The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-03
NEWS OF THE wHEELMEN.
cLUB RUNS NOT so POPULAR AS
IN FORMER YEARS.
vhs, thn ROAD Comml,trn Of the state pl,I.

York and EIcInIJ-rrnck FOR the National
Meet Finishod-RRcinE Boards Bulletin.
Bicycle runs are becoming more popular, but
the club run is fading away. This seems para
doxical, but 1t Is truth. A"run" can probably
be defined as a bicycle ride to a given point and
back In which certain persons have agreed to
participate. starting and returning at a spool
he'd time. Trips OF this kind are being made
every day by thousands OF riders In parties of
from two to ten, but tho club run. scheduled n
month ahead, posted OH the bulletin board, and
advertised by postal cards to members, Is. ac-
cording to all testimony, losing its grip. A
rev years ago clubs having 100 members
could count ON having from 40 to
100 riders out every Sunday in tho stated
CLUB run. but now. when the membership
of most of tho clubs Is larger, It is hard TO
get out a score of starters. This is ono OF the
phases that marks the transformation through
which bicycling is passing. Clubmcn who take
enthusiastic interest in their respective organ.
izations hnve been noting the decadence OF tho
club run for a couple OF seasons. They are ut n
loss to account for II, and equally at sea In re-
gard to finding a remedy. There arc ouly a few
clubs that can to-day take out moro than a
dozen members on the trip regularly scheduled
by tho Road Committee, notwithstanding
that 75 per cont. OF the members go out
on thoir wheels every Sunday. Why
do they not all Join In the regular
run of tho club and help the organization to
mako a showing on tho road That is a ques-
ton which is bothorinG many captains and
committee chairmen. The problem would be Of
little consequence 70 those outside OF clubs
were it not for the fact that Its very existence
tells OF a transitional stage in which every cy-
clist must have interest. The bicycle club run
docs not cut as much figure on the road as for.
mOrly. One hundred or 200 members OF an or
puniZntiOn riding Out tOuetler. all uniformed.
was at one time a performance that made a CLUB
respected. 1t denoted strength. harmony and co.
operation, and spectators paid tribute. 1t is diff
fcrent now. Too many clubs became strong in
membership and able to take out u big push"
Cycling has become too popular and too COM
mon a pastime for organizations To figure as
prominently on the road as in bygone days.
The glory of the club run has departed. An
other fact that figures in the cause OF this con.
dition is that the bicycle club has not so much
OF the special character that it possessed in the
time when riders were only o small class OF the
population and were forced by environment to
form cliques and organize. Tho average wheel
ing club is taking on more and more the char.
acter OF the purely social club. The members do
not feel to be so emphatically bound to a mutual
interest. The cause for which they originally
enlisted-the bicycle-has become an every
day affair. and tho social features of the
club appeal moro strongly than Its spe-
Siss U %eiI ac i% inys With vi sG al t tRe otb m . bet
now In the clubs 1t is apt to be the case that the
average member knows only a few of his fol
lows and 10 totally strange to the majority.
'Nhen, the notice of a club run appears on tho
bulletin board it excltes, no interest except
among the particular set that usually go on the
official runs. The other active riders in the
organization form themselves into ,coteries Tor
private runs OF their own. A wheclman whose
name is on the rolls OF one Of the largest cycling
organizations in the city says:
We seldom get moro than two dozen riders
out on q scheduled run. l never go. When l
see the affair posted l don't know who is going
of men c~onErnial TO me or not. drop around at
the clubhouse and meet a few OF the fellows
poses to ride TO some place 1 90 along, sure Of
having company of my own choosing. That is
Just what you do not get In ! a formal run Of the
along. There Is seldom a sunday without
several ~, PriT cPhe r gnd Of n,tt tho Xxi kind desert described ID
regular run. I stick to the CLUB for, the
want to keep in touch with certain friends.
and the clubhouse is a good place to store my
men enter several weeks ahead. writing their
names on q slip Of paper and keeping them
for Il dinner party. Then every ono could know
ahead Of time who was going on each run and
make up his mind whether he wanted to BIO in
the crowd or not. This might help the club In
crease the attendance at tho runs, but l doubt
if 1t would stop the process OF decay that is un-
questionably in progress because of general cir
cumstances."
1t may be expected that the local roads to-day
Will be as thlnly populated as they usually are
at the Fourth OF July holiday season. Many OF
the clubs have scheduled runs for TWO and three
day trips. This is the positive factor. but the
town over the Foarth i ven greater Meetp,rpt1hm than n IL ia ia f IN
the clubs. and the absence of the great army of
Independent riders is, most apt to deplete the
throngs on the Boulevard and cycle paths.
Without rain and a continuation of The tropical
heat. il is therefore not unlikely that the favor
ifa . man 4 n IA nRanfaR ntt ~
will be. compared with other SUNDAYS. almost
desolate. The showers of tho week have done
roads, and without some unexpected rain riders
can calculate on being thoroughly covered with
furnished by the report OF tho New York State
Division are as follows: Hudson street con-
below Fiftyninth street is torn up in many
places, and these twin circumstances make the
sdly Unpleasant. FIfty-ninth street between
Fifth and Eighth avenues lie torn up.
and Fifty;eighth street is much better TSI
. boulevard is still ~ the throos Of the water
s on both sides and the riding is dangerous as far
as Sixty.fourth street. The roads in the Park,
: generally speaking. are in good form. Riverside
shape. The Boulevard Lafayette continues to be
; unreliable and the Kingsbridge road is very dusty
= riding condition. st. Nicholas and Edgecombe
avenues are good. selgwick avenue and the
: Fordham road is poor. All through Tho an
neXed district and beyond 1t as Tar as SING
Sing the roads are heavy with aust. In
4 brooklyn and Long Island the, popular
: cycling, routes are in u condition of which ne
I rider should complain, although If the wind
l blows thore will be dust enough afOat to fill Tie
n0stT.iT; A bicycle path between Amityyiil9
Q riders will be relieved from traversing thu
!. sandy stretch between the towns. which is thu
: worst that occurs from brooklyn to PatchoRue
: It is we'll for riders 10 bearin mind that a fine o
. $50 is the penalty for riding Oh sidewalks a
= Centre Moriches. Work on the path from Cen
. tire Moriches through Westhampton and QuOgu,
3 to Good Ground is well under way, and win b
finished before tho lst of August. A path
leading from Baysnore to ~Brentwooi.. /
t being built. and from the latter plac'
o there Is n glorious wood path running
to Smithtown.. with a fork loading OF to Com
u mack. The road leading from Jamaica to Hemp
t stead Is in Its usual hard condition, nut there Il
8 dust enough at its edges to make n miniature
II desert. The improvements which have beel
going OH near ltoslyn, Manhassot. and along tn
North side road have been about complete