The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 10, No 12
Articles in this issue
- Editorial analysis of the newly formed American Cyclists' Union as a permanent rival to the L.A.W., questioning its viability given it controls only five fast men while the League can draw on hundreds, and discussing the problematic role of makers' amateurism as demonstrated at the Lynn races involving Kluge, Rowe, Powell, Rich, and others.
- Full report of the first race under the N.Y. and N.J. Inter-Club Bicycle Road Race Association, a 25¼-mile course from Clinton Avenue to Milburn and back; E.M. Valentine (K.C.W.) won riding a Columbia, with Stenken (H.C.W.) on a Star second and Caldwell (E.W., aged fifteen) third, with full split-time tables and entry lists.
- Results of the Yale B.C. annual tournament at Hamilton Park, New Haven, June 11–12, with George M. Hendee winning the three- and five-mile record races, W.A. Rowe taking the three-mile scratch, and A.B. Rich winning the ten-mile Pope Cup over John Illston of Hartford.
- Round-up of racing notes covering meets in St. Louis, New York (W.S. Gilson's three-mile handicap win for Pegasus B.C.), San Francisco (W.G. Davis winning the California State Championship), and the London International tournament, plus C.H. Potter's lawsuit against the Lynn Cycle Track Association for switching from L.A.W. to A.C.U. rules after entries were accepted.
- Miscellaneous news items covering Pittsburgh's new cinder path, the Springfield Bi. Club's July 5th handicap road race, the C.T.C. reaching 20,000 members, Bayliss & Thomas's papier-mâché dress-guard, a critique of the Cycling Times of London for reprinting Wheel Gossip under 'American Notes' without credit, and the A.C.U.'s nomination of officers including H.E. Ducker as president.
- Narrative account of the Elizabeth Wheelmen's Decoration Day run to Morristown, N.J. (25 miles each way), led by Captain Martin with seventeen E.W. members, five Roselle Ramblers, and guests from the New Brunswick Bicycle Club and Kings County Wheelmen; Mrs. Dr. Oliver rode a tandem the long 32-mile return route via Parsippany and Caldwell, logging 57 miles.
- Short cycling news paragraphs noting the Ixion B.C.'s planned road race to Yonkers, the L.A.W. Treasury balance of $3,377.65, upcoming meets including the N.A.A.A.A. three-mile championship at Staten Island, commentary on welshers and pickpockets at the London International tournament, and Hendee and Rowe's mile in 2:37 2/5 on the Lynn track.
- Feature on the Illston racing dynasty, reporting thirteen-year-old Tom Illston's 11½-mile road handicap win at Birmingham in 39m. 30s., beating scratch man W. Terry, and profiling his racing brothers George H., William A. (racing in England), and John (competing at Hartford), with their father watching from the centre of the field.
- Gossip column of short items about cycling personalities, noting the A.C.U.'s motto 'Jamais arrière,' Poultney Bigelow's new daughter, E.K. Austin's move to the Auburn Bi. Club, the Boston Club's planned 'Red Nose Tour,' and the failed horse-versus-bicycle race at Madison Square Garden that financially ruined promoter Stanley Francis.
- Correspondence from New Orleans reporting that tourists Hill and Fairchild have returned from Boston and will receive commemorative medals, with a dispatch on Fred Van Meerbeke's cross-country wager ride reaching San Antonio on day 68 of 150—217 miles from Houston in 90 hours—still ahead of schedule despite impassable Texas mud roads.
- Poem by Charles Richards Dodge, reprinted from The Cycle, in which a wheelman describes a Sunday ride as worship in nature's cathedral; followed by editorial comment on the L.A.W. Racing Board's partial reinstatement of Getchell, Stenken, Grover, and Brigham, who were suspended for riding at the Lynn races under what they understood to be L.A.W. rules.
- Preview notice for the K.C.W. annual spring race meet at the B.A.A. grounds, DeKalb and Classon avenues, Brooklyn, listing over ninety entries including Rich, Valentine, Gilson, Powers, Renton, Bridgman, Stenken, and out-of-town riders from Troy, Poughkeepsie, Reading, and Cohoes, with races at 3:30 p.m. under L.A.W. rules.
- Calendar of upcoming cycling events for June–July 1886, covering the Kings County Wheelmen meet (June 19), Detroit Bicycle Club races (June 21), Capital Bi. Club meet in Washington D.C. (June 26), Kings County–Elizabeth Wheelmen team road race (July 3), Canadian Wheelmen's Association annual meet in Montreal (July 4), Binghamton and Millville race meets (July 5), and the L.A.W. tour from Rochester to Harper's Ferry (July 5–16).