The Bearings, Vol 11, No 20
Articles in this issue
- Joseph Dollister of the Derby Cycling Club wins the Milwaukee road race over 80 starters while C.V. Dasey ("King of Ireland") of the Chicago Cycling Club takes the time prize in 30:48; W. De Cardy files a protest over the timing, and the prize list is headed by a piano and a diamond medal.
- New York state meet race committee firmly refuses entries from the Spalding and Stearns teams after manager Joseph Goodman demands entry fees be waived; charges similar to those that expelled Tom Eck from L.A.W. tracks are threatened against Goodman, while talk of forming a new professional racing league grows.
- The Bearings launches a $250 article competition over three months, offering five prizes of $50 each for the best short paragraph, practical cycling article, bicycle tour account, mechanical article, and article on selling bicycles on the road.
- The Limited Club of Minneapolis starts a relay ride to St. Cloud but a torrential cloudburst stops the message at Elk River after ten miles; A.A. Hansen, known as "Rainmaker," presses on through mud before the ride is abandoned at 4:30 p.m. and rescheduled for June 22.
- Opening day of national circuit racing at Syracuse produces two world and a state record: W.E. Shaw sets the Class A half-mile world competition record in 1:03⁵⁄₅, and C.R. Coulter with L.C. Johnson breaks the state one-mile competition record in 2:08⁵⁄₅; G.J. Chaffee sets a new novice record in 2:19.
- J.C. Weidner, a seven-minute man riding a Rambler for no club, wins the St. Louis Forest Park 20-mile road race in 57:01 in his very first contest, while scratch man W.W. Hamilton of Denver takes the time prize in 54:17 ahead of Tracy Holmes of the Chicago Cycling Club before 15,000 spectators.
- A press party tours Brooklyn's new Manhattan Beach one-third-mile track built at a cost of some $50,000, finding 48-degree banking, continuous black guideline markings on the turns, a 300-foot grand stand, and a press pit sunk below track level; the track is claimed to be ten to twenty seconds faster than Waltham.
- Chicago Alderman Hambleton writes the Associated Cycling Clubs inviting them to formulate points for a single comprehensive cycling ordinance to replace the city's maze of conflicting existing regulations; the A.C.C. receives the letter warmly and plans to act on the suggestion.
- Editorial praises the second Chicago-New York relay completed in 62 hours 56 minutes over nearly 1,000 miles in favorable conditions, contrasting it with The Bearings' own first 1892 relay that took 108 hours through driving rain and mud; the editor calls the feat nearly miraculous for human muscle power.
- Charles K. Anderson of Hales & Anderson, Chicago agents for the Ariel and Wolff-American bicycles, surprises friends by eloping to Milwaukee with Miss Eva L. Brice, captain of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Chicago Cycling Club; the couple are now living on the North Side.
- Reviews of four cycling publications: Luther A. Porter's revised "Cycling for Health and Pleasure" (Dodd, Mead & Co.); the legal reference "Road Rights and Liabilities of Wheelmen" (Callaghan & Co., Chicago); W.S. Maltby's travel memoir "Trick Riding in Many Lands"; and a Chicago-Milwaukee road map pamphlet issued free by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.
- E.S. Smith wins the 22-mile road race at Springfield, Mass. over 100 starters including many New England cracks such as Eben Snow and Nat Butler; Harvey Caldwell wins the time prize in 1:02:15½ from a 30-second handicap.
- Kansas City voters approve park and boulevard charter amendments by an overwhelming majority on June 6, clearing the way for a cycling-friendly boulevard system; the city council agrees not to mandate lamps or bells but bans sidewalk riding and sets an eight-mile-per-hour speed limit.
- Emil Ulbricht breaks the world 50-mile record in Los Angeles, covering the distance in 2:03:56⁵⁄₅ — more than seven minutes faster than Meintjes' previous record of 2:11:06⁵⁄₅ — with the first 25 miles completed in 1:01:05⁵⁄₅.
- A road race sensation in Salt Lake City's intermountain country: novice Fenton defeats reigning champion Jensen for the time prize on Decoration Day; Jensen's friends claim he did not ride his best for the first seven miles, and the controversy is expected to produce a match race with $600 to $1,000 wagered on the outcome.
