More cycling snobbery (C8) “I was once out riding my T-bar bicycle when I was approached by a ‘bus’ formation of nine drop-bar bike riders coming the other way,” recounts Doug Parkes of Sylvania. “The lead rider called out ‘T-bar alert!’ as I rode past them. Everyone involved laughed! At 81 years of age I ride 20 km each weekday. My GPS app advises that I have ridden 17,487 km on my current bike.”
“The downside up ‘buffalo horn’ was a great way to ride,” reckons Warren Menteith of Bali. “Beats the head down,arse up as you could sit up and have great surrounding vision. Far more comfortable. Another way was to take the bars out of the bracket rotate them 180-degrees laterally. With a little adjustment,they became a set of ape hangers.”
“As a child,Josephine Piper (C8) was being helpful by pulling the ‘weeds’ out from the garden,” notes Judy Archer of Nelson Bay. “I was helpful too. I put three cupfuls of detergent in the sink to do the washing up. I realised too late that I needed only three capfuls. I didn’t get into trouble but the expression on my mother’s face made up for it.“
“I enjoyed the airline acronyms in Richard Glover’s recent Spectrum article and can offer two more,says Andrew Smith of Lane Cove:Alitalia – Aircraft Landing In Tokyo,And Luggage In Amsterdam. And the unsurprisingly defunct Sabena – Such A Bloody Experience Never Again. I remember them from a competition in Britain’sNew Statesman circa 1976.”
“I’m five years younger than Gabrielle Merton and only knew of free sample bags (C8) as something from ‘the good old days’,” writes Anthony Clark of Bowral. “For 2/6,though,we did expect a sample bag to contain more than you could buy in a shop for the same amount. On one occasion my brother and I bought licorice sample bags and each of us ate the entire contents of his bag while sitting up in the grandstand enjoying the ring events. I have never eaten licorice since.”
Kit Devine of Bronte thinks Alison Stewart (C8) “may be interested to know that a friend bought a toy shopping set for her grandkids to play with when they visited. It included a credit card swiper,but there was also a till,though I wonder if that will get dropped in the next iteration.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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