Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-17
ed BY HEINE ZIMMERMAN, OF CHICAGO CUBS
MOTOR RACES THRILLING,
BUT MEREDITH PREFERS TO
WEAR THE RUNNING TOGS
Ted Witnesses First Clash Between Speed Kings
in Another Realm, Then Decides That AS a
Cyclist He Will Be Some Spectator
By TED MEREDITH

more nervous than all of them mn, !.
gether. :"
After this came the nlotor.paced roo. a,
feature event of the night The rider. " "
not go so fast here, because they hsy. " Y.
pump the machines themselves and trs y. y
follow the motorcycle in front OF tb...
The distance was 100 kilometers or n an
miles, and 1 marveled at the endurarc.s !,
the men who went through the ordeal ,rV y.
greatest of their performances did not s,,,,
mo until / had left the motordrors Nv, as,
stsrted to figure out Just what thosa h.,
lows had done. They covered that dIstsn..
of 62h miles in 1 hour 81 minutes 81 ~
seconds, which Is going some on a bcycl.
Make Fast Starts
The really marvellous thing is to sss ~.
riders get away to such fast starts and MAJ
up their PAGERS who swoop down on tb,r
on the motorcycles. The riders get sw..
with the speed of n sprinter and soon bsv,
their pace up at a high rate. After n.
pacemaker is caught they seldom lose b,r,
but meet every burst of speed which ~
gives with faster pedaling. Several tIm..
on Thursday night the riders LOST ths.
pace due to some trouble, tires usually I'M,
they were soon given new wheel and wsr.
off after their competitors.
Walthour seemed to be the most uniuc,
one last Thursday night. He had at iass
four accidents. but kept at II. even thonsS
he locked hopelessly beaten. with two lars
to make up on the leaders, Walthour sbowss
the spectators just how fast Il is posu,hi.
to ride behind pacenlaker After get4lns
a new wheel he started out to cut down
this handicap. His first mile, after he ~,
going, was covered in 1 minute seconds-
This pace was held nearly up TO M.
speed by him for several miles and ina,
was where the people were given some real
excitement. Walthour passed man after man
in his spurt and did some of the prettIest
riding ever have seen. The pace was A
killing one, however, and he was soon
forced to slow down to that Of the Other
riders.
Curious About Training
l was very curious about how the man
stood up under this strenuous work and
after meeting Carman, the winner Of IN.
race l questioned him about their work
l did not see how they could ride race
like that twice a week without some hard
training. He told me they started to train
for this race about three months before
their schedule, as this puts them up IN
fine shape for racing; but after they start
the season they only race, that is the races
are enough to keep them in shape withou.
little riding each day.
If they would train In between they
would go stale. The thing works out IN
the same way as 1t does In track And
that when 1 am racing every week must
rest between races or l go off condition
The sport is really fascinating. did
not realize it until L got down there and
saw the crowd and heard their yelling as
the riders went by and still wilder shouts
when man would pass another. This Is
what pleased the people, even though II
looked dangerous and daring.
l believe the wilder and more daring
the sport the better the people like It, ard
If that is the case they get the right thing
in motor races, and this sport is going TO
be very popular