THE CYCLISTS 79 



and latterly by motors, had reduced the thing to an 

 absurdity in which there was no credit and — worse still 

 — no advertisement. Then, therefore, a new order of 

 things was set agoing, and the era of unpaced records 

 was begun. 



On September 27th, 1898, E. J. Steel established a 

 London to Brighton and back unpaced cycling record 

 of 6 hrs. 23 mins. 55 sees. ; and on the same day the 

 new unpaced tricycle record of 8 hrs. 11 mins. 10 sees, 

 lor the double journey was set up by P. F. A. Gomme. 



The South London Harriers' open " go-as-you- 

 please " walking or running match of May 6th, 1899, 

 attracted the attention of the athletic world in a very 

 marked degree. Cyclists, in especial, were in evidence, 

 to make the pace, to judge, to sponge down the com- 

 petitors or to refresh them by the wayside. The start 

 was made from Big Ben soon after seven o'clock in the 

 morning, when fourteen aspirants, all clad in the 

 regulation running costumes and sweaters, went forth 

 to win the modern equivalent of the victor's laurelled 

 crown in the ancient Olympian games. F. D. Randall, 

 who won, got away from his most dangerous opponent 

 on the approach to Redhill, and, increasing that 

 advantage to a hundred yards' lead when in the midst 

 of the town, was not afterwards seriously challenged. 

 He finished in the splendid time of 6 hrs. 58 mins. 18 

 sees. Saward, the second, completed it in 7 hrs. 

 17 mins. 50 sees., and the veteran E. Ion Pool in 

 another 4 mins. 



As if to show the superiority of the cycle over mere 

 pedestrian efforts, H. Green on June 30th cycled from 

 London to Brighton and back, unpaced, in 5 hrs. 

 50 mins. 23 sees., and on August 12th, 1902, reduced 

 his own record by 20 mins. 1 sec. Meanwhile, Harrv 

 Vowles, a blind musician of Brighton, who had for 

 some vears made an annual walk from Brighton to 

 London, on October 15th, 1900, accomplished his 

 ambition to walk the distance in one day. He left 

 Brighton at 5 a.m. and reached the Alhambra, in 

 Leicester Square, at ten o'clock that night. 



