The Bicycle. - The San Francisco Examiner, 06 Jun 1887

The Bicycle.

Now that the San Francisco Bicycle Club races are over, the are attracting all the attention. It is expected that they will be the best and most exciting ever held on the Coast. Woodworth, the Los Angeles champion, has been in training for a month past, and a lookout may be kept for some dark horses.

Messrs. Welch, Houseworth and Gibson of the League Committee visited Santa Cruz yesterday to make arrangements for the coming meet.

Messrs. Ruthruff and Patrick of the San Francisco Bicycle Club rode to San Jose yesterday on the Oakland side, and report the roads good with the exception of from San Lorenzo to Mount Eden, which is only fair.

The League Meet Committee have issued a circular relating to the coming meet at Santa Cruz. It contains all necessary information as to accommodations, routes of travel, races, etc.

The festivities of Santa Cruz will be: Saturday night, hop, tendered by the citizens to the league: Sunday, runs to various points; Monday, parade in the morning and afternoon.

The San Jose wheelmen visited the city last Monday to view the races. What is the matter with the San Jose races?

It is the poor policy of certain unattached riders to wear club uniforms. This reflects little credit on the riders' judgment.

If Hood had a light wheel he would have shown better work last Monday. He is a good man, and wants a little work and light wheel to show it.

Messrs. McCarthy, Royce and Cobden of the San Francisco Club can be seen in the park every Sunday morning about 5 o'clock.

It is to be feared that the five-mile champion's racing days are over. He rode game, but Adcock was too much for him.

If Larzelere and Elwell had only been in the five-mile last Monday it would have been a beauty.

The road from Oakland to Haywards is in better condition at present than it has been for a year.

Fred Rollinson, the trick rider, is the chief attraction of a minstrel company in Australia.

There will be a five-mile open bicycle race at Petaluma on June 12th.

The Alameda Scorchers will reorganize shortly, with the Prince of scorchers, Percy Haslett, at their head.

Finckler has no excuses to offer regarding his poor showing in the races on Monday last, but he will probably hereafter stick to putting good riders, such as Larzelere, Davis and Patrick in championship form, which he is fully competent to do.

Fahrbach has had the reputation of being the most expert pusher-off on the coast. He earned fresh laurels on Monday by pushing-off the winner in every event, while in the quarter-mile dash Ireland says it was the lead he got at the start that enabled him to win.

Turner, who made himself obnoxious at the track on Monday in his endeavors to enter at that late hour in two of the races, will have several opportunities at the league races to distinguish himself. He may also have a chance to race against Adcock and Ireland.

The Bay City Wheelmen have again supplied the winner of the novices' race and also the champion, but this is not surprising, as the club attracts the better class of riders and is composed only of such.

There may come before the meeting of the league members at Santa Cruz the question of seceding from the national organization and forming a California league. This feeling has originated lately, and has been caused by several acts of the head of the league in the East, one of which was the assigning of the two-mile United States championship to an Eastern club some time after this division had asked for it. This snub was keenly felt by the local Chief Consul, as the facts of the delay of the assignment were misrepresented to him and he supposed that in the due course of time the race would be assigned this division. But the worst act was the throwing out of the proxies of the California representatives at St. Louis on the merest technicality. It seems the Secretary-Editor of the league (located at Boston) was dilatory in sending out proxy blanks and the Chief Consul fearing they would not reach here in time to be signed and returned to St. Louis for the business meeting, wrote suitable ones, had them executed by the proper parties, and forwarded to St. Louis. While under scrutiny of the massive brains of the Credential Committee the latter noticed that the bodies of the proxies were not in the same handwriting as the signatures, and they threw them out, not noticing that the bodies were in the handwriting of the Chief Consul, whose proxy they passed as valid. California has sent to the national headquarters some $300, and has had but $55 returned, while the national headquarters has done but little to build up what is undoubtedly the most progressive division in the Union.

From reports of trials against time made at Los Angeles and Santa Cruz the local riders will have to work hard to bring home many prizes: in Consul Radke Santa Cruz has an able representative, and riding an extremely light racing wheel on a good track he should be able to hold his ground against all comers.

The races at Santa Cruz are open to all riders irrespective of league membership.

If Henderson's name appears among the entries at Santa Cruz he will probably surprise the riders, as he apparently did not try to win on Monday, but preferred to wait until the big meeting and win all before him.