Cycling and Motoring Notes.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 1 October 1913, Page 4

Cycling and Motoring Notes.

I From the Dunlop liubber Co., of Australasia, for the week ending 27tli Sept. IDT^. * * * ... * Judging by the amount of interest taken by members of the automobile clubs of Victoria and New South Wales in the "recent sporting events organised by the respective clubs, there will be a big entry for the next overland reliability car contest from Melbourne tq Sydney, which has now been definitely iixed for the 7th, Bth, 9th and 10th January. The test, which will be organised conjointly by the two clubs named, will, on this occasion, be open to members of the automobile clubs of other states, and it is hoped that contestants from Adelaide mid Tasmania will take part in the event. The trophies to be won are valued at £40, £20 and £10, for first, second, and third, while special trophies have been donated by the Dunlop It libber Co., which will be awarded as follows:- £5 5s to the winner of each of the two hill climbs (up Pretty Sally's Hill, Victoria, and Bulli Pass, New South Wales), and £5 5s to (.he Victorian and New South Wales contestant scoring highest points allcr the th'ree placed competitors. The "Wagshifl' Trophy," value £20, will also be competed for. This will take the form a a shield, and will be held annually by the c.lub whose members score the highest average percentage of points during the contest, the trophy to be the property of the club winning the prize two years in succession or three times in all. An innovation that will be appreciated by contestants is the awarding of medallions to all competitors who score (SOO points out of the maximum of 900 points, which will be made up of 000 for reliability, 200 for pptrol consumption, and 50 points for the winner of each hill climb. The four stages of the rout-.' will be as follows: - First section, Melbourne to Wangaratta (140? miles), lunch at Seymour: second section, Wangaratta to Gnndagai (107 ; ? miles), lunch at (rcrmanton: third section, Gnndagai to Moss Vale (108} miles): fourth section, Moss Vale to Sydney, via Nowra (13S miles), lunch at Wollongong. The total distance of the run will be 020'/ miles as against the 575 miles of the last test. The rules and conditions of the will he available from either the New South Wales or Victorian Club at an earlv date.

E. ( 1 hi I<l s, a member of the N'ew South Wales Motor Cycle Club, last week put up a meritorious motor cycle ride by establishing a new record for the 1 miles run from Sydney to Goulburn. Child, who rode a iU h.p. "James," shod with Dunlop tyres, cut the existing record from shrs lomins to 4hrs4smins., an average of about •'!S miles on hour, a tine ride considering the mountninous nature of lite course.

The fastest speed ;it which ;i human being ever travelled lor a !iiimhcd miles stood until recently to the credit of . Goux, the crack French racing motorist, who a few months back covered 10(5 miles -"587 yards in (50 minutes on Brooldands Track, England. This speed has now been eclipsed by the French aviator Guillau.x, wlio in a remarkable flight at Van's last week, covered II!) miles in AO minutes. This is a speed no motorist can hope to attain on a circular racing track.

Particulars are to hand from Paris in reference to the one hour unpaced world's track record by .Marcel Berthet, the bare announcement of which was cabled out some weeks back. Berthet covered 2(5 miles, 72(5 yards in the hour, and accomplished his great ride at an evening race meeting at the Buffalo Velodrome, and naturally received a splendid reception after his fine performance. This is the most strenuous and least artificial record on the books. Berthet rode to vsehedule, and .just got inside the previous test at half distance.

The use of variable gears, says

"(.'ycling'' (England) on roadster bicycles is extremely widespread, if not yet universal, but it is probable that such aids to ease would have attained even greater popularity had they been properly understood by all who have experimented with them. They arrived upon the scene at a time when there was a pronounced tendency towards overgearing, and this tliey corrected in a certain measure, because in all the geariug-dmvn patterns, they made the possession of a diminutive ratio obligatory, and this was naturally used to some extent, if not quite as much as might be considered desirable by advocates "of low gearing. Unfortunately, ho.wever, many riders do not recognise the real purpose of a variable gear. They imagine for instance, that a low ratio is intended to give increased pace up

hill, and tliey pedal furiously to attain this result, whereas, if pace is the desideratum, it is better to keep the normal gear in engagement, the low one being intended for easy riding' at a crawling speed. There is also a marked inclination to put the.highest gear to excessive use. It has a certain fascination by reason of tlio high speed which it permits in conjunction with slow and stately pedalling, and when used for its legitimate purpose—running before the wind or descending slopes not quite steep enough for free wheeling, it is a decided luxury. But to switch it in for long periods over give ;md take roads, which is an error committed by far too many cyclists, simply perpetuates the folly of excessive gearing and results in sluminy pedalling and unnecessary fatigue. The variable speed hub makes cycling easier, but it requires using with due regard to its fundamental principles.

Whilst motorists in this country have hoard of benzol as a motor fuel in place of petrol, few know much about this much discussed liquid. Benzol is a colourless, volatile, and highly inflammable liquid of the hydrocarbon series. In appearance it is very similar to petrol, but chemically there is a considerable difference. Speaking generally, benzol is obeithcr by extraction from cool gas or recovered form the distillation of tar. "With the majority of carburettors benzol may be used equally as well as petrol, and if any adjustment is required, it is generally in the direction of slightly reducing the jet orifice. Advantages claimed for benzol over petrol are less engine knocking, from 12 to 15 per cent, more powei and a considerable uicroaso i mileage per gallon. This subst tute tor petrol is becoming moi popula ramongst the English mo orists every day, and from all a( counts it is going to prove a we come solution of the fuel prol Icm. * * * * * The manufacturers of the Sim beam, an English car that has eai nod a great reputation for itsel in the last two French Grand Pri motor contests, have built up a 1* cylinder car for racing purpose on the Brooklands track, England Great thing are expected from tin racing specialty, and at its tir. 1 - run on the track it carved out lial a mile at the rate of about 12 miles per hour. Tlie twelve cyl inders of the engine are set in fashion, the groups of six cylin ders each being set at an angle o fit) degrees to one another. It i confidently anticipated that thi cur will set up a new set of worldspeed records, including new fig nre* for the hour.