Is it time our fictional detectives got on their bikes?

[Ian]

Modern detectives love cars, not bikes. Cars are coffee splashed second homes during long surveillance duties. Cars are adrenaline fuelled vehicles of pursuit. Cars can screech with spinning wheels to escape from some tight corner. Cars have character. They say something. Morse has his old Jaguar Mk 2. Essex villains drive four by fours with dark shaded windows. You can even sleep uncomfortably in cars and emerge disheveled as dawn moves the story up another gear. People in cars can drive and talk, eat doughnuts and talk, hold guns and talk. Cars provide a seat at the center of the action. Writers love cars, not bikes.

I love cycling and so does the main character of my 2nd thriller, Feel.it. For Roxanne, cycling is an escape from fans, freedom and fear. Cycling means freedom.

There are some old school fictional detectives who look very comfortable on a bike. These are the amateur sleuths from the golden age of cycling such as Miss Marple and Father Brown, but those are the days before the model T Ford gave cars the popular edge.

For several decades at the turn of the 20th Century, millions enjoyed the flexibility that cycling brought and writers like Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald and Simone de Beauvoir reflect that. Literature used the bike as a metaphor for personal transformation and the pursuit of liberty, or a catalyst at the very least.

So why don’t modern crime writers put their hero on a push bike? I’ve asked around and delved into Google, but there simply aren’t many badges on bicycle seats.

Is it the image? A belief that shades of Noir don’t work well with Lycra Spandex? A fear that the hero will reach for their gun and pull out bicycle clips?

Is it a problem with the bike not fitting the logistics of the plot, as the detectives frantically try to cover the miles necessary to close the case?

Are car chases just more exciting than anything a bike can manage?

Other forms of transport get an occasional outing. Poirot has close brushes with death on both a train and a boat, but a bike clearly doesn’t lend itself to that shut in, claustrophobic atmosphere.

Lisbeth with the dragon tattoo has her motorbike and that conveys the same rebellious, outsider image as Chevette Washington, the cycling courier in Gibson’s cyberpunk story Virtual Light. A similar type of character inhabits ‘Godspeed’ although that is more heroin on a bike, rather than heroine.

This outsider culture is the nearest vibe to Roxanne Payne in ‘Feel.it’. She is an actress playing a mega star who sees cycling, wigs and a change of wardrobe as the props in her escape from a life which is constrained and scripted. Cycling is her path to liberty, especially when the death threats appear to come from within her own security team.

My Roxanne Payne is also London urban cool, growing up on a bike just up the road from Shoreditch. Part of a generation in that area who don’t know how to drive. If she wants to meet up with someone incognito, then it’s either bike or taxi. As Roxanne tries to escape her killers she chooses her bike rather than the ‘safety’ of the chauffeur driven company car because she wants to be in charge of her own destiny and taking her own risks.

I accept that cycling isn’t for everyone. I can’t imagine Rebus doing those hill climbs in Edinburgh. But I thought it a real shame that we never saw Inspector Morse wobbling along an Oxford river path, grumbling at the duck to get out the way.

There are some modern crime writers have used bikes as a way of reinforcing the image of the time. A bike in the Grantchester Chronicles reinforces the 1950s feel which itself harks back to an earlier time. In the Murdoch Mysteries a cycle ride to the scene of the crime is an expression of modernity in 1890s Toronto. if a bike worked for detectives in the distant past, why not now?

My boss was on the Metropolitan Police Authority for over a decade and getting more police onto bikes was one of our achievements. Cheaper than cars, more mobile and visible than foot patrols, there are now hundreds of bobbies on bikes in London. The first bikes used were made by Smith and Wesson, a donation from the New York police where Met officers went for training in how to use bikes defensively and offensively – something I borrowed for Feel.it. The bike has established its role in the 21st century policing of London, so why not in detective fiction?

