THE SILENT STEED. - Oakland Tribune, 14 Jul 1885

THE SILENT STEED.

A Grand Bicycle Tournament - General Notes

The run of wheelmen through Golden Gate Park on the 26th instant, promises to by the finest exhibition ever on the Pacific coast. The Bay City Club will manage the affair, and entries from all parts of the State have been made, including a number of Oakland riders. The Oakland boys and those from San Jose, San Mateo, Napa and Benicia, will attend the tournament in a body. It is thought in connection with the assembling of all the prominent wheelmen in the State, will result in the formation of a Pacific Coast League.

A twenty-mile bicycle race has been arranged between F. D. Merrill and Fred. S. Rollinson for $100 a side and the entire gate receipts. Rollinson will allow his opponent a start of one-half of a mile, and the contest will take place in about two weeks, either at the Neptune Gardens, Alameda, or at the Pavilion in San Francisco. Each contestant has deposited $50 forfeit money with D. R. McNeill of San Francisco.

Joseph L. Bley is considered to be one of the best youthful experts on the coast. On his return from Monterey last week he covered at one time 150 miles in eighteen hours' riding time. He is now in his twelfth year.

Thomas Stevens, who started from this city last spring for a "cycling" tour around the world, had passed through Constantinople at the last accounts.