The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-12-06
/ ALKING
IT OVER
BY JOE WILLIAMS

THAT strange form of sport
4 known as the six-day bike race
where gaudy assortment of two
men teams riding in alternate
shifts spend IA consecutive hours,
day and night, puChing archaic
conveyances around an undulating
wooden track that somehow sug-
gests a Gargantuan gravy platter is
again on display at the garden. To
the surprise Of some Of the COM
munity's leading economists the
races are attracting their usual
capacity crowds. The bighting
touch of depression that struck
baseball during the summer and
subsequently extended itself to the
Tight game seemingly has made a
wide detour leaving the inmates Of
the human squirrel cage unscathed.
n Il
This may be explained on the broad basis
that the six-day bike fan is glutton for
Punishment. II is probably true that there
arc men who pay their way into the
garden TO see the McNamaras, the Geor-
KettIs and the spencers who never turn
out for any other type of sporting allure
nsnt On top of that. the marathon
wheeiers do not put on bad show.
II n
In many Of its essentials a six
day bike race is a silly, stupid,
meaningless thing, but there is
something about the dizzy spectacle
OF riders continuously in action,
driving with the fury of the wind,
yet going nowhere in particular,
that holds your interest.
THERE Is nothing about these
l. races that are peculiar to any
specific community or country
either. A psychologist attempting
to read into them distinctive traits
of any particular civilization would
make little progress beyond arriving
at the obvious conclusion that the
strong back and the weak mind car
ry world vide sporting appeal.
The homage that the metropolis be-
slows about the cyclists is re-enact-
ed annually with varying shades of
hysteria in Chicago, Paris, Berlin,
Sydney and many other parts Of the
globe.
At present America is the greatest OF all
cycling centers. II is 4 mild surprise to
learn that the professionals are active in
this country most of the year. January is
the only month in which there are no i'm
portant engagements. At all times there
Is racing some where. Most of 1t is con-
oentrated in the east with meetsF1n New
York, Newark. Philadelphia, Boston and
Providence. Chicago has spent more than
. million dollars on six day races in the
Hast eight years. Detroit is now a -four
ishlnE center. Ultimately other tracks are
70 bs laid out in Cleveland. st. Louis and
Miami.
TINE sport has prospered In the
Il face Of much public ridicule |
and sinister charges of hippodrom-
ing. There is legend that the
management decides in advance who |
the winners are to be and that his
business contracts with the riders
are arranged accordingly. This is
probably nothing more than q leg
end. The last winter race at the
garden, for example, was won by
Georgetti and Debates. They took
a commanding lead early in the
week and maintained it to the fin
ish, winning by five laps. Thus as
a competition the event was totally
without interest.
A prearranged result surely would have
been devised with more care and an eye
for . more rousing climax. of course trls |
docs not occur very often and Mr.. John
NJ. Chapman, the high priest of the |
sprockets, may be counted on TO see that
it does not occur again. After all there |
is such a thing as carrying righteousness
and ethics to an extreme, and while Mr.. |
Chapman is known to be a sportsman of
high standing he also is very hard
headed business man whose enthusiasms /
rise and fall in direct proportion to the
box office returns.
TINE boys tell me Mr.. Chapman |
n very seldom shows himself !
around the races, being a person of |
discriminating tastes in amusement. |
He Is akin in this respect to the
prosperous inn keeper of We pre-
Volstedian era, who always took Q |
cigar when the wines were passed. :