he succeeded ia riding the
mile IN Pm. - Abs, which stands az the worlds
| record. On the same day that the above
records were made Arthur Du eros, another
freshman, made half mile on a safety bicycls
In I'm. lis, I'm. DDS. pace, which is the best
piece OF work ever accomplished.
wINDLE's GREAT WORK
From the present outlook q new table Of
records should be established this fall. and ia
would not surprise US to see all worlds records
| held by Americans before the year is over
NIndle, the American champion recently
! rode private mile at Berkeley Oval In I'm 81
| sos, and in public trial at the same place no
was officially timed in Pm. 30 ass, the time
| being equal TO I'm. 30s., considering the wind.
He should reduce the record d 2m 27s. before
the year lis over.
| -HE RECORDS, ENGLISH AND lMrRrcAN
The following table gives the list OF records.
English and American, corrected 70 date:
Il