MOTOR-CYCLING

Taranaki Daily News, 30 December 1922, Page 7

MOTOR-CYCLING

i ' A SEARCHING RELIABILITY TRIAL. It turned out to be a very searching test, more so perhaps than the organisers anticipated, when the Hawera and New Plymouth Clubs collaborated in the trial, New Plymouth to Te Kuiti and back to Hawera. The distance is scheduled as jwst on 260 miles, 112 up to Te Kuiti and 147 back thence to Hawera. The conditions were that all entrants run to a schedule time and to have their machines examined at certain distances, one of them being a secret check, about 25 miles out from New Plymouth, then Mt. Messenger, Mokau, Taumatamaire and Te Kuiti. On the return journey there were, besides the secret check, examinations at Taumatamaire. Mokau, Mt. Messenger, Waitara. Stratford and Hawera. The conditions met were such as to test the machines most thoroughly and to try i out the riders in a way such as the most experienced did not expect. As 1 Mr. Claringbold said to a Star reporter: | “There could be no better test; it was I every class of road —sand, dirt, mud, ' metal, ridged mud roads —and severe • hills to be climbed. At the Mokau ferry the sand was particularly bad, and I got tangled up in it and lost my place for the subsequent stretch.” No racing was allowed, each rider being bound to a schedule and having toyre- • port at the stations on this schedule. THE OUTWARD JOURNEY. The competitors—twenty-one in all —left New Plymouth at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. Up to the top of Mt. Messenger the going was good, and then started the trouble. The run down was a very hard tax on the machine and rider, but . it was dry on the first day and not so bad. A lot of sandy country was met up to Mokau, resulting in five dropping out. and after that the big Taumatamaire hill was the next and most formidable obstacle. It was a corker, as all agreed. It is about seven miles up and five down, all unmetalled, and was responsible for more trouble than any other portion of the tour. Sixteen came out at Stony Creek, a fairlv big i stream, which had to be negotiated. At Mokau the Maoris gave the competitors a rousing reception, waiting or. the ridge and calling out “Here they come.” and cheered them on their way. There a meal was partaken of and the riders made another start. Those left in completed, the journey safely and reached Te Kuiti from four o’clock onwards. There the local committee, with a lot of interested spectators, met them, and arranged for board, lodging and entertainment. For this the riders were very grateful. THE RETURN JOURNEY. Next morning the first machine left Te Kuiti at 7 o’clock. They found the conditions generally worse than on the previous day owing to rain during the night. Stony Creek was negotiated safely and the great climb of Taumatamaire began. The conditions were such as to appal the stoutest rider. Some came to grief, one reporting at the outlook station that he had broken his chain and had pushed his machine some miles. Several were completely exhausted and only care and attention by the observers enabled them to recover and push on. Claringbold and Edwards had ridden a lot together, and they were two of the leaders throughout. The greasy state of the road and the meeting with some broken metal further on were both troublesome, but the runts made by the traffic on the hill roads were extremely useful. Several, however, came through unaided, and their machine* stood the test remarkably well. The hill passed the worst of the journey was over, but the north side of Mt. Messenger was also, as Mr. Claringbold described it, “in a deadly state for climbing and gave a great deal of trouble.” Downhill wag good, and then the going was fair. Some of the New Plymouth riders were inclined to stop there, but decided eventually to push on. and the riders began to arrive at Hawera just after four o’clock, after what is described by them as “the most gruelling experience they had ever come through.” Messrs. Spragg and Dolan, in a Dodge car, were stationed on the big difficult hill, and in the course of their work they took many interesting photographs—of cycles badly smashed up. riders going head over heels, cycles elimbing the steep road and arriving nt their destination. Te Kuiti, where, it is interesting to remark, the electric light on that particular night failed.

Many amusing incidents are related, and many narrow escapes. There was a fair amount of traffic on the roads, and in some cases competitors narrowly avoided collisions and accidents. One cyclist going down the big hill met a lorry at a bad corner. His wheel skidded, and he came down, the wheel of the lorry actually grazing his leg. This descent is described as mud in we" weather. apd ridges, bumps, slabs of limestone like concrete, when dry. About a hundred yards from the hill. Edwards, who is a Maori, ran into a fine bag of tools, and he asked Claringbold what to do with them, and the

latter replied. “Oh. you stick to them. Thev have evidently been dropped by a car.” And the Maori did so. Many others had narrow escapes from accidents. One amusing story is told by an observer in that wild region. He caught a trout, and having cleaned it, left it in the stream to keep fresh. When he went to retrieve it he could find no sign of it. and asking a Maori boy, was given the amusing answer: “By gorry, T find fish without a stomach so I trow him away.” It should be mentioned that the competition was for (1) heavy, (2) light, (3) with side car. and the experience is that the light wheels did best.

> All connected with th# tour are delighted with the success achieved, and the riders, now they have come through, are pleased at the experience. They arc all delighted with the most wonderful scenery, bush and river, on the route. It is practically the first trial of so severe a kind in the Dominion. The results will be known in a few days when the judges and observers have time to go through the test cards. —Star.