The Wheel: Journal of Bicycling, Vol 12, No 8
Articles in this issue
- Howell of Wolverhampton beats Woodside of Philadelphia by fifteen yards in the first of five international bicycle races in London, covering twenty miles in 1h. 40s. before 5,000 spectators; four races remain at 1, 5, 10, and 25 miles.
- American trick bicyclist Temple rides along the narrow wall of Aberdeen's North Pier on one wheel for about 150 yards, nearly falling into the sea at a two-foot rise before recovering to complete the feat before a cheering crowd, as reported in Bicycling News.
- Thomas Stevens replies to contradictory press reviews of his round-the-world bicycle lecture tour — the Brooklyn Eagle called it a triumph with prolonged applause while the L.A.W. Bulletin's 'Owl' dismissed it as evoking 'but faint applause' — and asks why cycling fraternal papers criticise where daily papers praise.
- A reader in Van Buren, Carter County, Missouri, writes to Pope Mfg. Co. offering a warranty deed to forty acres of railroad-adjacent land in exchange for a fair tricycle.
- The Kings County Wheelmen of Brooklyn announce their Annual Spring Races on June 25th at the Brooklyn Athletic Association grounds, with amateur events including a 5-mile open handicap, relay team race, boys' half-mile, and ride-and-run, plus medals and prizes; Secretary W.I. Amerman, 159 Clymer St.
- Humorous account — signed 'Titnam' — of the drunken initiation of A. Von B. K. Wilde into the London 'Great American Earthmen,' a cycling society of 'scientific liquidation' requiring members to wear racing jerseys and drink everything the president orders, with a chapter about to be established in Boston.
- Charles Richards Dodge reports on strict cycling licensing regulations in Munich and an international race meet at the Munchener Velociped Club track attended by Princess Gisella and Prince Alphonso of Bavaria; Albert Sild of Vienna's 'Wanderers' club won both the tricycle race (6m. 15s.) and the safety race, while professional champion Paul Medenger of Paris took the 1,000-mark final in 24m. 30s.
- Translated race programme of the Munchener Velociped Club's Spring Races on May 1, 1887, listing seven events from a 2,000-metre bicycle race won by Max Reheis of Wasserburg to a professional 1,000-mark final between Englishmen Duncan and Bird and Frenchmen Dubois and Medenger, with the full officials' roster.
- New Jersey correspondent 'Jonah' covers the spring cycling boom and overcrowded dealers, the Elizabeth Wheelmen's new club house, Smithville racers Frazier, McCurdy, and Brooks departing for Clarksville, and team selections for the inter-club road race from Elizabeth, Union County, Rutherford, and Hudson County clubs.
- Correspondent 'Victor' details Baltimore's plans for the L.A.W. division meet on June 20-21, including a grand fancy dress and lantern parade from the Maryland Bicycle Club down Charles Street, races at Halstead's track with an enlarged grandstand, and a theatre party for 400 guests at the Academy of Music.
- Notes from Covington, Kentucky on the annual L.A.W. Division meeting; Cincinnati riders Wayne, Bennett, and Livingston heading to the St. Louis League meet; a dispute with the 'Captain of the Whoopemup Wheelmen' over calling rink races 'scrub races'; and a contested Cincinnati Sun gold medal first won by Bryan Burroughs and then withheld by T.R. Belding.
- Philadelphia correspondent reports that Louis J. Kolb of the Medical Department set a new inter-collegiate two-mile bicycle record of 6m. 8s. at the University sports while C.B. Keene fell; clubs plan Memorial Day runs, and J.C. Northrup of Camden's steam tricycle may appear in the St. Louis League parade.
- A dispatch from North Adams describes the gaily decorated Wagner drawing-room car carrying Massachusetts L.A.W. delegates westward, including Col. A.A. Pope, Abbot Bassett (secretary-editor), Sanford Lawton (treasurer), W.B. Everett of the Boston Club, and representatives from Cambridge and Somerville clubs.
- Announcement of the club's Second Annual Meet on June 13th at the half-mile red brick clay track at the Fair Grounds, with nine events including a two-mile handicap and team race; road runs offered to Antietam battlefield, Boonsboro near South Mountain, and Pen Mar mountain resort; entries close June 10th with Edwin J. McKee.
- Karl Kron addresses his 3,000 subscribers in verse, announcing that after four years of preparation his cycling book — referenced as 'X. M. Miles' — will be delivered on May 25th, and issues a 'clarion-call' for 30,000 purchasers.
- Minneapolis correspondent 'L. B. G.' reports an estimated 500 wheels in the city, joint runs by the Mercury and Minneapolis Clubs to Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, the New Rapid bicycle's debut at $140, and a sidewalk riding dispute at Northampton, Mass., where the Wheel Club successfully petitioned for a modified ordinance permitting riding within half a mile of the city centre.
- The Brooklyn Bicycle Club publishes its 1887 schedule of runs including a Decoration Day tour through New Jersey and Staten Island, a century run, and annual club dinner June 21st; also lists 1887 medals and trophies for track championship, road championship series at 2, 5, and 10 miles, and a record medal for breaking the Long Island 24-hour road record; Captain A.B. Barkman.
