The 1898 Los Angeles to Santa Monica Road Race


The biggest story out of the race for 1898 was its sudden decline. It was not until late that the decision to run the race was even made, taking the organizing efforts of old time racing man David L. Burke to get the wheels turning: "The difficulties encountered in giving the event were many, and showed how indifferently racing is regarded in this section." Due to the delay in organizing it was necessary to run the race in reverse, starting at the coast in the afternoon and racing in to Los Angeles, finishing at Washington and Main. The distance was still about the same - seventeen miles.

The 1898 race was run by a much decreased number of competitors - thirty-four registered to start, twenty-nine finished. Starting at scratch were Carl Hasse of Santa Monica, and Fred Dee, Dean Cromwell, and R. C. Hamlin, all of Los Angeles. Four limit men were given an eight minute advantage, with everyone else spread out in between. 

Rain in the morning made portions of the course heavy with mud, while other sections benefited from the moisture, which was just enough to keep the dust down. P. H. Miller and E. T. Nicklin, both starting at six minutes, "paced each other alternately, with the result that they soon had caught and passed the seven minute men, and at the half way house they had also passed the limit men and had nothing before them but the straight and narrow path of hard pedaling to the city." At Western Avenue Nicklin punctured his rear tire and had to drop back, allowing Miller to push on ahead alone, breaking the finish tape stretched across in front of the old Washington gardens. A note of interest about this finish - Washington Gardens was created in 1887, and hosted variety and animal shows. In 1899 the Los Angeles County Improvement Company turned the land into Chutes Park with a baseball diamond for the Los Angeles Angels and Vernon Tigers. By the next year a theatre, circus, balloon rides, miniature railroad, roller-coaster, giant water slide, merry go round, animal exhibits, and Temple of Mirth were added. The park was sold in 1910 and reopened in 1911 as Luna Park, which also failed and everything torn down in 1914. At 35 acres Chutes Park likely extended all the way to Washington and Hill which is where, in 1921, the Downtown Stadium was built. Leo. Bentley came in two minutes later for second place, with Earl Mains, bleeding from the mouth, another three or four lengths behind taking third. Many riders suffered from falls during the race, none more than W. E. Delay who crashed on four occasions, and having to find replacement wheels each time.

Anyone who has ridden from the coast inland knows that the afternoon breeze can create quite a tailwind contributing to faster speeds, thus even though many of the regions fastest riders chose not to race this year, nine of those riders who did enter beat the 1895 record time set by Emil Ulbecht (racing in the opposite direction). An additional two riders, Cromwell and J. Muff (with a three minute handicap) had the days' fastest time at forty-four minutes flat. Unfortunately both suffered from mechanicals at the start which delayed their leaving the line until thirty minutes after scratch; though allowed to start the race, judges determined that their times would not be counted.

With Cromwell and Muff disqualified, Hamlin ended the race with the fastest time at 45:41, Bentley's 47:30 secured him not only second place, but also the second fastest time, with Mains' 49:10 giving him third in both place and time.

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