And when it is in the saddle, then two subsidiary forces plunge and claw upon my two pedals, plunge and claw with inestimable power.
And at the same time, a kind and mysterious force sways my head-stock, sways most incalculably, and governs my whole motion.

This force is not a driving force, but a subtle directing force, beneath whose grip my bright steel body is flexible as a dipping highroad.

Then let me not forget the sudden clutch of arrest upon my hurrying wheels.

Oh, this is pain to me! While I am rushing forward, surpassing myself in an _elan vital_, suddenly the awful check grips my back wheel, or my front wheel, or both.

Suddenly there is a fearful arrest.