Friday, May 02, 2014

brompton tales

I was looking through pictures I already had to see if I had one of Brompton on its various journeys then I realised I had Brompton right here so I took a picture of it today where it is sitting behind me in my office. Don't tell OH&S because you're not supposed to have bicycles in your office in case there's a fire and it... explodes? 

This morning I got on a tram because it was raining and I didn't want to ride my Brompton in the rain (or indeed do anything in the rain). There was a woman at the tram stop when I got on the tram and it was very crowded, and I was grappling with Brompton and two bags. So I kept moving down the tram and I could see this woman looking at me with what I thought was considerable contempt or disgust, for being such a pushy passenger bringing a folding bicycle onto a crowded tram. Then when I got to the door - about a stop away from work - she was sitting on a seat and she actually tried to get up and offer it to me. I was like no, please don't get up and she said, 'I love your bike, I wish I had one like that', blow me down with a feather, she was eastern european (going by her accent) and said she wished she could ride a bike in Melbourne but there were too many rules (one of which I had not heard before: that you were not allowed to take your hands off the handlebars! Is this true?). I started singing the praises of Brompton and said I had taken it round the world twice, a semi-true claim. Then the woman sitting next to her could not restrain herself from butting in and also expressing her delight over Brompton and its convenience and usefulness.

I thought you only got that kind of thing off strangers with dogs and babies, so there you go.

I like the product so much I am spontaneously linking to its website

2 comments:

Wayne Davidson said...

Folding bicycles and dogs are great public icebreakers.

Stanley Tan said...

Join us Lorraine
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BromptonBicycleClubMelbourne/

the early 70s was all juxtaposition

October 1970, everyone had their arms out in the air, from Barbra to, um, whoever that is on the left, to Thumbelina. This is from the Sprin...