- New York correspondent covers the Chicago-NY relay finish at 1:57 a.m. as "Birdie" Munger delivers the last leg to 5,000 spectators at the Metropolitan Bicycling Co. on 60th Street; the New York Times' tri-state relay won by New Jersey (75 points over New York's 55 and Pennsylvania's 45); and the Long Island century run from Sag Harbor to Brooklyn draws over 100 cyclists.
- The Lake View Wheelmen meet at Rochester Driving Park draws an estimated 8,000–10,000 spectators; Edward Cannon Bald wins the mile open Class B final in 2:08⁵⁄₅ never headed, Zimmerman rides an exhibition mile in 2:14 paced by Johnson's Globe quadruplet team, and Hayes Willis wins the 15-mile road race.
- At Asa Windle's national circuit meet in Clinton, Mass., a bid to break the mile record falls short despite Mayo and Saunders pacing; Lee Richardson rides a backward half-mile in 2:14 and is booked for future Springfield and Boston meets; Bald wins the mile scratch from Sims and Cabanne.
- The opening of Toronto's new Hanlan's Island board track features Harley Davidson riding from scratch to a new Canadian competition record of 2:12; Angus McLeod lowers the unpaced flying-start mile record to 2:18½; the Queen City and Toronto Bicycle Club also hold road races on Kingston Road.
- The E.B. Dye 10-mile road race in Louisville ends in controversy after six checkers' sheets conflict and three finishers are disqualified; John Mason Brown, a 21-year-old Yale man in his very first bicycle race riding a Premier, wins overall, while A.J. Nowlin takes the time prize from scratch in 26:02; Dirnberger's Louisville record attempts are later found to have lacked Racing Board sanction.
- Private Albert Matthey of Battery G, First U.S. Cavalry, leaves Fort Hamilton by bicycle carrying dispatches from General Miles to Fort Sheridan on a one-month furlough, making the round trip and due in Chicago on June 22.
- The Riverton Athletic Association opens its new quarter-mile track before 3,000 spectators with Charles Church of the Chester Bicycle Club winning two events over crack New York rider E.A. Bofinger; a tire explosion in the five-mile race causes a mass pile-up injuring McCurdy, Mead, Trott, and Jones.
- At the Rambling Wheelmen's opening meet at Pleasure Beach, Bridgeport, a collision between local favorite Thomas Aston and F.B. Stowe of Conway in the half-mile final leaves both men unconscious; a false rumor that Aston is dead prostrates two women in the crowd, but both riders recover.
- The two-day Grinnell, Iowa meet (June 7–8) produces a new Iowa half-mile state record of 1:07¼ by Spaulding; Storm of the Grinnell Cycle Club dominates the second day with five firsts and one third, while Spalding wins the county championship and Vanderver takes multiple seconds.
- Belgian crack R. Protin wins the Grand Prix d'Europe at Dijon and the Course d'Honneur in his first race after two years away, sparking debate over whether he or Houben is the true European champion; Jimmy Michael fails world 50- and 100-kilometer record attempts at Rouen due to wind but beats the 60-kilometer mark; G.A. Banker wins multiple professional events in France and Barden rides Linton to a standstill in the 10-kilometer race.
- W.C. Sanger and F.J. Titus of the Spalding team are in heavy training at Springfield, Mass., Sanger seven pounds heavier than last season; F.G. Barnett of the Monarch team has tied Sanger's unpaced mile record; Springfield racing man Edward A. Nelson weds Miss Emma Louise Holbrook.
- The Remington Cycle Club's national circuit meet at Ilion, NY draws 12–15 starters per Class B race and a packed grandstand; Zimmerman attends as race judge, remarking it is harder than he expected; Coulter wins both Class B opens, Jenny beats Helfert in a thrilling half-mile handicap, and the entire Stearns team suffers falls.
- The Associated Cycling Clubs of Chicago cancels the planned July 4 Pullman road race following the Decoration Day fiasco; a substitute 16-mile race is set for June 15 starting at Highland Park and running through Glencoe, Winnetka, Wilmette, and Evanston, with a special four-car train transporting riders and spectators.
- S.C. Cox of the Lincoln Cycling Club of Chicago, though a novice put on scratch in all the handicaps at Madison, Wis., wins the one-mile novice, half-mile open, and one-mile open races at the southwestern Wisconsin triangular circuit meet.
- Preview of the Illinois Division meet at Galesburg, June 19–21, where the Monarch team (Bliss, Steele, Levy, Cooper, Barnett) is entered in Class B; Chicago wheelmen show unusual enthusiasm with the Burlington Route and Santa Fe both running special $4 round-trip trains, and Galesburg offering rooms for 6,000 visitors.
