Definition of a Bicycle

The wooden bike in the loungeroom. The yellow wheel cover on the back was installed while my wife Christine and I watched a video.

Tools and parts used to remove the back wheel and make a back wheel disc.  Gaffer tape, scissors, knife, hammer, old motor shaft, fold out knife.  You don't want to ride with all this stuff all the time.  Hmmm, maybe a redesign of the back wheel mount is worth it!

Zoom in a bit, what Christine & I were watching "Bringing Up Baby" starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn

Zoom out a bit, the wooden bike has proven itself as "half a bicycle" by ferrying a slab of beer, several bottles of wine and fish and chips from the local pub and shops.

Last night I was inside the house, fettling my wooden recumbent bike. With some gaffer tape, I made a wheel disk which should make the bike go faster.  It looks better too.  For me, this is not a new technique and I've mentioned it in this blog before. 

My short term aim for this bike is to ride it in a 200k fairly flat day ride and I've booked in to the Audax Winter Surf Ride.  I cut my teeth for long distance cycling and recumbent bike building on this sort of ride, doing the "Round the Bay in a Day" about 10 times on recumbents before stepping up and out to take on Audax rides in the last few years.  Then, as now, I think that for a bike to be considered reasonable (at speed) it should be able to finish a flattish 200k ride in a day.  But recently my definition has broadened a bit and I think that for a bike to be considered reasonable (at load carrying) it should be able to carry a slab (24 packaged cans or bottles) of beer home from the pub.

So here is my bicycle definition which suits my narrow, self opinionated, often deluded world of bike building .  Everything else is just a toy! 

Bicycle: A two-wheeled, Human Powered vehicle capable of completing 200k in a single day and carrying a 15kg slab of beer home from the pub, about 2 flat k away.  

Welcome you Comments.

Regards

Steve Nurse