Cycling and Poetry

From a letter by the poet John Keats (1795 - 1821):

“I know not why poetry and I have been so distant lately. I must make some advances soon or she will cut me entirely (...) The nothing of the day is a machine called a velocipede. It is a wheel carriage to ride cock-horse upon sitting astride and pushing it along with toes, a rudderwheel in hand. They will go seven miles an hour. A handsome gelding will come to eight guinies, however, they will soon be cheaper unless the army takes to them. I look back upon the last month and find nothing to write about, indeed I do not recollect anything particular in it.”

Letter to George and Georgiana Keats

March 13, 1819