A brilliant exception is the BBC series, New Blood which features a trainee Met Police detective and a young guy from the Serious Fraud Office working together after being rivals on the cycle track. Also, the film ‘i-Boy’ has the hero cycling frantically while tracking a gangland boss through the fast roads of east London. These are not fictional characters doing their bit for the environment, but writers reflecting the reality of urban living.

Please let me know if you have come across any good crime stories featuring bikes, especially modern ones. Above all, has anyone ever heard of the main villain being on a bike? That is when we can truly say that bikes have gone mainstream.

[[deleted user]]

I don’t think bicycles will go mainstream in the U.S.

Automobiles represent the essence of personal freedom, especially in a country like the U.S. that puts a premium on freedom of movement. Cars allow us to go anywhere, anytime, regardless of most drivers’ physical conditions: on short drives, road trips, or cross country. We can travel in an intimate or open space alone or with others. They provide nearly unlimited plot support opportunities.

Bicycles, on the other hand, have too many limitations to compete with automobiles. Hence less story opportunities. Interesting, but I think they will remain a niche player.

[Karen]

Naomi Hirahara has a female bike cop series that is wonderful.
Ellie Rush has two published adventures, Grave on Grand and Murder on Bamboo Lane.

[Ian]

Robert wrote: "I don’t think bicycles will go mainstream in the U.S.

Automobiles represent the essence of personal freedom, especially in a country like the U.S. that puts a premium on freedom of movement. Cars ..."

Suspect you're right. Although they are great for urban (but not suburban) environments.

[Ian]

Karen wrote: "Naomi Hirahara has a female bike cop series that is wonderful.
Ellie Rush has two published adventures, Grave on Grand and Murder on Bamboo Lane."

Well spotted. I will add them into any future articles I write on this. Thanks

[David]

Because of its size, bikes in general aren't practical for law enforcement in the U. S.

They would be fine in an urban environment where support would be close at hand. But there are too many large rural areas where police have to patrol long stretches of empty, sometimes hilly roads with back-up miles away.

And they're impractical because the bad guys have cars. You can't catch a Camaro riding a Cannondale. The only place they'd be feasible is patrolling an area where there are a large number of people on foot - like a beach or park.

Then there's the weather. Bikes would be fine in a southern city where it never snows, sleets, or pours freezing rain. But anywhere north of say North Carolina - forget it. We had 24 inches of snow fall in 1 day this past March where I live. Can you see some poor cop plowing through that on his Schwinn to get to a crime scene?

[Ian]

Quillracer wrote: "Because of its size, bikes in general aren't practical for law enforcement in the U. S.

They would be fine in an urban environment where support would be close at hand. But there are too many larg..."

I know what you mean about the weather, but they have the big upside in urban areas of covering more ground and being more visible than foot patrols while being equally accessible. The Met Police like them because of that community policing function. The armed response units patrol in cars.

[David]

You're right, Ian. In urban areas, they can have a big upside

Bike patrols, like foot patrols, bring the police into closer contact with the citizens. And that closer contact sometimes can reduce crime.

But where I live, they just aren't practical because of the distances involved. We drive 3 miles to the grocery store.

[M.A.R.]

Even in urban areas (I'm in Las Vegas), would I pit bike cop against someone in a car or escaping in a car? No contest there. I guess in fiction it depends on cozy crime or gritty crime.

[Ian]

Quillracer wrote: "You're right, Ian. In urban areas, they can have a big upside

Bike patrols, like foot patrols, bring the police into closer contact with the citizens. And that closer contact sometimes can reduce ..."

That is a big drive to pick up some milk. Even after I moved out of London and came to Norwich, I still only have to walk 50 meters to the local school, or shop.

[David]

I live in a town of just over 1000 people with almost no businesses. The local grocer - just over half a mile from my home - closed last fall. Hence the 3 mile drive. But with a little planning and a list, I don't too often have to make that drive just for some milk.

The school my kids attended was probably 4 miles from our house, so they rode buses every day.

