The caprice of the wind

[Note this is actually yesterday's post, delayed because I went to sleep instead of posting, so "this morning" means "yesterday morning," "yesterday" means "day before yesterday" etc.]

A brisk headwind on the way to work this morning, irksome since I had a similarly brisk headwind on the way home yesterday. The wind didn't shift all day, however, and I had an even more forceful tailwind to carry me home tonight.

In honour of the last day of Tarik Saleh's Chinese Bike of the Day series, I present my own picture of an interesting bike from far away: an Indonesian Kroepoek (prawn cracker) delivery bike. Unfortunately it's a not-very-good scan of a not-very-good photo. Somewhere I have a picture of an even better Indonesian bike: a bakery bike with a compartment on the back that looked like a little house and had sliding glass doors for access to the pastries.

Tarik has also reviewed the Trek Soho bike coffee mug, prompting extensive coffee discussions on the ibob list. I favour travel mugs with a handle that doesn't get in the way of a bottle cage, most recently this. It doesn't really keep coffee very hot for very long but I don't much care, since I don't mind cold coffee. It fits nicely in a bottle cage and it's fairly cheap, which is a good thing since I occasionally lose mugs. The most comprehensive source for bicycle coffee information is, of course, the Bicycle Coffee Systems site.

An alternative to trying to keep hot drinks hot as you ride is stopping for a brew-up along the way. This seems to be more of a British custom, and perhaps not as popular there as it used to be. The members of Wayfarer CycleTouring Club of the Isle of Wight appear to be masters of it. Check out the links from their Stove Rides and especially the certificate. One of these days I'm going to go on my own stove ride. If I get around to my hoped-for experiment in making a pop-can stove I'll be all set. If nothing else I should get started on emptying the required Guinness can.