This, my first [bicycle] had an intrinsic beauty. And it opened for me an era of all but flying, which roads emptily crossing the airy, gold-gorsy Common enhanced. Nothing since has equalled that birdlike freedom.
Elizabeth Bowen
Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973), British novelist, essayist, and memoirist; born in Ireland. Pictures and Conversations, ch. 1 (1975).
On her first bicycle, which she acquired at age 13.