San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-08
Strange Picture Afforded
by Annual Bicycle Endur-
ance Race in Cavernous
Madison Square Garden.
By FAIRPLAY


Copyright by The San Antonio Light.
New York. March S.-Anyone who
stopped riding a bicycle back in the
nineties when a bike, so far as pleas
ure purposes was concerned. was put
in the museum alongside the stuffed
Godo, the hair cushion sofa and
chrome Of grandpa, will wonder where
comes the kick in this six-day race
at Madison Square Garden.
The place is filled with guys who
will sit back at boxing match and
boo their heads off if the air ism {
filled with knOcked-out teeth, gore and
loud means of pain. Yet. while the
pedal pushers grind round and round
like squirrels in a wheel cage. these
fans sit leaning forward with pop
eyes and open mouths.
The answer. Of course, is that they
are hypnotized. doppd. That round
snd round business hits them like n
sniff of coke" only at the Garden
there is no one to wake them from
their dream. And it isn't against the
law.
IL Gets" Person.
The writer almost got dOped him
self last night as he circulated among
the galleries trying to get the works
on why these straw-ride persons are
willing to give up good money for 4
show like this. There is something in
it that gets one. there certainly is.
First of all there's the infield where
ordinarily is pitched the ring and the
ringside seats. there is band. pretty
sour. too. long about midnight. And
there are hotdog merchants and inside
guys of various sorts. including the
geniuses who write this thing year
and year and make it seem exciting.
Then there's the pine board track.
uptilted so that when rider falls he
goes slipping down into the infield
like a hobo elected from a chatham
square bean joint Hour after hour
dozen or SO riders 20 pumping
around this cleaning pine oval, their
faces set like BARLEY Madden's in the
fourteenth round when he hopes 10
last out the fifteenth and ruin his
opponents rep.
From overhead comes the green
yellow glow Of the electric lamps in
the roof. 1t filters down through the
big arena, gets all mixed up with the
smoke of five-cent cigars. and creates
an atmosphere effect that can be seen
only in the Grand Canyon and NOT
even there except when thunder
storm from Arizona drifts into the biz
cash and gets tangled up with a sand
storm heaving from the Utah side
And no picture can portray those
faces. those figures leaning forward
over the gallery ratings. Faces OF al
sorts-vicious faces, brutal faces. the
faces Of mOrons or mentally worse
the ferret face Of the dip and mol
buzzer: the sodden contenance of tho
Park Row bum who finds it more ex
citing TO rest here than in the ten
cent lodging house.
No Noise But the Band.
All these high up toward the caves
Lower down in the more favored seat'
there are people one knows; politi
clans, lawyers, pugilists, actors, jock
eys, oh, everyone-but all "doped'
ike those above. And all around
except for the band, is sodden still
ness.
And then, a shout. Down on til,
track below some rider has come e
life. With head down he glance
around the oval as though demon
from the pit were after him. And il
another second they are as a matte
of fact. Whiz. whiz. whiz. whiz. TIL
Garden awakes. cheers. cries. excla
nations rend the fetid air. Then sud
denly the excitement dies down. BE
gins once more the deadly grind.