"So Ardent a Bicyclist"

The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist

Violet Smith is a fascinating character -- probably one of the more appealing women that I can recall in the Sherlock stories.  She makes a bold entrance at Baker Street "young and beautiful... tall, graceful, and queenly..."  Holmes deduces that she is a musician rather than a typist, stating "There is a spirituality about the face... which the typewriter does not generate."  It's a rather subjective comment for the fact-focused detective, and all the more noteworthy.  It certainly raises a whole series of questions about the links between body, mind, and daily activity.  Was this "spirituality" inherent to her character, or a result of her lifestyle and opportunities?  Or both?

Miss Smith shows her courage when she challenges her enigmatic cyclist-stalker, turning her own cycle around and chasing after him.  Watson observed the "spirited" response and notes "Presently she came back up the road again, her head haughtily in the air, not deigning to take any further notice of her silent attendant."  It's a wonderful scene, and so all the more frustrating that Miss Smith becomes a passive object in the climax of the story.  There's plenty of drama, and more than the usual emphasis on things ending happily-ever-after, but it seems like a missed opportunity.  Perhaps one shouldn't be surprised by that, considering the frequency of condescending (and outright offensive) attitudes towards her.

There are some other great moments, including Sherlock's account of his brief fist-fight with the villain and his remark that the man "had a fine flow of language, and his adjectives were very vigorous."  Still, I would have liked for Violet Smith to speak for herself at the end of the tale -- she deserved more time in the lime-light, and merely shimmers with unfulfilled possibility in the corset-bound world of the Victorian imagination.