- The Western Hardware Co. of Salt Lake City files Racing Board charges against Frank Thatcher, considered the fastest short-distance man in the region, who resigned from the local Stearns team to join the Rambler racers; the Stearns agents seek to prevent him from riding any other wheel during the 1895 season.
- A Bearings' correspondent in Syracuse reports on the deadlocked Johnson-Zimmerman match race negotiations; Tom Eck recounts in his own words how Zimmerman evaded him for three consecutive days from Waltham through Boston and New York, and reveals that Barnes Cycle Co. has now signed Johnson — to race as "The White Flyer" — with W. McLane of Grand Rapids offering $2,500 for a series of three mile heats.
- Technical editorial explains that square-cut tube reinforcements brazed into bicycle frame joints are nearly useless because vibration concentrates at their abrupt ends and eventually snaps the main tube; properly tapered or pointed reinforcements gradually absorb vibration and offer far greater durability, a lesson from many frame breaks this season.
- Wide-ranging trade report: the Monarch Cycle Co. ships 150–160 wheels daily and paid $12,360 in wages on its last pay day, targeting 40,000 wheels in 1896; Eagle, Rambler, Czar, Fowler, Indiana Bicycle (Waverley), and Sterling all report demand exceeding supply; the Trenton cyclometer by Trenton Watch Co. is praised as the neatest and lightest recording instrument on the market.
- Los Angeles correspondent reports better-than-expected 1895 trade with only one firm in twenty having adequate stock; major changes include Allen & Patterson dissolving, Phil Kitchin leaving Ulbricht & Kitchin with Emil Ulbricht taking sole control of the Thistle business, and C.C. Hopkins joining the Rambler territory for Southern California.
- London correspondent visits Battersea Park and counts up to 300 upper-class lady cyclists per morning arriving by victoria with footmen to pump tires, riding slowly on old machines while holding parasols; argues the aristocratic cycling fad will spread to the middle classes and ultimately boost trade in ladies' safety bicycles.
- Philadelphia trade report finds the market improving as large consignments arrive; newcomers Garden & Brewster have sold over 1,000 Victor and Crescent machines using installment plans, outperforming older houses; Spalding, Cleveland (Lozier & Co.), Apollo, Eagle, and Lovell Diamond all report strong if delayed trade.
- Technical note advising cyclists never to tighten tire valve caps with tools or at maximum finger pressure; over-tightening ruins the delicate rubber washer inside the valve and ultimately causes the very leaking it was meant to prevent.
- Technical explanation of bicycle gear calculation: divide front sprocket teeth by rear sprocket teeth and multiply by the driving wheel diameter (typically 28 inches); illustrated with a 16-tooth front and 7-tooth rear sprocket yielding a 64-inch gear that propels the machine 16 feet 9 1/7 inches per pedal revolution.
- Official L.A.W. Racing Board bulletin listing suspensions pending investigation (Benjamin Wells, A.D. Kreamer, A.W. Cleaver of Los Angeles), Class B transfers, acceptance of F.G. Barnett's two-mile flying-start record of 4:42⁵⁄₅ set May 25 at Louisville, and suspensions of Morris and Hackett of Kansas City plus nineteen Brooklyn and Long Island riders for competing in unsanctioned races.
- Report from San Luis Potosi on the Veloz Club Potosino's new board under president H.M. Moran, with inter-club race meets planned in coordination with Mexico City, Puebla, Guadalajara, and Monterey; notes wheel delivery delays of two to three months and persistent tire puncture troubles from cactus thorns on Mexican roads.
- Indianapolis bicycle manufacturing boom: the Bellis Cycle Co. employs 35 men making a high-grade wheel; the Kregelo syndicate organizes a major new works; and the Indianapolis Chain & Stamping Co. (founded 1890 by Test, Fletcher, and Newby) begins a new two-story factory capable of 2,000,000 chains annually employing nearly 1,000 persons.
- Industry news from across the US and Canada: new bicycle companies forming in Little Falls (NY), Richmond (Ind.), Pittfield (Mass.), St. Louis, Toronto (Massey-Harris entering bicycle manufacturing with a five-story factory for 5,000–10,000 wheels), and over two dozen other cities; dealer changes, agency transfers, and plant launches reported nationwide.