Whitley Bay In Regular Clothes
Number Three - The Chatty Shopper:
- Sensible fleecy jumper for our mid-summer weather? Check!
- Non-Lycra jeans? Check!
- Hand bag securely over one shoulder? Check!
- Sensible cycling shoes? Check!
- HUGE (I mean really HUGE!) pannier bags? Check!
- Basket on the front? Check!
- Unlike when driving a car: Time, opportunity and motive to stop and shoot the breeze? Check!
Loving it!
All this is in response to Clr. Ed Hodson’s surprise that bikes could be used for anything other than leisure activities. So I’ve started keeping an eye out for regular people on bikes, who’re out & about doing regular things. Turns out that they’re everywhere, but usually by the time I’ve got my camera out, they’re way off in the distance.
Who’d have thought it - bikes are a quick & convenient way to get around a small town like Whitley Bay or a small city like Newcastle . . . :-/
My cargo bike (Big Dummy) has been out of commission for about three weeks now (waiting on a hub, waiting on a rim, waiting on a wheel build), and I am sorely missing it. Panniers can always be larger, and a loaded front basket on a bike with a wimpy kickstand (as opposed to a center stand) can be a PITA when it topples the whole bicycle. The bike with basket and panniers lacks light and fenders, the bike with the (very) good lights lacks fenders and basket, and the bike with fenders lacks basket and lights. The utility bike has it all — fenders, “panniers”, a passenger seat, lights, and a chaincase (except for that missing rear wheel, which is due in about a week). I think one reason so many perceive bikes as toys, is that so many of the bikes sold (especially in the US) ARE toys.