- New 32-member cycling club formed in south Philadelphia with headquarters at 1445 Hicks Street, fitted up with a reception parlour, wheel storage rooms, and bath with lockers; officers include President Samuel Jackson, Vice-President Louis J. Kolb, and Captain Harry McArdle.
- Editorial review of Ira Perego's new 50-page illustrated cycling and sporting goods catalogue from his stores at 128-130 Fulton Street and 87 Nassau Street, New York, covering caps and helmets in 26 styles ($0.50-$3.50), jerseys ($2.50-$5.00), bicycling shoes, corduroy Norfolk suits, and men's furnishing goods including imported neckwear and Pajamas.
- Feature by 'Fossil' on the Long Island Wheelmen's new club house at Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn — with wheel hall capacity for 150 machines, parlours trimmed in antique oak with tiled fireplace, billiard room with balcony, locker rooms, bath, and gymnasium — valued over $15,000; the club, organised in 1882 under President Wm. W. Share, is the largest wheeling organisation in Brooklyn and credited with opening Prospect Park roadways to cyclists.
- Regular department covering Karl Kron's book due May 25th; T.J. Kirkpatrick's candidacy for L.A.W. president; John S. Prince's new 4¼-lap Omaha track; Con Dwyer's grass record of 2:48 2-5 at Melbourne's Fernside Cycle Club meet before 12,000 spectators; S.A. McGuire's two-mile win at Columbia College (6m. 36½s.); bicyclist Pickering in Melbourne chasing and halting a runaway horse; and the Connecticut Bicycle Club of Hartford election.
- Preview of the L.A.W. 100-mile road race championship on May 23rd at Clarksville, Missouri; first prize is a solid silver World's Championship Cup valued at $300 plus a $140 bicycle; named starters include S.G. Whittaker (American Champion, holder of the 100-mile road record at 6h. 1½m.), A.A. McCurdy (Star, 24-hour record 305 miles), W.A. Rhodes (Victor), Charles F. Frazier (Star, Smithville), and John S. Prince (Omaha).
- Full programme for the L.A.W. convention in St. Louis on May 20-21 under chairman W.M. Brewster; includes Mississippi River excursion on steamer Chouteau Friday evening, Saturday parade from Twentieth and Locust Streets to Forest Park, Lindell Hotel headquarters, and road tours to DeSoto, Ballwin (40 miles round trip), and Montesano Springs.
- Isaac B. Potter reports to The Wheel that the New York Senate passed the wheelmen's rights bill without amendment, defeating Senator Daly's motion to exclude Central Park — Daly declared bicycles 'a nuisance' and claimed the Park Board attributed more accidents to bicycles than all other causes combined — with only Daly and Dunham voting against.
- G. Lacy Hillier outlines a full training regimen: morning track sessions with sweater and 5-6 short spurts after slow warm-up laps, followed by rubdown with Elliman's Embrocation; evening sessions in racing kit with all-out sprints of 150-400 yards assisted by a pacemaker; emphasis that pace, not staying power, is the primary goal of track practice, and that men must stop before giddiness or sleeplessness warn of over-training.
- Excerpt from Lord Bury and G. Lacy Hillier's Badminton Series 'Cycling' on the correct ankle technique through the full crank circle: heel-down forward kick at segment 1, downward thrust at mid-stroke, and 'clawing' backward pull through segments 5-6 with toes pressed hard and calf strongly retracted, for maximum pedaling efficiency.
- New Orleans correspondent 'Bi.' reports the failed Baton Rouge run, a Shell Beach ride by Hill, Fairchild, Fenner, and Guedry over 34 tough miles, Col. E.C. Fenner's sale of nine American Challenge bicycles in Opelousas for Gormully & Jeffery, the N.O.B.C.'s close vote to retain compulsory L.A.W. membership, and a proposal for a Southern Inter-Club-Team Road Racing Association linking cycling clubs from Memphis to New Orleans.
- The East Hartford Wheel Club elects L.S. Forbes as President and H.E. Bidwell as Captain for the coming year, and announces a spring race meeting on June 4th featuring a half-mile handicap with prizes for all who reach the final heat.
- Editor's exchange with the English Bicycling World over G. Lacy Hillier riding an Overman Victor — quoting The Cyclist's report that Hillier 'made it skip to such a tune we couldn't hold on to the back wheel'; also trade notes on A.G. Spalding's new club uniforms for the Ixion club, the Facile Light Roadster's eighteen rows of ball bearings, and the Long Island Wheelmen's club house nearing completion.
- Description of new 'Bark' summer hats made from African tree bark ('El Marahaban Di Targo') by D.B. & H.M. Lester of 581 Broadway, New York — extremely lightweight, non-conducting of heat, foldable in the pocket, and unaffected by wet weather — available in sporting helmet and naval helmet shapes at Peck & Snyder (Nassau Street), J.R. Judd & Co. (West 36th Street), and other New York and Brooklyn dealers.