The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-05-21
sovEY WON THE ROAD RACE.
The Run Was Exciting and Excellent
Time Was Made.

Time was Made.
The third and last heat OF the A. r.
G. bicycle road race was run last evening,
there being but three contestants. A
crowd OF at least 1900 persone had con-
gregatcd. and interest In the event was
intense. soyey and Bryce were scratch,
with connors - seconds The two for
mer heats demonstrated that Bryce ana
Sovey were about as evenly matched as
might be imagined, while. with his han
dicap OF % seconds. Connors was thought
TO have a very good chance for first
honors.
Considerable betting was done, there
being no favorites. II was generally ex-
peeted Il would be anybody's race. The
other Contestants had dropped out be-
cause they stood no show for a place.
Tom Bryce and Cecil sovey were .tied
for FIRST place. each having six points,
while connors had hFe.
Connors goC away AZ 7:gi ana started
out at a fairly good gait. The others fol-
lowed at 7:0i.So Bryce was the unfor-
tunate man last night and lost ten sec
onds by an unavoidable accident Al
the first turn in the road he and sovey
were close together, the latter having a
slight lead soyey made the turn ali
right. but Bryce was a trihe too fast.
and II looked like a collision. To avoid
this the latter. who Is the prettiest and
cleanCst rider In Astoria, run OF the
street and into spectator who was lean
ing against the railing. Tom dismounted.
looked ut his wheel. and started out
again. The spectators hat was knocked
into the river, and Bryce was consider
ably bruised. but II did not bother him
at the time BY the accident Sovey got
lead OF about 100 yards.
Bryce rode well going up and cut down
Sovcy's lead 10 two seconds. Sovey, too.
had reduced Connors' lead OF 30 seconds
20 two seconds. and the riders turned
the upper post as follows;
Connors. 7:l2:So: Sovey, 7:l2:S2; Bryce,
T:l2:A
Then the race began to grow exciting.
Connors displayed wonderful pluck ana
kept his lead very well. Sovey was near
him, with Bryce close behind, Near the
Columbia engine house Soyey quickenen
his pace and gradually drew away from
the rest. The long hill between Seven
teetnh and Eighteenth streets was well
climbed, and. with the home stretch near.
the riders began eNerting themselves
Down the track they came, Sovey well
In the lead and Bryce closing up on
Connors. The crowd was ON the Qui
vive and II required strenuous efforts on
the part OF three policemen to keep the
home stretch clear.
Sovey made splendid finish. He was
very strong. and rode steadily. Connors
was gritty. but was very tired and rode
all over the street. Bryce also showed
his pluck and made noble effort to
squirt, but he too, was tired. and could
not overtake Connors. The riders fin
ished as follows:
Sovey, 7;lSI5; Connors, 7:lS:SO; Bryce,
7lS:S5,
As will be seen from the above, Sovey
won from Connors by 10 seconds, ana
from Bryce by 20 seconds. Had It not
been for the accident, Bryce would have
been Just about neck and neck with Con-
| nors A great cheer went up as the
racers finished, The ladies were particu-
larly enthusiastic or disappointed. as the
case might be. and grand rush was
made to shake the hands OF the weary
racers. The actual time made by Sovey
for the five and one-quarter miles was
l6 minutes and l5 seconds. The best
previous time made by Bryce In the sec
end heat was II minutes and ~ seconds.
Bryce's time last night was II minutes {
seconds. and Connors II minutes 80 sec
onds. Sovey had II points to his credit,
Bryce and Connors s. The former gets
handsome gold medal, the latter a
silver medal, and Bryce a bronze trophy,
The racers selected the medals last night.
At the conclusion OF the road race a
private race took place between A. NJ
Small and Charles Layxell. The latter
had handicap OF one and one-half Sec
onds. and won by forty-five seconds The
loser bought an A. f. c. pin for the
winner The time was 20 minutes and
| Is seconds over the same course.