The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-30
ONE.HOUR BICYCLE RECORD.
FIFTY MILES, THOGGHT MPOS-
SIBLE, AT LAST ATTAINED.
The Top Notch Apparently Reached Sew
eral Tunes I'm the Past. hut the Figures
StlIl Impr0vlng-What Ia the Limit
Table OF Changes for Twenty Years.

Stlll Qmproylng --What Ia the Limit
---'TabIc OF Changes for Twenty Years
For several years It has been q question
Of how high the record for an hour OF rid
ing on bicycle would get Ten years
ago the question was whether man ever
would be able to ride twenty-five miles
In a hour. BY the introduction OF pace
making the twenty -fivc-milc mark was
quickly reached and passed and thirty
miles became tho goal. The introduction
Of motor pace came and thirty miles was
passed and forty Was the mark. Forty
miles an hour was attained three years ago
and until last fall 1t was considered settled
that the record would settle somewhere
between forty and fifty miles and that
the fifty mark was unattainable. Last
fall, however, little over forty-eight
miles in an hour had been accomplished
and II became question whether the fifty
mark would be reached this year. At the
same time, with the record for mile NJ
minute II seconds, 1t was questioned
whether the record Of a mile IN minute
on track would be reached this year.
The mile in minute has not been reached
but the record has been lowered from
minute II seconds to minute seconds.
The fifty miles within an hour was accom-
plished in the eighth month Of the year
and still the reccr breaking has not ceased
For years it he's seemed az ii the limit must
soon be reached and yet il has been pushed
steadily further and further along. No one
now dares to suggest that sixty miles az
hour may yet be done, and yet the fifty
mile mark was for a long time believed to
be impossible.
As was to be expected, the feat Of riding
fifty miles within the hour was first achieved
in France, where the striving after this
particular record has been greatest and
the facilities for pace following much more
favoring than In this country. America
never has held the one hour record for any
length of time. Riders such as Michael,
Fixes, Stinson, Walthour and others have
at times lowered the record. but tSwould
be only few weeks, sometimes only days,
before the new figures were beaten by some
European crack, because on the other side
they were always trying for it, while over
here the efforts were sporadical. When
ever the hour record has been broken in
America, however, the performance was
much more creditable to the man than were
the achievements Of the foreigners, and for
this reason: In France and other European
countries the rules permit OF the use OF
motor pacing machines nearly twice as
wide as those permitted here. Wind shields
also are used abroad and they are pro-
hibited here, on the ground Of being too
unsportsmanlike. The foreign riders
therefore have twice the pacing advantage
h., A ~, ff,ti. b
and the American records, although they
have been Of brief life, have all been made
by truly superior muscular effort.
This is Illustrated by the foreign and
American records as they now stand. Fifty
miles an hour was first attained on Aug
by Robl, the German, in Paris. He rode
50 miles 262 yards. He went out trained
for the record, used big machine with
wind shield, and had the track to himself
The performance of Benny Monroe at Bos-
ton on July 81 was in every way superior
to Robl's ride and yet it does not stand Us Il
record. Monroe while in competition with
others on the track and riding behind
machine affording only half the protection
of the one used by Robl rode 40 miles 2lO
yards in an hour Monroe's record, more
over, was made from standing start.
Though The fifty mile II ark has leen
reached, the effort TO push the record higher
continues, and the wonder gees Oh ae 10
was wondered ten years ago Limit there
must he somewhere A time must come
when the wholesale cutting of the record
wear after year must come to pause and
the record reach stage of unstable equi-
librium," point about which the figures
will remain 70 be disturbed only, by the
slightest notifications. and Il en- only AT loug
intervals. But where is this point? Eight
days after Robl accomplished the fifty miles
Dangla ON Aug. 10, went out on the Pare
des Princes track, Paris, and improved the
record by more than a quarter Of mile.
He rode 81 kilometres l0S metres In the
hour, or exactly SO miles 700 yards foot.
The limit Of what Il man can do on a
bicycle favored by the pace Of motor
bicyt le must be near at hand. and one can
not now see what sort OF pacing on track
can be introduced TO increase the speed
Of the rider. As yet the motor bicycles
can give the men more pace than can be
followed. When they cannot, II the time
ever comes, tl.en more powerful machines
may be introduced, but there is limit also
to the amount OF speed that track can be
built TO hold. At present, motor bicycles
can 20 a mile in less han minute. but no
track will hold the speed.
In the development Of the hour record
there are distinct periods marked by ire
various improvements i'll machines ind
methods The point OF pause, or unstable
equilibrium" whore the record ceased 10
be cut down in chunks, was reached by the
high wheel, ard then came the safety.
Again pause WAS reached, and pacing by
multiple cycles, taDdems, tripets, -quads"
and sextets, waA introduced. The limit
with these machines was not quite reached
when motor pacing was adopted. Now
the limit OF this seems near at hand. Still,
n mile q minute for sixty minutes IL grand
mark, and no doubt. now that the fifty"
has been passed the fight for the possession
oC the record will he very keen, and the
figures may march slowly on for ten mi'e9
more.
The history OF the one-hour record from
1884 as it has been kept in Europe shows
the forward march Of the figures in a
most interesting manner, although unfortp-
nately the brief Interruptions In the march
when American riders reached the top notch
are not shown. The table, as presNr ted
by Paris daily. is as follows:
Miles, Yds, Made by Dat,
20 S6 I, C0rtls Snrbiton. ,,,.,.,,,,, Sh2
20 G75-p Furnlvalr. Surbit0n ,..,,..,.,.., 1897
Fl i25-H, r. Laurie, Long Eaton ........... 1890
~ N2O-H Parsons, paddlngton ,.,....... 1901
20 I20O r. J. Osmoud Hcrne Hill .,...,..,. 1893
20 IS?O-R. J., Eide. Herne Hill ....,,......... 1904
% 900. W. STOCKS Hernc Hin. isp4
20 JIa-A. Y, Linton, Bordeaux .,.,,....... 1905
20 IL j. W Stocks, Catford ,..,...,, .isNG
81 5S2-T Linton Crystal Palace: ,,,......,. 1897
~ 1881, W. stocks Crystal Palace, ,.,,, 1893
~ TIA. A, Chase. Crystal Palace ....... >. 1900
81 liza r Taylor parts ,..,..,.,,,,....,....l 1000
no I79s~-A, Bcaugr, Paris 1900
20 i245- DIckentman. LelT Hc.n..............I1 1900
~ I4gg T. RObl Paris. ,....,,,,..........,.in 1901
~ NW u Linton, PARIS '','..........,.,,.l 1902
IS 1854 T. Linton. Paris. 1902
~ US Cortenet. Paris ''.....,............l 1902