The Cycle, Vol 2, No 3
Articles in this issue
- The unsigned editorial covers several controversies: League officers under criminal indictment in New York for their League work; Huntley's record attempt invalidated because pacers from all three classes (professional Crocker, amateur Doane, promateur Burnham) competed together in violation of A.C.U. rules; inadequate vetting of class-race entrants at Hartford, Lynn, and Roseville; and rivalry between Lynn and Springfield wheelmen over the Columbia team's record attempts.
- A miscellany of short notes, jokes, and gossip from the cycling world, covering topics including the October riding season, promateur status debates, the N.C.U. amateur rule controversy, the Massachusetts Club road races, and various club and rider news from England and America.
- A humorous poem, signed 'Merrie Wheeler,' recounting a tandem tricycle descent of Shrewsbury Hill in which the rear rider dismounts to chase off a dog, leaving the lady on the front seat to career down the hill alone at terrifying speed until he catches up and reclaims his seat.
- A whimsical fiction piece, reprinted from the Christmas Cyclist, in which three bicycles — a battered Humber racer, a pert Meteor sociable, and an Imperial Club — swap stories of their season's adventures on a rainy night, culminating in the Humber's tale of how its master rode six miles at racing pace to summon coastguard help for his future wife, stranded on a Devonshire cliff by the incoming tide.
- Signed '5678,' this column surveys lessons from the autumn tournament season at Hartford, Springfield, Lynn, and Roseville: too many race days flooded the market, inconvenient dates hurt attendance, and promateur races were predictable; the writer advocates merging promateurs into the professional ranks to invigorate competition next year.
- Signed 'Daisie,' this column describes the ladies' annual run to the North Shore (Cape Ann), previews a promising new variable-gear ladies' machine with lever action that could make hilly New Hampshire roads manageable, and closes with a comic anecdote of tow-boys hooking their horses to the tricycles to haul two exhausted riders up a steep city hill.
- Race results from Philadelphia (Association for the Advancement of Cycling), Lynn (League of Essex County Wheelmen), Dorchester (Dorchester Club road races), and Baltimore (Baltimore Club), listing winners, runners-up, and times for one-mile, two-mile, five-mile, fifteen-mile, and handicap events.
- Full official results of W. A. Rhodes's record attempt at Springfield on 8 October, paced by Ives, Illston, Adams, and Haradon, in which he set promateur-class records above ten miles and world's records from eleven to twenty-one miles; followed by F. F. Ives's 100-mile record attempt on 9 October, in which he held world's records through 68 miles before falling back to American records.
- Brief news items on newly organized or recently active cycling clubs: the Thomaston (Conn.) Cycle Club lists its new officers; the Milford Wheel Club announces a promenade concert and ball; the Allegheny Bicycle Club and Cleveland Club report annual officer elections; and the New Orleans Bicycle Club names its officers for the coming year.