The record-union., 1898-07-08
OF INTEREST TO CYCLISTS.
SUCCESS OF THE LATE MEET
A NEW IDEA.
Low Handle Bars-Don't Stoop-
Bishop Awheel-The Sc0rching
Habit-CrankS.

The race meet of the Capital City
Wheelmen on the Fourth was great
success There were some surprises
in it, especially in the novice and the
handicap events All things consid-
cred, fair time was made. The riding
was all square and without flaw.
The riding of Eldred Peck and Noyes
was very superior and the three
showed excellent headwork. Fact is,
the Sacramento, Olympic and Bay City
men We're admirable in their work. The
club conducted the meet to perfection.
1t was genteel in all respects; prompt,
without hitch or a kick, and the
hospitality to the many visitors from
abroad was bounteous, without being
ostentatious This club has from the
outset done splendid work in giving
Sacramento a good name abroad for
mana cement of entertainments, for
genteel demeanor and for admirable
hospitality Wherever one may go the
Capital City Club is spoken of in high
terms of warm praise, and all this re-
fleets honor upon the community.
That is a prime good new idea now
bruited among local wheelmen to have
a series of summer evening races on
the Riverside road, say between . and
Z o'clock, in the cool of fading light,
for small prizes, for the purpose of de-
veloping local talent and giving the
public free exhibitions of correct rid
ing, and how speed is developed and
speedy men discovered. The matter is
in contemplation by the c. c. w, and
will probably take form soon. Assur-
edly there will be plenty of genuine
sport in it when half a dozen punches
of riders take part and race through
long lines of spectators out in the cool
in their driving rigs.
Of late the cyclists who have been
known as inveterate ''scorchers," using
the low handle bars in riding, received
a salutary lesson regarding the injuri-
Gus effect of the practice through read
ing the reports of surgeons in the mill
tary examining boards. A writer on BIZ
cycling says:
THE surgeons who have been making
examinations of the members of the
militia volunteers will make reports
that will be apt to discourage, though
it may not extinguish the scorching'
of low handle bars. 1t is said at the
medical department of the army that a
great number of the volunteers who
have been rejected for physical disabil-
ity, are bicycle riders, who, by that vio-
lent exercise, have developed diseases
of the heart and of the spine which un-
fit them for exposure and endurance.
The troubles are said to be confined al
most entirely to riders who use low
| handle bars and lean forward in the
saddle. This position not only induces
curvature of the spine and other dis
eases in that aprt of the anatomy, put
causes the other organs TO crowd the
heart out of its place and produce irr;-
tation, which ultimately becomes chron-
ic. AS soon as they have an opportu-
nifty to do SO, the examining surgeons
will be called upon for reports on this
subject"
From England comes the following
account Of a Bishop putting the bicycle
to a new use, and thus lending new
dignity to the wheel as a conveyance
| for men Of high station:
A Bishop on a bicycle is no new thing.
But we are informed that the Bishop
of Bath and Wells has recently been
charging" his clergy, and has accom-
plished this task by the aid Of the
friendly wheel. With a happy ingenu-
| ity, he worked in the subject of the
changes of our times, and then gently
broke the news to staid rectors and en-
vious curates that he had adopted the
wheel for diocesan visitation work. The
last place of call was old-world Dun
ster, and in recording DR.. Kennion' S
departure the local journal said: THE
| Bishop then, accompanied by his Sec
retary, set out on his bicycle, discarding
his hat for cloth cap, but he found the
episcopal CATERS rather an auxiliary to
easy riding" Cyclists will readily ap-
prehend the advantages of the CATERS
but we wonder whether the Bishop dis
| carded his apron as well.
1t is announced that the Information
al Cyclists Association will meet in vi
emma in the second half of September
next. Up till now nineteen countries
are represented in the association,
namely: Austria, Hungary, Holland,
Denmark, the United States, New
South Wales. Belgium, Canada. Cape
u,
France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Swe-
den, the Transvaal and Mexico. All
the cycling clubs in Austria are already
working TO make this struggle for the
worlds championship grand sporting
event. Only the champions of the diff
ferent nations in the world champion
ships can be nominated, and at most
three competitors for the short distance
and three for the long, the former being
10, OOO meters, the latter 1000 kilome-
ters.
New York Tribune: Real friends of
cycle racing do not believe that the
general interest in the sport is dying
out. They do believe, however, that the
sport has not up to date been conduct
ed on proper lines. Many mistakes
have been made in the past by promot-
ers, and some of the officials of the
League of American Wheelmen have
been guilty of blunders which have
reacted against the best interests of
the game. Promoters have taken to
the game expecting to reap a harvest
and in consequence they have arranged
expensive programs which the clubs
cannot hope to compete against Some
of the promoters have already gone to
the wall, and those in a position to
know seem to think that there will be
more failures before the present sea-
son is over Those who predict. how
ever, that the League of American
Wheelmen will decide to give up the
control of the sport may be greatly
mistaken. The League has gone too