VOLUNTEER CYCLIST TRAINING. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE RIFLE FIRE AND RAPID MOVEMENT 

By " Videlex" 

"The keynote of the cyclist's training should be speed and smartness" 

It is unfortunate that some Volunteer corps do not quite realize what is the exact sphere of a cyclist section, `and for this reason waste much time over laborious drill movements which have little or no value in practice. For instance, in one corps the commander spent much time and energy in teaching his men the faultless performance' of "In line : mounted: about turn". Now, it is not often that a body of cyclists will be found riding abreast, close together ("close line"), across open country. If they did find themselves in this formation and wished to retire, the quickest method and the least liable to Cause confusion would be to halt, turn about on foot, and remount. 

Let it be thoroughly understood what are the main objects of a cyclist-soldier. To start with, paradoxical as it may sound, he must be trained to act as an infantry soldier when required. But when in his true position of mounted cyclist his main requirements are speed of riding and accurate marksmanship. Cyclists are not, as a rule, expected to attack in large numbers, in close or extended line, over open country. That is the province of the foot soldier. The cyclists are required to go out in small bodies, as scouts, for reconnaissance, as patrols, and so forth. If they fight, they should proceed secretly and speedily to a point where they can attack unexpectedly, surprising the enemy and then making off efore he has the chance to overwhelm them with greater force. And in this kind of fighting it is accuracy of shooting that counts. 

THE CYCLIST AS A RIFLEMAN

Of course, the keynote of the cyclist's training should be speed and smartness. He does not need to practise cumbrous "ceremonial" drills, which are necessary as a preparation for handling large bodies of men on foot. Cyclists must be taught to mount quickly, how to form readily into "column of route" - file or single file - how to keep even distance and interval, and to ride steadily, how to make simple turns and to form from column to section and so forth; but the main thing is the riding and shooting - and, above all, the shooting. The cyclist will not often be helped by artillery fire; he will not get much opportunity for bayonet attack. He is, in the truest sense of the word, a rifleman. He must learn to trust to his rifle exclusively, and raise his skill with it to such a pitch of perfection that he can rely on his own power to stop, by long range accurate "sharpshooting", the attack of a force of ordinary line troops considerably superior in numbers to his own, or at least to hamper and delay it. 

The standard of skill in shooting attained by the average soldier is very low by comparison with that of an expert, or even that of an average civilian rifle clubnman. The "Tommy" does not get the opportunity for individual experiment and study of the subject which is necessary to really effective skill. The cyclist, therefore, with far less of his time occupied by involved mass-drills, should devote more of it to the study and practice of shooting. Let the cyclist sections form rifle clubs of their own, or join some existing good-class club, and learn what the civilian experts can teach them with the so-called "miniature" rifle. Practice with the military weapon is hard to get, but when once a high degree of the faculty of marksmanship is developed, a very small amount of practice with the .303 rifle will ensure skill with it, just as a first-class billiard player can get good results with any cue, or even with a walking stick at a pinch. 

To get the best results, of course, a marksman should be thoroughly accustomed to his rifle, as a cyclist should be to his machine. Every cyclist Volunteer should obtain a miniature rifle of his own and practise with it day in and day out, until it is second nature to make bull's-eyes, and a shot on any other part of the target is viewed with astonishment and disgust. Incidentally, let me whisper a secret not generally known - that the .22 rifle (commonly known as the "miniature") is really a useful weapon, and will stop a man satisfactorily at 300 yards ! 

Yes, it is true. Those little rifles you see in shop windows, made by good firms. — B.S.A., Winchester, Stevens — shooting five grains of powder and 45 grains of lead, and costing anything from 16s. up to £8 for the target rifles "de luxe", are very far from being toys, as is only too sadly proved occasionally when carelessness causes an accident on some range. 

MACHINES FOR MILITARY SERVICE

Besides shooting, then, the other great qualification of the cyclist-soldier is good riding. And here, let me warn the new hand against changing when he "enlists" from the mount to which he is accustomed. A machine must be strong, for military work, but there is no reason why it should be heavy. Why do so many men ride great, heavy, tall machines with upturned handlebars and an impossible position as soon as they get a rifle hitched to their frames? The soldier's cycle should be a 22-inch framed machine with 26-inch wheels, light roadster tyres, and adjusted for a semi-racing position suitable to the hard riding in unfavourable conditions which so often come the way of the military cyclist, and which can be mounted by striding over the saddle from the ground. Such a machine is lighter, stronger than a tall "roadster", and much easier to carry on the shoulder over streams or rough ground when necessary.   Our Regular cyclists are now being provided with folding machines which can be carried on the back, on the lines of those in use for many years in the French Army, but there is no necessity to go to this length of portability in the case of Volunteers on home defence service. 

Next to the shooting., what is required in the cyclist is the power of covering long distances rapidly and with ease. Many of the men who have joined cyclist sections were but "kerbstone cyclists" or "butterfly riders" in ordinary life; men whose cycling was limited to short rides in good weather, or perhaps a few minutes ride to the station daily. Cyclist commanders should develop the powers of these men by giving them road marches of gradually increasing length and speed, training them into fit and useful riders, so that if in case of necessity their sections are called upon to proceed to a point 60 or 100 miles away with all possible despatch, they may do it "on their heads", to use a familiar expression, and be prepared to give an opposing force a warm reception at the end of the journey.