OAKLAND'S BIKES BUZZ. - Oakland Tribune - March 14, 1904

OAKLAND'S BIKES BUZZ.

WHEELMEN TAKE TRIP AND RETURN HOME IN HIGH SPIRITS.

One of the most enjoyable club runs taken by the Oakland Wheelmen came off yesterday. Fully twenty-five members of this popular organization visited Haywards, San Leandro and Niles Sunday. Captain Moffit reports that the roads were in excellent shape, notwithstanding the recent heavy rains.

A match race for the occasion was pulled off between Jack Davidson and F. Bruzzoni. The distance was for five miles between San Leandro and Haywards. The club trailed behind the contestants. No time was taken, and the boys are divided as to the question of the winner. It was a wheel and wheel finish, and the sprint into Haywards was a hot one. The affair was finally settled by calling it a dead heat.

The Oakland Wheelmen announce that the Maury Trophy race will be pulled off March 20, next Sunday, at Elmhurst. "Dick" Williamson, who won the trophy last year, is barred, as the winner cannot again compete.

The Club Handicap race will be held on the following Sunday, March 27, at Haywards. It will be a ten mile race around the Haywards triangle.

Captain M. Moffit of the Oakland Wheelmen has put up a prize medal valued at $25 for the one making the most points during the coming wheeling season. This means that the wheelman making the best general all around showing will receive the laurels. This should serve to make the general good appearance of the Oakland Wheelmen, both in competition and in uniform, an object to be striven for.

The Oakland Wheelmen are at the present time in a most prosperous condition. There is money in the treasury, and the club has cups galore that it has won on exhibition in its quarters. The club now boasts of a hundred active members. The Oakland Wheeelmen hold two championships, one for the Pacific Coast Road and Track and the other for the Pacific Coast Bicycle Polo games. In this last mentioned match they beat one of the best clubs on the coast, the Bay City Wheelmen. Captain Moffit when asked by a TRIBUNE reporter regarding the outlook for the coming season said:

"I suppose you know that our present quarters are altogether too small, not only for our own accommodations, but for the proper entertainment of our guests. To the end that we may the better treat our visitors in a more hospitable manner, we have appointed a committee to secure larger and better rooms. The club is growing rapidly in its membership, and though we have a hundred members now we are receiving applications daily."

"Have you decided upon a new place as yet?" was asked.

"No. But I will tell you what we would like to do. You see, we are now making plans for a big smoker. If we can only select quarters suitable to all and, can get moved in, nothing could be more saisfactory than to have our big smoker christen the new rooms. But nothing definite has as yet been done, though the committee is hustling."

"What is 'Dick the Demon' going to do this year?" broke in the questioner. "Oh. you mean 'Dick' Williamson. Well, he will ride and ride to victory as he always has done for the club. 'Dick' has never been defeated yet, and I can't see how he is going to be, either. He is riding strong, and we bank a whole lot on our star member."

Captain Moffit is most enthusiastic over the welfare of the Oakland Wheelmen, and is doing all in his power to promote its interests. He has planned a tour of the southern part of the State, which will come off later. The boys expect to meet teams from the various cities they may visit, and say they will do their best to keep the honors they have gained in the same old place - in Oakland and for Oakland.