Castles, Coins, Cooking and Cycling

It’s not often that we get to discuss royalty here, so it’s terribly exciting to be able to tell you that the Queen is encouraging her staff to use bicycles to ride around her estates in order to save money and be more environmentally friendly. Obviously I’d like to think that this means they’ll be racing along corridors and through state rooms in some Red-Bull style event with jumped flights of stars and tapestries used as bermed corners, but I guess it’s a lot more sensible than that.

On the subject of the Queen, her head will be appearing on a new 50p design. There’s nothing particularly interesting in that, except that the other side will feature a track-cycling inspired design from a 16 year-old schoolboy, as part of a series of designs celebrating the 2012 Olympics. I would like to only buy any bike bits with those 50p pieces, which might mean a bit of a lull in any new parts for a while.

Moving onto food and drink, which is always a good thing to do, and often my favourite parts of the day, I have often wondered how much you can write about a water bottle. I’m not imaginative enough to get beyond the fact that it holds water, which is good to drink when you’re riding, but there is so much more to say, it seems. Bear in mind that “it is much safer to reach down to get your bottle from the bar than it is if you have to struggle with a belt to get your beverage.” That is why I will continue to enjoy drinks got for me from the bar, given the choice.

You could even use the water from your various bottles to cook this awesome Disney pasta.

I'm pleased to see that Mickey and Goofy are responsibly wearing helmets.

The thorough research that goes into producing this for you takes me all over the internet. One dark corner I came across was this board game forum. If any of you have been wondering just whether there were any designated bike troop pieces in any wargames (I don’t really understand them at all so I might have got the terminology all wrong), the answers are here for you, from the experts.

For bicycles in the real world, rather than in re-creating the past on a board, have a look at this gallery of pictures and enjoy the weekend.

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