"...Volunteers and Citizen Army men...They were marching between lines of armed troops and other soldiers on bikes...And Collins was in there too, in among the Volunteers, half a head over them, out for a stroll." And then later: "Three years on a stolen bike. Through wind, rain and bullets. Henry Smart struck strange, hard blows for Ireland and disappeared." Simple lines, with great meaning, written in a book. And the bikes, at once a tool of the oppressor, and then a means of resistance to the status quo. As cyclists we tend to appreciate how bikes can appear in unexpected places. The physical presence of a bike is not even a requirement. A mere suggestion, something as unobtrusive as the written word as in this case, can suffice. The book has nothing to do with bikes, but is set (it is fiction) in a time and place where bikes were a much more predominant form of transportation. And so, while being a pleasant surprise, it is perfectly natural to stumble upon this reference to them.
Oh, and the book, "A Star Called Henry" by Roddy Doyle is quite good.
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