Part 1, Section 1 Summary

The wind is so strong that afternoon that the bicyclists look like sailors in peril. The storm has blown down many of the willow trees along Mill Road: the horns of the cows in the pasture between the cemetery and the workhouse have willow garlands between them; a few cows even lie on their backs, still chewing. It is an odd site for Cambridge, the city housing the university and so home to "logic and reason." Fred Fairly is working to not be overtaken by the other bicyclists (the ones who have not been blown over by the wind). The year is 1912, and Fairly's bicycle, a Royal Sunbeam, is thirteen years old. It leaves a thin wire pattern on the road. He overtakes another cyclist who, from behind, he thinks he knows: when passing him, he realizes he is a lecturer...