Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-16
TO RACE 100 MILES
FOR WORLDS RECORD
BIG CARD EVENT ARRANGED
FOR COLISEUM SUNDAY
Fast Professionals VIII Make Effort
to Wrest Speed Honors from
Europeans After Fashion
of Relay

Sundays chief card in the list OF
events at the Coliseum motorcycle
track, the 100-mile event, promises
some new nerve thrills for the crowds
that delight In spending their Sunday
afternoons in watching these exciting
speed contests.
"a hundred miles in a hundred
minutes" is the way the promoters
announce the event, but hundred
miles in ninety or even eighty-hve
minutes is more apt to be the case, II
the statements of any one of three or
four riders prove at all accurate.
Jake De Roster gives it as his un-
qualified opinion that he will be able
to do the century run In at least ninety
minutes, if he has no mishaps. Any
how, he Is going out to accomplish this
remarkable feat, and, if he does, he Will
have attained the one dream that has
been in his head since first coming to
Los Angeles-of taking away all
long-distance records from foreign
motorcycle riders and of bringing them
to America.
I'm an American" is the way Jake
puts 1t, land / want to see these
records come to this country. I don't
care who makes the records, just so an
American gets them. OF course, want
to get them myself If can-and l
think I can-but il ] can't get them.
then l want some other American
rider to do so. There are lot of
people in this town who have made fun
of me and have called me foreigner,
but I'm just enough of an American
to want to see this country hold the
worlds records. am not foreigner,
having been born in Fall River, Mass,
and have always lived in this country.
My parents were French-Canadians.
but that is as near as l am to being
foreigner"
Despite the splendid work done by
De Roster in the shorter distances,
there are a large number of people
who are playing Derkum to win the
long distance marks. They argue that
Derkum is built stronger, has worked
harder and undergone greater physical
strain in the past than De Roster or
any of the other riders at the Coliseum
and that he will be better equipped to
stand up to the hard work on account
of this fact.
1t will be remembered that Derkum
was an engineer for a number of years,
and in that capacity was compelled to
work long hours, under constant
strain, which accounts for his remark
able demonstrations of nerve which he
has been able to flash at different
times during the last few weeks of
racing.
On the part of Derkum's friends it
is expected De Roster may take the
lead at the start and perhaps maintain
1t for the first twenty-five or even fifty
miles, but that Derkum, however much
distance he may have lost in the
earlier miles, will begin to show his
greater powers of endurance at this
portion of the race, giving the crowd a
performance from that time to the end
in a fight with De Roster that will
overflow with nerve throbs.
Mitchell, the fast coming N. S. u.
rider, and Lingenfelder, the consistent
Thor rider, too, will enhance the Quail
ties of the race immensely and are
to be figured as strong contenders every
foot of the distance. Mitchell now has
two seven and one six horsepower ma
chimes from the N. s, U. factory, with
which to complete the distance, while
Lingenfelder has new seven, two four
and two three horsepower Thors- to
match against the five Indian and three
Reading Standard machines at the dis
posal of De Roster and Derkum, re-
spectively.
These machines, any of them, are
expected to negotiate from twenty-five
to fifty miles without stopping, suf-
ficient oil and gasoline capacity being
provided for these distances. Rather
than stop for fresh supplies new ma
chimes will be in readiness, so that
each rider will really ride in relays and
perhaps use all of his machines in
the mad flight.
That it will be an exciting race goes
without saying, and. because of it's
uniqueness and the possibilities it
presents for any rider to win and lose
the race a half dozen times before the
finish tape is passed, a record crowd
will likely overrun the stands and the
arena to witness it,