CYCLING NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5177, 8 November 1895, Page 3

CYCLING NOTES.

[llY IH,OOMfilt.l i A story is boing told of the recent , Cyclists' camp at Scarborough which, , if not trao, is 6«?n /ror«/o. One morn- , ing the wheelers were honoured by the visit of a party of pretended ■ Afghan Princes. They included a • very personablo representation of the Shuhzadu and his suite. So well did the spoof take, that, I am told, ■ the strangers were seriously iufroi (laced in their assumed characters to 1 several inllnential gentlemen, who shook hands gravely with them and ceremoniously hade them welcome to Scarborough. To add to the deception thearrival of the "princes" had been previously announced in the local paper among the list of "distinguished visitors." They kept up the trick to the last, being suitably " bronzed " in the face and dressed in Afghan costume, and they had an " interpreter" with them, who translated the discussion into our " native" tongue. Only one of the strangers ventured to speak at all - the other being discreetly silent—and he jabbered n a lingo which the wheelers took to he Afghan. Not till after the'' princes" had left the Camp, where they were "royally " tieated, was it found out that they were a quartette of jolly jokers from London, who thought they would take it rise out of their Northern brethren, and succeeded to admiration. I am asked how much a machine is "slowed" by the use of mud guards. This is a dillicult question to answer. Ask a speed merchant, and he will tell you from one to two miles an hour, while, on the other hand, a practical friend, who isn't a I particularly slow rider, to whom 1 I put the question, asked pie if 1 were superstitious, as much depends on this. If any of our readers can demonstrate by figures that there is a material loss of power by the use of the mud guards, when riding at the rate of 12 miles an hour, 1 shall feel deeply grateiul, as at the present time 1 am very undecided on the subject. There is one thing certain, I do not venture forth in such tricky weather as we are now having without having my machine well protected, loss or no loss. What is the minimum tread for a reliable roadster safety 'i asks J. Jones, of Brecon. My own impression is oiu,, and 1 give its specifications as follows; Width of tyre, ljin.; clearance between the tyre and back forks, jin on each side; ' width of back forks fin. each; clearance between crank ends and back forks, j-in. each; width of crank fin. This is cutting things down to their very lowest point, and brings the tread, which, 1 take it, means the distance between the faces of the cranks, down to -if in.; but i doubt whether this would leave sufficient room for a gear case to be titled. If you want to still further narrow this you must use smaller tyres. The machine with the narrowest tread t have seen is the Ormond racer. This is -tin., but then Hin tyres only are used, and gear eases cannot bo fitted. Fora roadster machine, therefore, oin must be the minimum. Where wide tubes a corresponding increase of tread is necessitated, while the same is the case where the pedals are secured by means of nuts. In this case the clearance between the forks and cranks must be increased.—Athletic Nvws. Furious cycling may, as the doctors say, have deleterious effects on the spine, on the heart, and on the nervous system; but, at least, it seems to leave the stomach unimpaired. There was a twenty-four hours' bicyclerace at Aston the other day, and a local rider named Winclmrch is reported to have carried off the prize in more ways than one. In the course of the day ho consumed, according to the local papers, " six chickens, two stewed shins of beef, two lo'oz jars of Bovril, Gib tomatoes, s!b giapes, -lib pears, a basket of apricots, fifty bananas, eggs, jellies, custards, a pint of port pine, a pint of sherry, champagne, milk, and choeola te.