In these balmy days of 26 mile 385 yard footraces and round-the-world-in-a-Piper-Cub derbies it seems only natural that the distance-oriented portion of the lunatic fringe should turn its attention to the bicycle as a means of bringing on an untimely heart condition.

Consequently, at ten o'clock Sunday morning, an estimated fifty cyclists will line up at the corner of Chestnut Hill Avenue and Route 9 and race ten and one half miles to Wellesley, where unless planes are clarified rapidly, they will be greeted only by other exhausted riders, and perhaps a song sparrow or two.

The event is entitled the Harvard Outing Club's annual bike race, and though ten and one half miles is a considerable stretch of pavement, it still represents a return to partial sanity on the part of the Outing Club briantrust.

In the gay seasons gone by, a lot of bicycles passed into the repair shop as a result of Outing Club events. In 1942, the finish line was extended to Northampton, to the very gates of Smith College. This fact, however, has not carved a niche for itself in Smith College lore, perhaps because of the physical condition of the competitors upon their arrival.

At other times, there were side trips to Wheaton (a mere 23 miles) and a sprint trial to Radcliffe on 1890 vintage two-wheelers. Along about 1939, the powers that cycle got together and decided on the Wellesley race as an annual affair, and it has been held, mostly after the vernal equinox ever since, with the exception of the war years.

The present race course is a pretty timid affair, running for about the nine miles along Perini's poorly-built parkway, then over the well known overpass into Wellesley to the finish line in front of the Alumnae Hall. There is one difficult hill on Route 9 which extends about half a mile. Such spectators as can drag themselves out of bed and out to Wellesley by 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning should stand on the hill to the left of the Quad to get the best view of the racers, and their attached bicycles.

Last year there was a pretty poor turnout for the big race, mainly because the cyclists were racing to Wellesley for the sheer joy of pedaling along the pike. This year is different. Prizes will be provided for the first few places in the entire race, and also for the winners of each of the three main divisions of bicycles--racing touring and balloon tire.

The big inducement is a Schwinn "New World" bicycle, which will be handed out by Bow Street's Bicycle Exchange to the lucky winner of the race. Just what the victor is supposed to do with the cycle he won the race on is nuclear, but as Hegel says, onward and upward.

Balloon tire riders will get an approximate ten minute head start, the touring class will get five minutes and the racing bikes must start from scratch. The differences between touring and racing bicycles is that the racing models have toe clips.

Outing Club officials figure that a good-for-nothing cyclist can leaf along ten and one-half miles in an hour, and that a hotshot, loaded with ephedrine and the will to win, can navigate the distance in the neighborhood of a half hour. For the record, the best time was turned in by one John T. Potter '42, a two time winner who hurtled the ten and a half miles in a scant 28 minutes, 30 seconds back in 1942.

People are not expected to cheat in the Wellesley bike race. Perhaps this is because it is quite difficult to chest. In fact just about the only way to circumvent the law is to grab the tailboard of a passing truck; or have a friend over the next hill with a motorcycle.

Anyway, since chiseling is difficult and not specifically permitted, the Continental rules of cycling will be followed. May the best madman win.