Scorcher

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In either case this article may furnish you a few suggestions, provided you are not a "scorcher" or ambitious to become one. The "scorcher" does not ride for pleasure — he chases records. His chief aim in life is to cover a certain number of miles in a little less than a given number of minutes. Like a will o' the wisp the record flits before him, and to grasp it, even though he holds it but for a brief space, is to become the lion of an hour in the cycling world. He passes the country, to be sure, but he doesn't see it. What if the sky be blue, the wayside gorgeous with springtime flowers, the overhanging branches tenanted by sweetest songsters? The "scorcher" has no time to note these things. But withal he's a good fellow, and this is not meant to disparage his importance. Without him there would be no racing, and without contests of speed to stimulate the ambition of wheelmen even those who ride simply for enjoyment would take less interest in the sport.

Unfrequented Bicycle Roads in the Vicinity of San Francisco - The San Francisco Call, 18 Apr 1897

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