Nayantara Sahgal's ‘The Day in Shadow’ presents a powerful exploration of feminine autonomy and independence through the lens of marital dissolution and personal liberation. While cycling itself is not explicitly a dominant textual element in the novel, the broader symbolism   of movement, freedom, and self-directed journey that characterizes the bicycle as a literary motif mirrors Simrit Raman's psychological and physical navigation towards selfhood. This article presents that the novel's thematic preoccupation with female independence and agency operates as an implicit cycling narrative where the protagonist pedals her way through societal constraints, divorce settlements, and patriarchal expectations to achieve authentic selfhood. Through close textual analysis and feminist literary theory, this paper examines how Sahgal constructs a narrative of emancipation that embodies the liberating essence traditionally associated with cycling in literature:    autonomy, resilience and Self-hood.