Too much of human effort consists of merely going through motions
without ever getting forward:
Bicycle races without leaving the starting-place, which are
said to be the latest craze in places of amusement in Paris,
are described in _Popular Mechanics_. Says this paper:
“The wheel is fixt in a frame fastened to the floor. When the
rider begins to pedal, a belt from the rear wheel drives a small
electrical generator. The current thus produced is conducted
to a motor on wheels and carrying a flag. The track on which
the motor travels is marked in distances, and each foot of
track requires as much work by the rider as would have carried
the bicycle one mile had it been free to run as under ordinary
conditions of use.” (Text.)
(1972)