CYCLING

Evening Star, Issue 22449, 21 September 1936, Page 5

CYCLING

50-MILE CHAMPIONSHIP CHRISTCHURCH RIDERS MAKE GLEAK-UP G. ROBINSON THE OTAGO CHAMPION In the fifty-mile Otago road cycling championship event, R. Seymour, of the Technical Club, Christchurch, gained first place, beating •). J. Taylor, of the Papanui Club, by half a minute, the latter riding from the scratch mark, and gaining fastest time. C. Robinson, of Invercargill, won the Otago championship, registering the fastest time for an Otago rider. Record entries were received for the event, which was the most successful race that has been staged by the Otago Centre. Seven riders of the Technical Club, Christchurch, competed, while the Papanui Club, also of Christchurch, sent down eight riders. The Invercargill Club had) entered, 11 and _ the Duijedin Club 15. The classiest riders in the South Island competed, it being a long time since such a galaxy of talent'was lined up for a cycling event in Dunedin. . The winner, a member of the Technical Club, has been riding only two months, his previous best performance being a second in a 62-mile event at Christchurch. Ivan Taylor, the second man in. has been riding for some years now, and has many excellent performances to his credit. He was runner-up to F. J. Grose in many championship events, including the New Zealand 100mile last year. On several occasions he has beaten Grose in the sprint, securing fastest time, and is now definitely No. 2 man in the road cycling sport. When Grose retires he should be very hard to head off for the New Zealand chain* pionship. His clubmate, A. Lancaster, is also one of the best road riders in the Dominion, being beaten in the sprint/ for second place. Keith Bullock, who carried off the Otago junior title, was the first Otago rider to finish. He has shown by his previous performances this year that he should develop into one of the best road riders in'the Dominion, as he has many more years in the sport yet.’ C. Robinson, of Invercargill, had no difficulty in taking the Otago senior _ title, as the Dunedin Club’s best riders. Homer and Paterson, were unable to stay the distance with him. He also gained fourth fastest time, being only 2min slower than Grose. The Papanui Club won the teams race bv a narrow margin from the Technical Club, the Invercargill No. 1 team being third. The race was well controlled by the Otago Centre, the officials being headed by Mr R. M‘Cosh and Mr H. W. Laws (the superintendents) and Mr F. Greenfield (secretary). They were assisted by a willing and capable band of officers, including some from Invercargill and Christchurch. The 50 miles were ridden over a course that started at Burnside and went on .to Henley, branched off to Berwick, thence by way of Maungatua to Woodside, then to Outram, right through to North Taieri, past the aerodrome to Wingatui then through Mosgiel to East Taieri, to finish at Green Island. THE RACE. There were 38 actual starters, H. Shand and D. Ralston, the limit men, being sent away at 2.30 from Burnside. Tate and Brown started smin later, then the rest were sent away in larger bunches until the scratch men, I. Taylor and F. Grose, were started at 3 p.m. After covering the 17 miles to Henley Ralston was 2min ahead of H. Shand, Tate and Brown turning half a minute later. Then came W. Morgan and S. Murray, a further smin behind, having made no gain on the bunch ahead. D. Patton, J. Henry, A. Broad, and R. Seymour followed 2min later, the 14min men turning a little later. The lOmin group, composed of Bullock, Kelly, Umbers, Jones, and Calder, arrived together, having gained 2min on Tate and Brown, who at this stage looked like easy winners. The leaders of the smin bunch, in which were the back Otago men, had gained very little on the lOmin men at this stage. Several of the 7miu riders took the wrong turn at the Mosgiel junction on the way out, and when they went back found themselves just in front of the scratch men, Taylor and Grose, who at the turn were 20rnin behind Tate and Brown. At Maungatua, the halfway mark, Tate was out in front, leading Brown, who retired a little later, by 50yds. The next rider to pass through was Morgan, Gmin later, followed IJmin later by Murray, Patton, and Broad, who had dropped Seymour on the Berwick Hill. The rough road encountered near there and the steep Berwick hill accounted for many of the riders having chain trouble, many of them retiring. Seymour later caught his own bunch. The lOmin men were lOmin behind Tate_ at this stage, having gained Sin on him. Through Outram Tate was 4in ahead of Morgan, and was closely followed by Broad, with Seymour, who was now riding well, a further minute behind. A few more stragglers came through until the lOmin bunch, led by Bullock, passed through still lOmin behind Tate. A little later came Homer, Robinson, Fletcher, Lancaster, and Taylor, the latter having left Grose, who had chain trouble. Grose passed through Outram 15min behind the leader. From then on Tate led all the way through North Taieri and Wingatui, being Imin ahead of Seymour, who was coming along fast, at Mosgiel. Taylor and Lancaster were also coming up well. Seymour caught Tate on the Saddle, the latter showing the effects of his long ride on his own, and went over the top a half-minute ahead. Taylor and Lancaster passed Tate coming down Fairfield, and crossed the line a minute after Seymour. Bullock was the first Otago man to finish, and was closely followed by Calder, Tate, and D. Patton. Results: — R. Seymour (T.), IGmin 1 I. Taylor (P.), scr 2 A. J. Lancaster (P.), 3miu 3 K. Bullock (D.), lOmin 4 A. Calder (I.), lOmin 5 A, T. Tate (D.), 25min 6 D. Patton (I.), 18min 7 C. Robinson (I.), smin 8 Fastest times were:— I. Taylor, 2h smin 47sec _ ... 1 A. .1. Lancaster, 2h Bmin 47 l-ssec 2 F. .1. Grose 2h lOmin 35sec 3 C, Robinson, 2h 12min 58sec ... ... 4 A. K. Schulz (T., 3min), 2h 13min 23soc 5

Fastest Otago rider and champion: C. Robinson (Invercargill). Fastest Otago junior: K. Bullock (Dunedin), 2h 16miir 20sec. Teams race: Papanui (Taylor 2, Lancaster 3, Grose 12, Rondel! 13), 30 points ... 1 Technical, 37 points 2 Invercargill No. IV 42 points 3 Dunedin No. 1, 47 points 4 PREVIOUS WINNERS. The following are the previous winners of the event since its inception in 1929, with the riders gaining fastest time and the championship:— 1929. —G. Farmer (Christchurch) ; Farmer was also fastest, but could not hold the title, which went to C. G. Lucas (Pacific). 1930. —G. Hethprington (Pacific) ;D. O’Brien (Otago). 1931. —J. Kennedy (Pacific) ; K. Booth (Invercargill). 1932. —G. Foster (Pacific) ; C. G. 1933. —A. Targuse (Invercargill) ;C. 1934. —J. Kewish (Dunedin) ;C. Gilchrist (Dunedin). 1935. —W. Black (Dunedin); M. Paterson (Dunedin).