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“He was flying like a racer”

cycling appears quite frequently in classic novels and short stories too

“A solitary cyclist was coming towards us. His head was down and his shoulders rounded, as he put every ounce of energy that he possessed on to the pedals. He was flying like a racer.”

(Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist)


In this case of Sherlock Holmes a young music teacher woman is followed by a mysterious cyclist on the road between her workplace and the train station.  When she appears at Baker Street 221/b seeking help from Holmes to solve the case, the detective recognizes instantly, that she is a cyclist too.

The story was published in 1903 and insists that at this time riding a bicycle was already accepted and approtiate behaviour for  young  (unmarried) women. (Or at least in Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional world.)


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