Vol 3, No 10
Articles in this issue
- The 1880 Bath trial ended in a complete blank for medals: an easterly gale scattered the twenty-four starters, followed at a distance by H. L. Cortis, and only A. D. Butler finished, reaching Hounslow about 7.30 in roughly twelve hours after giving the medal up as hopeless at seventy-five miles. Wynne led to Marlborough and Newbury before taking the train, Boyer scored the first tumble at Box and Butler and Francis both fell on new flints before Melksham; Herbert on Marlborough Hill and Jennings at Newbury supplied the times, and of the twenty-four machines ten were "Humbers," seven "Clubs," two "William Keens" and two "Timberlakes."
- Captain Theo. Godlee apologises for the inconvenience caused by his earlier notice about the Club cloth to be supplied by Angus, it is not yet actually made, and promises to announce in these columns when it is ready.
- Notice from Norman B. Morris, District Captain, that Saturday 22nd May's run goes "by general request" to Little Berkhampstead, a pretty village off the Hatfield Road near Northaw, not to be confounded with Berkhampstead beyond Watford, with a snug little inn, an old tower giving a grand view, and a nearly full moon for the ride home.
- A short correction signed A. Fowler for T. Godlee: the run on Saturday 22nd May will be to Havering, not to Halliford as announced on the Meet Card.
- Five men, A. Barker, E. H. Carr, W. Johns, A. O. Tylor and J. Williams, jun., had a most enjoyable run to Caterham on the 12th, and members are reminded that next Saturday's run is to Povey's Cross to meet the S.W., not to Halliford as originally arranged.
- "The Treasurer's Deputy" tabulates the alphabetical list of members against subscriptions paid, 12 of 25 C's, 10 of 21 S's, 7 of 25 B's and so on, making seventy-nine members in arrear, and asks whether it is fair to treat a Deputy Treasurer so, begging the seventy-nine to send a Post Office Order and have done with it.
- Racing at the University Running Ground, Oxford, on Tuesday 18th May over a dusty, rough path in a strong wind. W. L. Ainslie won the Two Miles Trial from L. A. Wynne and also the Ten Miles; in the Two Miles Invitation Handicap the Hon. I. Keith-Falconer from scratch could only dead-heat with H. V. Cleaver, who spilled over the handles past the tape, and C. E. Liles took the final; D. R. Smith of Queen's beat Ainslie by thirty yards in the Twenty-five Miles in 1 hr. 34 min. 18 sec.
- The full programme of the One Mile Unofficial Handicap at Surbiton on 25th May: eight heats from 7 p.m., with W. T. Thorn, jun., H. V. Cleaver and W. Wyndham off short marks and A. Herbert on 65 yards, the eight winners to run in two heats and then a final. Gold medal first prize and two silver; Dr. Coleman judge, G. P. Coleman timekeeper, H. Andrews starter, C. L. Miles of the Kingston B.C. clerk of the course, with train times from Waterloo and Clapham Junction.
- The race meeting at Stamford Bridge on 15th May. E. Hudson beat J. Bates and C. W. Fagan in the Two Miles Bicycle Club Handicap, the limit men finishing fifty yards clear of the scratch. In the Open Two Miles Handicap, run in three heats, Cortis scraped into the final by six inches and W. T. Thorn just missed his place; M. J. R. Dundas took the final by three yards from T. W. Howard, with Rendell falling in the third lap.
- Two advertisements: Cyril J. Turner offers a 52-in. half-bright "Racer" by John Keen in good condition for £5, being about to give up racing; and W. W. Northcott of Ealing offers a 52-in. "Timberlake" that cost £16 for £7.
- The district meet table for the next three Saturdays: N.E. from Lea Bridge Road for Havering and Harlow, N.W. from "Jack Straw's Castle" for Little Berkhampstead, Essendon and St. Alban's, West from the "Royal Oak," Harlesden Green, for Kenton Lanes and Elstree and later Rickmansworth and Sanderstead, S.W. from the "Griffin," Kingston, and the two S.E. divisions converging on Povey's Cross, Penshurst and Betchworth; Wednesday evening runs go to West Wickham and Addington and to Banstead.
- A. H. Koch and Alison ride from Chipping Ongar through Writtle to Chelmsford, Great Waltham and Howstreet, where a small boy misdirects them into a farmyard guarded by a sheep dog that lies in wait and springs at Alison on the way back. On to Dunmow, Bishops Stortford and the "Chequers," then Much Hadham, Ware and Hertford, where they meet Williams, Hindley and Kinder, returning by Essendon, the Great North Road, Barnet and Harlesden Green, about eighty-five miles over good Essex roads.
- "The Bishop of Pork Fat" reports the Dark Blue men hard at work on the path for the 26th every evening and some mornings, the dry weather making the going bad and the north-east wind destroying good temper and good time. Road riding has declined as it should, though the run to Maidenhead on the 8th to meet the Temple B.C. was much enjoyed; one good man rode thirteen miles and felt as if he had done eighty.
- The fixture list from the La Crosse Club mile handicap at Stamford Bridge on May 22nd and the C.U.Bi.C. Easter Term races through to the L.A.C. Winter Meeting on November 6th, including C.U.Bi.C. v. L.B.C. at Cambridge on May 29th, the London B.C. Annual Race Meeting on June 19th, and meetings for the Pickwick, Dewsbury, Croydon, Kingston, Stanley, Tufnell, Belgrave, Eastbourne, Lombard, Arion, Brighton, Surrey and Druids clubs.
- "Blinkers" describes a day's riding with Soupsquares, McCullum, Shields and Spon: breakfast at half-past eight, away at 10.35 by Sandown, Hersham Green and Burwood Park, astray through Ottershaw towards Chobham, a refresher at Sunningdale and a glorious spin through Windsor Forest where Spon's early spurting told on his empty stomach. The party splits at Windsor, Soupsquares and Shields to Maidenhead and Tapley's, the writer through Hatton, Bedfont and Feltham to Hampton Court, with distances of 53 to 68 miles, and Spon spraining his ankle on stones at Acton.
- "L'homme qui rit" praises Herbert's hearty welcome and Nops's basket of grub and cool milk on Marlborough Hill, rates A. D. Butler's 100 miles in 12 hrs. 10 min. against the gale above all previous Trial performances, and reports a South-Wester's hub lamp exploding in his front wheel. Also the Captain's seventeen packages, A. Fowler's lost gold watch, the ladies at the ninth milestone, Cleaver's spill at the D.B.Bi.C. meeting, Young's rhapsody on the Laindon Hills from his "Southern Tour," the Beaulieu Abbey gardener who traced the Abbey "right up to the Jacksonses," and a proposed North Woolwich racing path with its two straights separated by a row of trees.
- A single letter, "Shall We Run It Again," in which W. X. W. answers the Monday-evening suggestions that the Trial should have been postponed, re-run on another day, or started from Hounslow in the opposite direction. No foresight can predict a wind that may change overnight, no date would suit thirty-four men half of whom will be abroad in August, and he doubts the ten hours was impossible, Butler himself reckons 10 hrs. 15 min. was within reach. The Committee should stick to Whit Monday and start whatever happens.
- The standing notice that contributions must go to the Editor, L.B.C. Gazette, 35, Eastcheap, E.C., bear the author's name, be written on one side of the paper only and arrive by Wednesday morning, plus the offer of Messrs. Darling's Club-badged portfolios for unbound copies at 2s.; "Historicus" is acknowledged as received.