Vol 2, No 22
Articles in this issue
- The Editor's leader blames "winds strong and squally, very wet" for the depression over the world of 'cyclists and for the literature of bicycling that rusts with damp. He promises the Rhine octett will soon need the corkscrew more than the macintosh, praises Mr. Rucker's energy in making "bricks without straw, and columns without copy" as acting Editor, and points members to the Treasurer's letter in this issue.
- Tabulated district meets: N.E. from Lea Bridge Road and Syborn's Corner for Ongar, Hoddesdon and Epping; N.W. from "Jack Straw's Castle" to meet the W. District at Pinner and via Rowley Green and Shenley; W. from Kew Green for Rickmansworth and Acton Church for St. Alban's via Watford; S.W. from the "Griffin," Kingston, for Redhill via Merton; and S.E. from Central Croydon for Hampton, Westerham and East Grinstead, with the Blackheath Division swimming at Farningham.
- Five district reports. Four N.E. men rode to Upminster and the "Bell"; six N.W. men had a wretched run to Abbot's Langley by Clamp Hill and Aldenham Abbey, seeing a gorgeous double rainbow and paying 1s. 6d. at the "King's Arms," and a later party tea'd for 1s. 2d. at the "Black Horse," Eastcot; the Western captain rode Walton-on-the-Hill alone on a borrowed "Humber"; the S.W. reached Ripley; and the S.E. ran a Purley-to-Crawley handicap won by Oswald in 1hr. 18min., the "Railway Hotel" landlord finding dry clothes for everyone.
- A detailed review of "The Club" roadster built by the Coventry Machinist Company at Cheylesmore, held to be the machine most often seen in a day's ride round London. It praises the Stanley head, weldless steel tube forks and elliptical backbone, the hollow-felloe front wheel, case-hardened Low Moor iron hub, dustproof enclosed bearings and the universal joint credited with the "Club's" ease and speed uphill.
- "A Bicyclina M.D." continues Rusticus's mock-zoology, classifying the family into Gregarii (Clubmen) and Solitarii (Unattached) and describing Bicyclus cyclomens, the rushing wheel-driver who knows every hill between Dorking and Reigate but has never seen the Druid's Grove or the chestnuts of Betchworth Park. A sketch of Bicyclus lentulus, the Slow-coach, is promised.
- "Delta (C.U.Bi.C.)" finishes his practical hints: six old handkerchiefs, Christy's 2s. 6d. helmets, a club badge ("every German has his club"), knickerbockers rather than collars and ties, and one of Trotter's large "M.I.P." bags. He gives hotel charges (bed 2s. 6d., table d'hote 2s. 6d.), warns off the "New Bath Hotel" at Rotterdam, explains marks and pfennigs and the German stund, recommends Baedeker's Rhine at 6s., and describes reading unconnected German phrases aloud at table d'hote to roars of laughter.
- An essay on bicycling's revolutionary social effects: cricket, football and boating clubs stripped of members, lawn-tennis parties left destitute of men, holiday resorts vetoed unless surrounded by good roads, and Sunday church attendance thinned. Against these it sets a fuller appreciation of landscape and architecture, friendships formed at a distance, and healthy constitutions, but warns the toy may become a permanent bete noire to non-'cycling society.
- Herbert R. Boyce, Hon. Sec., of 35, Warrington Crescent, W., again reminds perfunctory members that they have still to account for their tickets and pay for those used, as he wants the meeting's accounts settled before he leaves town.
- Alfred Henry of 89, Lothbury, backing Mr. Marchant, sketches a limited company registered under the Joint Stock Companies Act to insure athletes against accident: a syndicate guaranteeing £300–£400 for preliminary expenses, capital of at least £20,000 in £1 shares with 10,000 issued fully paid, honorary management, quarterly or half-yearly premiums, and leading athletic gentlemen in provincial towns as agents. He offers an office, part of the syndicate fund, and to place a considerable number of shares.
- "Eavesdropper" reports a Northern Division member calculating whether the Attendance Prize would cover the cost of the teas, and a North East member urged to sell his bicycle and buy a perambulator, to which the Editor adds "[Can it be that this alludes to our venerable selves?]"
- The Treasurer writes that the Gazette costs the Club nearer £20 than £10 a month and doubts anyone will take the editorship next year without more support, drawing an editorial reply that each man should do one-twentieth of Rucker's work. A second letter from G. P. Coleman of Craig's Court encloses a Field cutting on the Newbury Bicycle Club's races (Spackman's mile in 2min. 34sec.) and notes the L.B.C. is not the only club that allows road racing.
- J. W. Wilson writes from Wiesbaden on 9th July that his bicycle arrived after a fortnight and was charged six marks duty. He finds the Government roads fair but the cross roads unrideable for miles, praises the four-mile climb to Schwalbach through the Taunus, reports that L.B.C. uniform astonishes the locals and villagers cry "Wie schon" instead of throwing caps into the wheel, and hopes the L.B.C. Eight will visit on their Rhine tour.