New-York tribune., 1898-01-02

The last Sunday of the year 1897 was ushered
IN with a snowstorm. which put stop TO
cvcling for the time being, at least. FOR the
great majority OF riders although some mount
Cd their wheels as soon as the snow ceased fall-
ing and found that they could pedal through
the two or three inches on the surface or the
ground without serious trouble In truth'
light dry snow is not an obstacle to wheellnS
up to the depth OF possibly four lnches' anu
IL gives the rider nothing of the feehhs ,ha'
comes from bicycling through sand OF muu.
The snow yields so readily that IL ls scaiCel!
felt at all Still, IL is not TO be expecteu that
any large number OF cyciers VIII lhuuse IN ~
their chosen sport when the paVements anu
roads are covered with snow. The SNOWMAN
week ago makes pertinent some reference 10 .he
remarkably good weather on sundays uulins
the last half of 1897 in this locality. Wheei-
man who has kept a sharp eye on the wheeling
conditions since July. which was a phenom-
enally poor month in point Of weather, stateo
that from August on through the year II was
possible TO ride on every Sunday, ana tna'
most Of the Sundays were pleasant from MORN
ing till night. In a few cases a shower came up
in the evening and interfered win the ENJOY
rnent Of those who had gone far out Of the city;
and on two or three occasions when 1t was
stormy in the early morning or the forenoon
1t cleared off later and made wheenng Posspie .'i
during the latter part Of the day. ON the
whole the observer quoted says. the weather
on Sundays in 1891. at least in the last nVe
months. was exceptionally good, compared WIN
biCyce-rider.
one OF the advantages OF using the ferry TO
Greenpont from East Twenty-third-str In
stead Of the ferry to Broadway in Brooklyn, is
that the ride over rough pavements and car
tracks near the foot Of Twenty -third-st Is ap-
preciably curtailed since the Broadway ferry
Is a half q block farther ont In the river. The
Greenpoint ferry Is taken al Avenue A. and
bv
through Twenty -fourth-st. When the plans for
providing better pavements In this neghbor-
hood are carried out asphalt VIII be laid in
Twenty second ard Twenty-fourth SITS between
First-ave and Avenue A. and also in Avenue
between these two streets and wheelmen going
10 or from Brooklyn by the Greenpont ferry
will not have TO go off Of smooth pavement
On the BROOKLYN side the asphalt strips have
not been laid all the way to the ferry house In
either case on account Of side tracks and
switches, but they run perhaps thirty or forty
feet nearer 20 the river in Greenpoint-ave. than
In Broadway
1t Is useless 10 test the accuracy OF a cyclone
ter by putting 1t a bicycle and riding II over
measured mile. To make the test at all accurate
1t would be necessary for the bicycle TO run in
a line exactly straight. and every one familiar
with cycling knows that this Is an impossibility.
even for expert riders. Undoubtedly II would be
fairer to test the cyclometer by attaching 1t TO
the rear wheel. since It is well-known fact that
the front wheel travels further than the one;
but even then there would be considerable de-
partures from a straight line with the utmost
care on the part OF a rider. Any one who goes
over the Coney Island Cycle Path may easily de-
terrnine whether his cyclometer Is recording the
miles correctly. for there is a stone every half
mile and presumably they were set the result
OF an accurate survey. The distance from Pros
pect Park TO the Island is trihe under five
miles and q half and when cyclometers were
less common than present riders who had
just provided themselves with these luxuries
were known 10 complain 10 the seller thereof
that the machines were not accurate because
they recorded a greater distance than the mile
pOsts indicated. The registering Of a cyclOmcter
also depends somewhat on the condition OF the
tires as 10 hardness softness since the insru-
lnent Is constructed on the theory that a twenty
eight inch wheel Is twenty-sight inches In diam