The record-union., 1898-09-18
OF INTEREST TO CYCLISTS.
THE LIFE OF CLUBS-KEEPING
THE WHEEL sCLEAN.
The Race Next Week-The Folsom
Wheelway-Some Advice to
Cyclists.

The Capital City Wheelmen. decided
wisely in declining to enter a team for
the Baker & Hamilton trophy race on
the 18th. The reason is a very good
one Indiscriminate pacing is to be
permitted, which is all right. But 1t
gives the nearby clubs the advantage
Of placing very many PAGERS for their
men, while the Capital City Club could
not possibly do so, being at such dis
tance from the course near HaywaIus.
The second of the series of road races
by Capital City members takes place
on the 25th inst. The first was such
a success, was so we'll conducted, came
out so happily and developed such good
and sportsmanlike riding, that it is to
be hoped there will be a full field in
the second entertainment. The course
will be the same, the distance the same
and the conditions the same. Entries
close Thursday evening next and the
handicaps will be announced on Satur-
day evening following.
The local wheelmen should push up
the Wheelway Committee of the Z. c.
w. to make a special effort now to get
the path to Folsom into prime good
condition for winter riding. All re-
member what comfort it was last
winter. A hundred dollars expended
on it this fall will insure it good for
riding in any week Of the winter
months approaching.
There is a possibility that Champion
Kenna will return to the racing. arena
ere long. He is said to have banker
ings in that direction.
Eddie" Bald still holds himself at
the top Of the championship rating
table by an apparently safe margin.
According to Chairman Mott, the rat
ing table to August Both is as follows:
Bald 149, Mcfarland lit, Major Taylor
115, Kimble 107, Cooper 81, Arthur
Gardiner r. Freeman SO, o. L. Stew
ems 46, Mertens Is, John Fisher IA, Jay
Eaton 10, Tom Butler 9, Bowler 7, Fred
Sims 3, DR.. Brown 5, Jaap Eden 4,
Becker 4, William Martin 4, Nat But
Ter 3, Karl Kaser 3, Bourotte 2, c. NJ 4
Bly, 2, Hills, Jr., 2, Kiser g. Watson
Coleman 1, H. E. Caldwell l.
A good card of cycling will be seen
wheelmen's day at the Danbury Comm
fair, Tuesday, October 4th. The events
include the one mile open, the half mile
handicap, and the one mile 2:4O class
for amateurs, and the half mile open,
one mile open, and one mile handicap
for professionals.
New York Times: Widespread con-
Germ has been entertained by almost
every rider of the bicycle at the appar-
ent decadence of the League of Ameri-
can Wheelmen, as evinced by a steady
decline since the first month of the
present year. The decrease has been
continuous and marked, and the league
Of to-day is not much more than three
fourths the size it was on January 1st
1t has been an inexplicable subsistence,
and the only ray of hope-the belief that
at the return Of peace and the disband-
ment of the armies of young athletes,
the organization Will be rejuvenated--
has been eagerly hugged by many. Con-
tentions arising on numerous occasions
from the disputes Of cycle racers, or
the small sins of the racing fraternity,
have directed a deal of unfavorable
Of others, particularly friends of the
defeated, has been turned against the
organization because Of the bitter and
sometimes personal tempests in teapots
in the course of league politics. The
thoughtful members of the organiza-
tion, however, have not lost sight of
the main object of the league, and they
appreciate what it is doing to esta blish
ha inlo+ Of v,,L1
for them privileges compatible with re-
spect for the rights Of others. 1t is
this thoughtful portion-a large major
ity Of the membership-that has watch
ed with sorrow the weekly decline in
strength. In January the league had
passed the hundred thousand mark, and
the officers talked confidently of an
of quarter million strong
that would be irresistible against an in
dividual or corporation that discrimin-
ated against wheelmen. AS the weekly
bulletins were issued
thereafter, gradually the disenchant-
ment came Soon the decrease caused |
uneasiness, then anxiety. Now the feel
ing is that some very forcible means |
must be taken, or the grand old organi- |
zation will fall to ruin.
Some of the cycle racers, says a New |
York paper, are urging trim ~ the |
Pacific Coast for the coming winter, |
and the scheme is being quite exten-
sively talked about 1t is said Chair |
man Albert Mott of the National Rae
ing Board favors the project, and may
raise the ban from outlawed coast |
tracks in the hope of winning back the
Western deserters from the league.
To prevent jockeying and loafing |
riders, a novelty in bicycle rae
ing was introduced at Indianapolis The
riders were started in ignorance Of the
distance they must race, and when they
were off the judges conferred and agreed
upon the distance. Not knowing
they must race a quarter of a
mile or five miles the riders were kept
hustling in the liveliest fashion from
start to finish.
At the instigation of the Prussian
War Office, it is reported, an investiga-
ton has been made to determine
whether the consumption of small
quantities of sugar render the muscles
of renewed exertion The ex-
oerience of mountain climbers, who find
that after arduous efforts the desire for
sweets is greatly increased, led to the
it is said. A we'll known
road rider was used as the subject of |
the tests, and after a severe amount of |
muscular labor in the shape of fast and
hard riding, it was found that better
results were obtained when sugar was
used.