The morning call., 1895-02-24

California Associated Cycling Clubs will be run
over the San Leandro triangle next Sunday
In about five or six weeks the wheelmen
hereabouts will again have their attention
directed to some highly exciting performances
in their favorite sport. On or about March %
the Garden City Cyclers of San Jose propose to
give great racing tournament on their new
tn ree-lap cement track, which is said to be the
equal, if not the superior OF any cycling race
course in the world. All the best riders of the
State win participate and the meet gives
promise of being the best ever held in this
State, which is saying good deal for it.
The annual 1G0-mile relay race around the
bay is on the cards for April7 ;, and it usually
requires fully months preparation for the
riders to properly get into condition for this
event they will soon commence active training.
This is the star event in cycle road racing for
the year ana in the past has always attracted
a great deal of attention. AS many as 5000
persons witnessed the finish in Oakland last
year. The relay also draws heavily upon the
resources OF the club for riders, trailers,
clerks, etc.
Every club has to enter ten riders each of
whom has trailer from whom he can get as
sstance or an exchange OF wheels in case OF ac-
cident; and besides, the different clubs have
to be represented by at least one man at every
one of the nine relay stations, and at the start
and finish to see that the interests OF the club
and its riders properly cared for. Thus you
will see it necesSitates, at the closest calcula-
ton, thirty men from each club. There will
not be less than ten clubs represented his year,
which makes 300 men, and as small army Of
judges, timers, clerks, scorers, umpires and
other men with multifarious duties, such as
referee and starter, are required, some idea can
be gained of the Importance attached to this
race and the difficulty in perfecting all arrange
ments.
The clubs always find it hard matter to get
men to serve as trailers and clerks at the out
side stations. They all want to be at the start
and tinish-in other words, they want to ''see
the fun"-and man must be thoroughly i'm
bued with large amount OF club spirit and
loyalty before he can be induced to journey
down to some wayside junction the night be-
fore the race and spend the whole of the next
day there, waiting for the time when the rider
for his club who perhaps may be so far behind
as to be hopelessly out of the race, comes tear
ing down the road and transfers the pack
age to the rider OF the next relay. And if per-
haps he should complain to his captain the
next day, the latter, who has probably been
similarly reproached at least ten times, will
respond. "Well somebody had to do it," which
is very poor consolation.
Talk about the relay is just about commenc-
ing, and predictions are being offered by nearly
every club captain that his club will win the
race. Unquestionably the Garden City Cyclers
Acme Club Wheelmen and Bay City Wheelmen
quite safe in predicting that, barring accidents
they viii finish in the order named. Still it is
almost too soon yet to tell with any degree of
certainty, as the teams have not been selected
but those three clubs will certainly finish very
closely together. In a relay race it is abso-
lutely necessary for club to enter ten men all
VI kUOHu SpCeu. Ms d ldSL man mere ana Ilere
with the others of mediocre ability will not aid
TO any extent. If a team of ten men, composed
OF Edwards, Ziegler, Wells, Terrill and Grit
fifth (who are acknowledged to be about the
, FIVE fastest road racers on the COAST together
with five other men of ordinary speed, was
pitted against the Acme Club team, for in
stance, all of whom are very fast riders, yet not
so speedy as the ones just named, it would be a
safe wager that the latter team would be easy
winners. The Garden City, Acme and Bay City
clubs are the only clubs that can turn out ten
" ma oh how
large number OF good racing men to choose
from, and as class does not figure in road
racing, men from class or class competing
against each other without distinction, the
best men OF these two classes in the different
clubs will be brought together, and an exciting
ana closely contested race will result
when Edwards recent wonderful perform
anee OF riding mile straightaway in
$40 was announced to Julien z. Bliss, the
welFknown Eastern racer, who was out here
last spring, he said he did not think Edwards
was the equal of Ziegler, and ventured the
opinion that If Edwards could ride a mile in
that time, there are dozen men in Chicago
VINO can DO as well or better. He don't mean,
OF course, only Chicagoans could do the trick
FROM Edwards showing in the East during the
past two seasons, there should be one or two
scores OF men who could even better this time
Edwards is deserving of a great deal of credit
for having been the first to get under the "a
marx, ana by keeping in condition, with favor
able wind and weather, he ought to be the first
to go below the 30 mark To be sure five
seconds is O good deal, but if he made :34I/
against the wind, with green 'quad." crew
for pacing, and WAS not pumped out, he should
under very favorable conditions, do 80 or
even better.
If the weather continues fair it is the inten.
ton OF the Rambler team to again go to Liver
more this week, where an attempt will be made
to again lower the straightaway record AS
Edwards pacing will be much improved this
time, the quadruplet riders having got more
accustomed to their work, he should be able to
knock a few chips off his previous time, thus
putting the coveted record further from the
| reach of its many aspirants. AS soon as the
| new track of the Garden City Cyclers at San
Jose is completed the team viii go there, when