Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-10-01
REGGIE M'NAMARA
EXCEPTION TO RULE
Australian Cyclist Met With
Fine Success on First In=
vasiOn of Europe.
UNPLACED BUT FOUR TIME

/ OF all the American and Australian
riders who have invaded the Euro
! pean racing field in recent years but
/ two have met with real success. One
/ is Frank Kramer and the other Reggie
Mcnamara, the Australian plugger.
AS a rule invaders of foreign fields
are not successful in their first sea
son against strange company, but this
was not the case with Mcnamara. He
went to Europe following the New
York six-day race last December and
in thirty-five starts he won twenty
three races. In only four races was
he unplaced. The hardy Antipodeap
finished second in four races and h.
was third in as many races. And Nc
Namara won everything from sprint
races to 100 kilometfe and three
hour races.
Probably Mcnamara greatest vic
| tory abroad was the defeat of Marcel
Berthet, the famous French unpaced
rider, who has broken the worlds un-
pace hour record four different times
1t required just ten kilometres for Nc
Namara to catch Berthet, and wheit
he started in that match he was not
figured to have more than a passing
chance of winning. But the French
man did not know that Mcnamara
had never been defeated In a pursuit
race and had scored victories over
some of the greatest unpaeed riders
IN the world And Mcnamara was
just as good in tandem paced races as
he was in unpaced races. In the clas-
sic Rou dor a 100-kilometre tandem
paced race, run annually in Paris at
the Velodrome Buffalo, Mcnamara
defeated Octave Lapsize of France,
considered the superior of Oscar Egg
in tandem paced events and he also
defeated another French star, M.
Senior in this same race. In defeat
ing Lapsize the Australian put up
one of the greatest finishes ever wit
messed in Europe At two laps from
the finish. on track larger than the
Yelodrome, Mcnamara was left with
out pacemakers, while Lapsize was
back of his best team. A tandem team
was sent out to take Mcnamara on
the final lap, but when they failed to
gain on the leading Frenchman Nc
Namara sprinted, unpaced, and after
gaining over thirty yards, passed the
Frenchman and won. LeAuto. the
famous Paris sporting paper, said il
was the greatest bit of riding ever
seen in Paris Mcnamara performed
another great feat in the final of the
Rou dor when he rode over ohe-third
Oh IIt IctCG WllnOuL Oily paw tbt cit
and finished only three laps back on
Emil Engel, the winner. Engel and
Godivier. who was the third starter,
had pace every inch of the 100-kilo-
metre journey, yet Mcnamara held
his own clear up TO the eight-kilo-
metre mark, riding unpaced at fire.
quent intervals.
Won Three 25-MiIe Heats.
Mcnamara won three Twenty-Five
mile heats against Cyril Vanhou-
waert, the long distance champiors
of Belgium, In tandem paced
race at Houtmont, Belgium and
Vanhouwaert is in the same class
with Lapsize and Egg in paced
races. Tricky Comes, well known
to local bike followers, was the
Namara Tapped Comes eight times in
each heat The Australian also de-
feated Thorwald Ellegaard in a tan
DEM paced race at 10-kilometers in
Copenhagen He also had the distinc-
ton of beating the great Dane in a
couple of sprint races.
In long distance team races Nc
Namara was invincible. lie started
In nine team races at 100-kilometers
and won six OF them and in each in
stance he had third-raters for
partners. In the three races In which
he met defeat, he was put out of the
running on account of accidents. Nc
Namara was so strong in these races
his partners in each succeeding race
were weaker, the promoters picking
weaker partners each time in order to
make the fields evenly balanced. All
of the Belgian, Danish and French
riders wanted Mcnamara for a
partner. as they felt sure that first
money was theirs before the races
ever started and it generally was the
case. When the little fellows were
teamed with Mcnamara, they were
SO pleased they would meet him at
the railroad stations, carry his lug
gage, clean his bikes and put them in
racing condition and. in fact, treat
him as though he was their sover-
eign.
In Europe Mcnamara was rated as
a better all around rider than Egg,
the rider he will meet in a fifteen
mile tandem-paced race at the Velo-
drome Sunday, but over here the
Swiss seems to be rated better than
the Australian. This is probably due
to the fact that Mcnamara has not
shown much form in his races since
his return from Europe, while Egg
has performed remarkably against
the best paced riders we have. But
McNamara's poor showing is due to
the unfortunate accident he had
shortly after his return The fans will
see the Australian at his best Sunday
and they may be surprised to see him
defeat the wonderful Swiss.
80
Grenda Leaves Hospital.
Big ALT Grenda, who has been i'm
the hospital with an attack of appen-
dicitis, left the institution yesterday.
He went directly to the Velodrome
and surprised his trainer, Eddie
Lampson, by walking into his cabin
and saying: get my wheel ready
Grenda is a man of few words.
ss
Mitten Training for Six Day Races.
Worth Mitten, the motor paced
rider, is training on the roads for the
coming slx-day races. Nit" Is some
road rider and he has invited all of
the nine amateurs who are soon to
become professionals to go out on the
road with him. And he has agreed
to buy a big dinner for each and
every one of them who are within
fifty yards of him when the road ride
terminates at the Velodrome, which is
also to be the starting point. Gus
Wohlrab has accepted Mittens prop
osition. and Gus says that he may
even beat the veteran professional in
at the finish.