Comments on The Urban Country Bicycle Blog: Bicycles & World War II Spies

Oh, there are certainly inferences that one can re...

2011-12-27T18:05:02.263-05:00

Oh, there are certainly inferences that one can reasonably make from an examination of tracks. For instance, standing to sprint or climb will transfer weight onto the front wheel and cause it to make a deeper imprint in the right sort of surface.

It is also possible, of course, to identify a particular bicycle by peculiarities of its track.

As you note, however, one must be careful of such inferences in cases where there might be a deliberate attempt to deceive. In the same Holmes story horses are shod to leave cow tracks rendering the passage of mounted people across grazing land "invisible."

It might also be worth noting that there are now technological means of nullifying many of the methods used by the spies and underground of WWII. These things never remain the same as strategies and counter strategies strive against each other.

On the other hand sufficiently archaic methods can become new again when neglected by the other side.

"Coded messages written on bits of paper? Damn! We never expected that. How did they transfer them? Nooooo. Is that even possible? Well **** me sideways. We would have got away with it if it weren't for those meddling old farts."

In the Star Trek:Voyager episode "The Killing...

2011-12-26T13:03:33.767-05:00

In the Star Trek:Voyager episode "The Killing Game", the character Neelix rode a bike in a French village, secretly carry important items in a baguette. http://webspace.webring.com/people/qs/starshipaccess/Star_Trek_Images/The_Killing_Game/kgame14.jpg

I think it would make sense that the cyclist would...

2011-12-26T12:22:55.928-05:00

I think it would make sense that the cyclist would wobble more while climbing a hill than when going down a hill, thus determining the direction of travel based on the tire tracks. But a cyclist could of course wobble on the way down the hill just as easily in order to throw off someone trailing him. It would be hard to keep the tires completely straight when climbing a steep hill however.

The idea that the direction taken by a bicycle can...

2011-12-26T10:48:07.439-05:00

The idea that the direction taken by a bicycle can be determined by observing the crossing of the tire tracks was first put forward by Conan Doyle in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Priory School."

The premise was challenged and disproved by his readers almost straight away. The back tire crosses the path of the front the same way no matter which way the bicycle is oriented. The only way to tell which way a bicycle was going by its tracks is to follow them to the bicycle.

Doyle admitted that the idea had come to him as an inspiration while writing the story, rather than by actual observation, and that he had made a rare silly error. It is easy to be fooled into thinking it true by other clues giving a reason to presume the direction, such as which side of the street the tracks are on, or by finding the bicycle.

People who like this report will find Jim Fitzpatr...

2011-12-26T07:48:14.723-05:00

People who like this report will find Jim Fitzpatrick's book, The Bicycle in Wartime, an interesting read. It covers bike use in war from the Boer war to Vietnam. You can probably get it from Jim himself via his website, Starhill studio.com.au. I've only dipped into my copy but it seems packed with little know info.