The San Francisco call., 1898-01-02
4 NEW CYCLE CENTURY RACER Percy Dell Defeats a Dozen Others in the Hundred :: :. Mile Ride.
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An Olympic Club wheelnaan Again Gains the Honor of the First
 Ride of the Year.

The dawn of the New Year heralded the rising of a new star in the cycle racing Armament, who bids fair to eclipse some of the old-time planets in course of time.
 At midnight Friday an even dozen sturdy road riders mounted their. wheels at Ninth and Market streets and set off for San Jose, thence back to Alameda, thereby completing a ride of 100 miles, intent upon gaining the honor of Accomplishing the first century ride of the year. It is a habit that per- tains all over the United States, whether weather conditions are favor able or not, and in New York some. times as many as 100 men have started on the trip each year. =,
 Ten of the men who started Friday night were on singles and two .en tam: dem. They were I. R. Lind, Imperial Club; Harry Fowler, Bay City Wheel. men; Percy Dell, L. H. Smith, J. H. Nash, G. E. Kroetz and G. H. Ramsay, Olympic Club Wheelmen; M.- Jurge- wetz and G. A. Wyman, Acme: Stevens, San Francisco Road Club,- and the Ward brothers, tandem team of: the California Club. Only five. Of these had previously announced their. inten7 tions of starting. The others. decided to take the ride at the last minute.:* :
 Lind set hot pace to the foot of the six-mile hill and after that: was. not prominent to the fore. Nash, Wyman5 Smith and Fowler kept pretty we'll to- gether, Nash and Fowler being the first to reach San Jose, at 3:25 o'clock yesterday morning. Accidents had. !sl been numerous, and the others: were strung out behind on the road. Nash was kicked by a horse, but escaped se1' rious injury. Dell fell, Lind, Wynarl and Smith punctured their tires. and Ramsay also had fall :.
 The weather was so bitterly cold that the men suffered considerably, their feet in particular becoming numb: A brief stop was made in San Jose, for coffee, and they were off again: to: com plete the journey.
 The roads were perfect on the other side of the bay, and with the :apz preaching dawn better time was; maue' though they were all half dead with the cold and very tired. - ;. .'.
 The Ward brothers picked up: Detl outside of San Jose and paced him: along, which advantage made it. easy for him to gain on the others. Nash, Fowler and Smith held together to the finish. but could not overcome the: lead. Dell finished strong at 7:20 o'clock, making his total tin1e for the 100 miles hours and 20 minutes. The next bunch-Nash, Fowler and Smith did not get in until S:25, over an hour behind them, and the others struggled in at intervals thereafter:
 Dell is a new man to the cycle racers and those who made the trip speak kindly of him. His cheery. disposition and good nature helped to make. the ride less irksome, and none begrudged him the honor when he ffnished hrst, even though tandem paced. He IS looked to as being a prominent factor in future road events, particularly long-distance grinds like the annual 25-mile road race. He is big and strong l. and we'll fitted for the hard work. .,.':
 M. c. Curtis of Alameda claims to have beaten Dell's time, but that is disputed by the, other riders. Curtis reversed the course, starting at. Ala meda and finishing here, and claims to have done 1t in 6 hours. 38 minutes. Those who started from here, however, say that they passed Curtis going to | San Jose when they were then. out 8 hours and 25 minutes. To have finished | in 6:3S Curtis would have had to com plete the 50-mile ride back to this city in 8 hours IS minutes, which is prac- | tical impossibility. The San Fran cisco boys say 5:1S would be nearer the 1 mark -.