The Minneapolis journal., 1902-07-15
|RAINMAKER IS OFF I
Hansen Started To-day on 1000
Mile Motor Cycle Ride.
CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE
Veteran Wheelman Covers His First
Twenty Miles i'm 4S Minutes
and 20 Seconds.

A.. A: Hansen, the veteran long distance
rider, started at 1 p. m. to-day on his
second attempt to establish 1,00O-mile
motor cycle road record.
Favorable weather conditions favored
the "Rainmaker" at the beginning of his
trial. The day was clear and not too
warm, with light breeze from the north
west, which is held by weather prophets
to be sign of fair weather.
Hansen was in excellent physical con-
dition and seemed in high spirits. He
showed no trace of nervousness and
who gathered to wish him good fortune
on his long trip
"A good many persons seem to have an
idea,' said Hansen just before starting,
that I am going to push through just
as hard as I can. That is not my inten-
tion at all. I simply want to keep up a
good, stiff gait all the way and I am not
going to try to crowd the motor bit
at any time. Fifty hours actual riding
time and ten hours for necessary stops
and delays is my schedule, and, barring
accidents, I apprehend no difficulty in
| finishing on time" -.
The route laid out for the ride was
the Minnetonka end of the famous Smell
| ing -Tonka course, over which Hansen
| made his great 1,000-mile single wheel
record three years ago. The route ex-
tends from Woods pavilion at the corner
of Lake street and Calhoun boulevard,
| to point about>2h miles beyond Mime
| tonka Mills, and just short of Cowan' s
corner; distance of ten miles, or twenty
stationed at each end of the route and
every provision was taken to insure the
authenticity of the record. IS
The start was made at 1 o'clock in the
afternoon, because Hansen wished to Sc
cure full nights sleep before beginning
| h. IL n
the hour mentioned he was able to full
fiji this condition, and at the same time
to avoid a good deal of the extreme heat
of the day, while on the other hand, he
would lose, little, more light than If he
| started at daybreak, as on his first at
| tempt. X. ~ & s#- ~.
The route was limited to the Mime
tonka end of the course on account OF
| the crowds that are usually encountered
on the path between Calhoun and Mime
haha, and also on account of the danger
of accident at the Smelling end of the
path, where Hansen suffered the fall
which cut short his former ride.
| Hansen's program of eating calls for
meals between Z and 8 a. M; between
noon and q. NJ, and between and
p. m, the "Rainmaker" following out
| his program of not forcing himself or his
machine, deeming it especially important
not to weaken himself by loss of food
the more SO since he intended to take
little sleep.
With Little Formally.
Little formality attended the start
which was made promptly att o'clock. A
few minutes before the hour Hansen
his position at the starting point just
at the entrance of the cycle path The
men who were to check his time at the
Minnetonka end of the route had started
about twenty minutes before, giving them
ample time to reach their destination In
advance OF the "Rainmaker.' !, *.."-<
Five minutes before the hour the check
Hansen set the little timepiece2 which be
wore strapped to his left wrist, to cor.
respond with those of the officials.
zone minute, Gus" said Starter L. F.
Lincoln. "You had better get on:''
Hansen mounted and grasped his
| handlebars. n-.. r. '- Z
-:"Forty seconds announced Mr.
off'!~ = =. - ~ -.
| Hansen turned on the power and ped.
aled slowly into the path. AS, the motor
gathered headway he set the coaster
brake, and sat quietly in the saddle
shooting along the path with steadily in
sight along the shore of the lake. =
Among veteran cycle men who were
present at the start, the opinion was ex.
pressed that Hansen would come wei
inside of his schedule of sixty hours. One
man expressed the opinion that the time
barring accident, would be under ift!
hours, but less optimistic riders predicted
from fifty-four to fifty-six hours as {
more reasonable time. It was pointed
out that with the necessity for frequen
slow-ups, an average speed of twent.
miles an hour, or fifty hours actual riding
time, was as fast as could he expected
and that five hours was none too little
to allow for meals and other necessar.
4 stops. t..
Hansen completed his first round o
| the course so quickly as to take ihi
checkers completely by surprise. Som'
seven minutes before he was expected
one of the timers caught sight of tn
motor barely 100 yards away, and ther,
was wild rush to the starting point.
That's going some, I guess, eh?'
called the Rainmaker, 1aughingly, as h
reached the end Of the route, turned ant
started on his second trip, hardly slack
ening his speed. He had ridden th'
twenty miles in just forty-eight minute
and 20 seconds, a rate which, If main
! tanned throughout, would make his actua
riding time just little over forty hours
It is hardly probable, Of course, tha
Hansen can maintain this rate of spec.
at night, but it indicates that his averag
speed may be well over twenty miles al
hour. -