Motor along / motoring

To motor along is US informal that has spread to most English speaking countries, meaning to move quickly and steadily, to make swift, efficient progress, and this usage dates from the 1970s. It is obviously borrowed from motorists driving cars, but is not now generally used in that context. For example, runners, cyclists, cricketers who are batting well, and even sedentary people getting on with backlogs of paperwork, can be said to be 'motoring along'.