The thing is, Ian, (and I don't say this as a put down) I don't think people who have never visited the U.S. realize just how vast and spread out it is. A map just doesn't convey it just as a picture cannot convey just how impressive the Grand Canyon is.

[Ian]

Quillracer wrote: "I live in a town of just over 1000 people with almost no businesses. The local grocer - just over half a mile from my home - closed last fall. Hence the 3 mile drive. But with a little planning and..."

So true. I do remember staying on a relative's farm in Canada when I was a kid and it being a cross country ride on my bike to go to the nearest neighbours to play table tennis. Different world

[Louise]

In the long running british tv series 'Heartbeat' set in rural Yorkshire in the 1960s, PC Nick Rowan and his successors whizzed about the moors on motorbikes.

[Ian]

Louise wrote: "In the long running british tv series 'Heartbeat' set in rural Yorkshire in the 1960s, PC Nick Rowan and his successors whizzed about the moors on motorbikes."

And he looked very cool when doing so. There are some cracking thrillers on film with motobikes, or even mopeds. Motorbikes are also underused by detective writers these days.

[Betsy]

I like the Constable Nick books, but I've never seen the 'Heartbeat' series. My favorite one that relies on bikes is the Murdoch series, which has been mentioned before although recent ones have featured early automobiles.

[Lexie]

I was lamenting recently that the detective in my first series is unlikely ever to ride a proper bicycle - the latest book is set in 1818! The lady in my second series is bound to give them a go, though, in a few years time - she's currently in 1830, and is a young modern thing.

[Lexie]

Quillracer wrote: "Because of its size, bikes in general aren't practical for law enforcement in the U. S.

They would be fine in an urban environment where support would be close at hand. But there are too many larg..."

As to cycling in snow, I've seen Norwegians doing it with piggdekk tyres - up and down hill, too!

[Lexie]

Ian wrote: "Modern detectives love cars, not bikes. Cars are coffee splashed second homes during long surveillance duties. Cars are adrenaline fuelled vehicles of pursuit. Cars can screech with spinning wheels..."

And loads of people cycle in Edinburgh - just perhaps not those of Rebus' physique!

[Ian]

Lexie wrote: "I was lamenting recently that the detective in my first series is unlikely ever to ride a proper bicycle - the latest book is set in 1818! The lady in my second series is bound to give them a go, t..."

The start of the golden age of cycling. Yep, a young modern thing would naturally reach for two wheels. Good luck with the books

[Ian]

Lexie wrote: "Quillracer wrote: "Because of its size, bikes in general aren't practical for law enforcement in the U. S.

They would be fine in an urban environment where support would be close at hand. But ther..."

Lexie wrote: "Quillracer wrote: "Because of its size, bikes in general aren't practical for law enforcement in the U. S.

They would be fine in an urban environment where support would be close at hand. But ther..."

Cycling in the snow? I didn't know you could. My next job is to Youtube that

[David]

I live in Northeast Pennsylvania, Ian and Lexie, and when I was in school (many decades ago), I rode home in snow more that a few times. Sometimes the snow was so deep, the downstroke on the pedals left divots in the snow.

[Lexie]

I've cycled in a few inches of snow in Scotland - the trick was to make sure you didn't get stuck in the tracks of someone who had cycled before you but not taken the route you intended to! But the piggdekk tyres mean you can cruise along as if there were no snow at all. My jaw dropped watching it.

[Lexie]

Ian wrote: "Lexie wrote: "I was lamenting recently that the detective in my first series is unlikely ever to ride a proper bicycle - the latest book is set in 1818! The lady in my second series is bound to giv..."

Thanks!

[Louise]

Betsy wrote: "I like the Constable Nick books, but I've never seen the 'Heartbeat' series. My favorite one that relies on bikes is the Murdoch series, which has been mentioned before although recent ones have fe..."

thank you very much for that information, i didn't even know the series was based on books, i will read them now. I imagine the tv series deviated quite a lot from the books, they usually do, so i will look forward to seeing the differences.