Cycling

Some time ago I bought a cycle water bottle and found that the water tasted plasticky. I thought that maybe the water in the bottle had become tainted by contact with the bottle because it had been in there a long time. So I tested it by tasting the water about 15 minutes after filling it. I also tasted my drinking water, which was OK. I could have taken the bottle back but called Trading Standards and reported my concerns. After a visit and an interview, where I was told that the report would not be disclosed to me! but I would be notified if they had a concern or not. They reported to me about a month later that there were no unacceptable amounts of contaminents in the bottle. So I bought another and lived with it.

I found on an Internet website forum that if you add real lemon juice to the plastic bottle the taste will go away. I presume that the bottles are made from food grade polythene and my worry was that maybe this was a "grey" product that had not been checked for safety; hence my call to Trading Standards. I know that some people drink juice and I suppose any plastic taste may be unnoticeable and possible the acid in the juice neutralises the plasticky taste. For a full read of the forum topic see: bikeforums.net

PS polycarbonate bottles (normal water bottles) are fine but are not strong enough to use when cycling.

I suppose that one argument that could be raised about shopping and cycling, is that it is not really possible to go shopping to the local supermarket by bike. I am using my car very infrequently now. The reason being I can keep fitter, save fuel and money. So why not try shopping by bike?

I am over 66 years old and cycle from Freshford to Bradford on Avon to swim a few times a week. I have even shopped at Marks & Spencer in Bath recently. I don't think I'll be cycling to Swindon's Link Centre to ice skate which is 64 mile round trip though, unless I camp out on the way back!

Today, Sunday, I cycled to Sainsburys in Bradford on Avon a total round trip of between 6 and 7 miles. I went primarily to buy mushrooms. I couldn't buy them at Westwood Post office and shop as they buy their fruit and vegetables from Bristol and there was little left as they only go once a week. So I either had to use the car or cycle. I chose to cycle there. The photograph below shows what I bought:

Mushrooms- a value box, bananas, tomatoes, apples, romaine lettuce, raisins and ice cream. A total weight of 5.6kg (over 12 pounds)  The shopping was placed in my pannier bags and I could quite easily have bought meat, eggs, milk and bread, and some more vegetables if necessary as there was enough room in the bags. I make my own bread anyway, but even so there was room for flour. Notice that these are family quantities.

I think that I could go shopping by bicycle twice a week and buy all I need. Although Freshford and the surrounding countryside is very hilly it is possible to shop by bicycle rather than use the car. We could also make a sustantial contribution to saving precious resources by cycling, be fitter and save money!