The Wheel World, Vol 3, No 18
Articles in this issue
- Criticises the Bicycle Touring Club's plan to expand its circular into a general bicycling journal funded from club subscriptions, arguing the money would be better spent repaying the member who once cleared its 50 pound debt.
- Reprints the Daily News's Bank Holiday tribute to bicycling, praising road-books, the Portsmouth Road via Cobham and Guildford, and the revival of old coaching inns like the Anchor at Ripley.
- Reprints a News correspondent's complaint that touring accounts in the cycling press dwell too much on drinking, giving non-cyclist readers the impression that bicyclists have "the thirst of a Falstaff."
- Summarises ex-Crichton B.C. secretary A. M. Bolton's 1881 Continental tour for Bicycling News, tabulating the route and distances from London via Newhaven and Dieppe to Paris.
- By Harry J. Swindley: Part II of the serial, in which Tom Ruston wins the Barmouth B.C.'s ten-mile championship after his rival fouls him and crashes, and is feted by Mr Kelly and his daughter Alice.
- A short poem by Bab Yardley on the joys of an early-morning ride, a noiseless glide past sweet-smelling hedges, and a solitary evening wander.
- A comic cautionary poem, signed "Aout", about a tipsy rider pursued and terrified by his own bell rattling loose in his pocket, ending impaled on a spiked gate.
- No. 2: a profile of J. H. Pullin of the Pickwick, recalling his boneshaker days at school and his rise on a "D.H.F." roadster and then a racing Humber.
- West of England notes on the Clifton B.C.'s championship race (won by Fox) and the Weymouth B.C.'s Challenge Cup, won by Cowdry after Flooks and Cowdry collided half a mile from home.
- By C. R. Hutchings of Bournemouth, former hon. sec. of the London B.C.: a detailed description of the double tricycle he had built, covering its independent cranks, adjustable seats and dual steering handles.
- By "An Ex Two-Wheeler": a detailed touring log of some 770 miles ridden on a new 50-inch Cheylesmore tricycle around Kent, the Isle of Thanet and north London, including a soaking ride from Welwyn to Muswell Hill.
- Eastbourne notes signed "Beachy Head" on Alf. Ryder's surprise win of the D.P. pot and the poor riding discipline shown on a club ride, including a bicycle that caught fire from its own oil box.
- Irish racing notes on the Tullamore and Lurgan Athletic Club sports meetings, and the postponed slow race at the Kingstown Bicycle Races, won by J. J. Keating of the P.B.C.
- Wry notes on the changeable September weather, the Hornsey and Canonbury clubs' Muswell Hill hill-climbing competition, and the recent marriages of "Hieland Charlie" Wilson and C. A. Harman.
- By Henry Sturmey: a review of the Phoenix Tricycle Co.'s new "Phoenix Sociable" double tricycle (Pritchard's patent), noting its tubular back-stay and right-angled pedal cranks for continuous treading.
- By E. H. A. Murray: argues tricycling beats walking for touring ordinary English roads, conceding only very mountainous or trackless country favours the pedestrian.
- Club notes on the Brixton's rowing outing to Sunbury, the Anfield (Liverpool) B.C.'s run to Hale via Chingford, the Ilford and Ino B.C.s' amalgamation as the Essex B.C., and 389 riders at the Barnet meet.
- Racing notes on Hillier's practical retirement from the track, Crute's recovery from a broken hand, and Griffith of the Surrey's return to form after racing on crutches the previous season.
- Revives the case for a dedicated London bicycle racing ground and clubhouse, proposing a joint committee of the B.U., T.A. and B.T.C. canvass clubs and manufacturers for support, and suggesting Willesden or Harlesden as the site.
- A tabulated continuation of race results from late August and September 1881, including John Keen's professional ten-mile handicap win at Cardiff and meetings at Southampton, Portsmouth, Leicester and Nottingham.
- Compiled by Hart and Co., Patent Agents: a list of new applications for letters patent for velocipedes and tricycles lodged in August 1881.