Vol 1, No 1
Articles in this issue
- The Committee's opening address launching the Gazette as the Club's own organ, arguing that internal notices do not belong in journals "published to all the world"; it will appear weekly from April to September and monthly from October to March, replace the old circulars, go free to every member, and carry a leader, club-run and racing fixtures, official intelligence, correspondence, tour accounts and a hotel list, with a special Road Index promised at year's end.
- Report of the meeting of March 5: Charles Henry Cosens, John Wilson Potter, Arthur Owen Tylor and Hedley Clarence Visick elected members; J. W. Arison appointed Captain of the N.W. District in place of the resigning E. Tegetmeier; Messrs. Coleman, Rücker and W. A. Smith named delegates to the Pickwick Club's preliminary Metropolitan Meet conference; and A. Ogier Ward appointed Editor of the Gazette.
- District captains' reports: six Western men rode Kew Bridge–Richmond–Kingston–Moulsey–Hampton Court; ten N.W. members took the North Road to Potter's Bar, five going on to tea at the "One Bell," Hatfield; and seven of the S.E. C Division rode 27 miles to Leatherhead via the Railway Hotel, Ewell, halting at the "White Swan."
- Ion Keith-Falconer sets out five reasons for a club paper: convenience for a large scattered club with no accessible head-quarters, an additional bond of union, higher standing among outsiders, a possible business speculation, and independence of a bicycling press that has not represented the sport impartially.
- Editorial advice to contributors: omit spills, croppers, "liquors" and the weather unless they bear on the road, but note hazards such as the oolitic pavement near Bath or the descent of Westerham Hill, and append distances, hills, turnings and hotels in a concise list, with scenery, architecture and rivers described for the reader's benefit.
- An arrangement with Mr. F. Erwin of the "Coach and Horses," Kew Green, gives members storage for machines and uniforms plus washing and dressing accommodation at Club expense; machines should still be chained and padlocked, and the nearest stations are Kew Bridge, Kew and Kew Gardens.
- The Hon. Secretary explains that Meet Cards are late because the Committee decided to post them in the same wrapper as the Gazette, whose first number was delayed; the Rules and Regulations, Report, Balance Sheet and List of Members are promised for the end of next week.
- C. W. Nairn argues that if the "London" wishes to remain the leading club it must not shut itself off from other bicyclists as the ageing "Amateur" club has done; though nobody enjoys riding in procession, an annual show of strength is politic until bicycling is a recognised institution on the roads.
- W. A. Smith's recollection of being taunted by "the Burly-one" into learning at Sparrow's, Knightsbridge, buying a 48-inch Coventry Machinist machine, and being dragged on a 39-mile ride to Farnham over the Hogsback that ended in a buckled wheel by "The Wheatsheaf" at Shrub Hill and a night at "The Catherine Wheel," Egham.
- A signed letter from A. Ogier Ward complaining, half in jest, that the Captain rode down the grass slope of Box Hill to Burford Bridge and that the Club has a vested interest in his neck, the Burford Bridge Hotel having laid in stretchers and strait-waistcoats.
- Tabulated meets for March 16, 23 and 30 for each district, "Jack Straw's Castle" for Watford, Ridge and Elstree; Kew Bridge for Ockham, Pinner and Elstree; Lea Bridge Road for Waltham Abbey and Brentwood; Central Croydon Station for Crowhurst, Burford Bridge and Farningham; and the "Hare and Billet" for Crowhurst, Reigate and Farningham.
- Lists the London Athletic Club four-mile handicap and the Surrey Bicycle Club meeting at Kennington Oval on April 27 and the Cambridge University B.C. four-mile invitation race on May 24, with a notice that members wishing to ride in sports not listed must observe rule 15 by writing to Captain M. D. Rücker, jun.
- Captain M. D. Rücker, jun. revives his scheme for country head-quarters at which proprietors would abide by a Club tariff and members could leave their names, and prints a specimen list, the White Lion at Bath, New Ship at Brighton, George at Crawley, Albion at Eastbourne, White Hart at Guildford and Maidenhead, Pier and Sea Side at Hastings and White Horse at Haslemere, marked (A) or (B) for the lower and higher tariffs.
- Members' sale notices: H. F. Hirsch's unused Johnson's mileage indicator for a 56-inch machine at 26s., F. McMillan's 54-inch "Special Challenge," a 58-inch "Timberlake" at nine guineas through F. M. Williams, and M. D. Rücker's 56-inch John Keen roadster and racer at £10 and £12.
- Contributions must reach the Editor at 80, Cornhill, E.C. by Tuesday morning, written on one side only, and anything remotely personal must be signed for publication; single copies are 4d., the thirty-two numbers 10s. 6d. post free, and non-members may subscribe only through a member with Committee approval.