Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1896 — LOSES BY THREE SECONDS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LOSES BY THREE SECONDS.

E. O. Anderson Fails to Ride ■ Mile in a Minute. But for an accident Cyclist E. O. Anderson would have made a mile in one minute in the recent race behind the Bluff line engine at Alton, 111. When within 500 feet of the finish he was close behind the

coach, which was'’moving at just sixty miles an hour. At that distance from the finish Anderson thought he heard, amid the roar of the train and rushing wind, the torpedo that was to announce that the run was ended. He slowed down, then, seeing his mistake, again spurted. But he had lost three seconds. The train covered the ground in something better than a sixty-mile gait, but the rider came short just sufficiently to miss by threp seconds hip wager to cover the mile in one minute. However, he demonstrated the fact that a bicycle can oe put over ground a great deal faster than anyone has ever before thought of doing, and thereby earned the laudation of wheeling enthusiasts everywhere. A great cheer wont up from the throng, when the result was announced. The first half mile was covered at the rate of sixty-two'miles an hour. In this trial Anderson ’ used a wheel geared to 130 inches. It covered about 40 feet to one revolution of-the pedals. To .cover the 5,280 feet inside of 60 seconds lie was required to make about two eftid one-half revolutions of each pedal h second. The great drawback.that stands in the way of making a mile a minute in the open air on a bicycle is the wind resistance. Gould this be overcome it would be possible to ride a mile in 30 seconds, provided the rider could revolve the pedals rapidly enough. The “home trainers’’ now in use in bicycle academies have shown that it is possible for a rider to revolve his feet or make the muscles of his leg net three times a second and cover a mile in “from 40 to 50 seconds. The distance is accurately measured on the “home trainer" and it is beyond that where' a rider is putting forth his best effort in a dead calm on a “homo trainer” he can revolve the rollers so as to register a mile in 15 seconds less than a minute.

CYCLIST E. E. ANDERSON.