Cycling mascots
 

Time for a light-hearted bit of fun.

Who cycles with a cycling mascot? Why?
What is it? How'd it find its way onto your bike?

In my case, despite being a mid-50s, somewhat curmudgeonly, old geezer, I am considering putting out a call for "mascot suggestions" among family, friends and acquaintances. This might lower the skepticism some have wrt my upcoming tour as well as provide a non-threatening intro to/conversation starter with others while solo touring. At this point, I'm kinda thinking of a local/regional mascot - a nutria, a crawfish & a Harlequin clown come to mind though none with appropriate nicknames/back stories at this point.

Like I said, time for a bit of light-hearted fun.

For about a year I had a little black cat that looked very much like Trim, Matthew Flinder's cat. I called my little cat Little Machak, and he accompanied me on my 3-month cycling tour of Australia. But unfortunately, on the flight back I had a very large bicycle box which was partially destroyed ... my lamp was broken, and Little Machak was gone. Little Machak is exploring the world on his own.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/...2369b02830.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2176/...393fc40aac.jpg

Then I got a little black panther kitten/cub which reminded me of both my kitties - one of whom was black, and the other who tends to bat at me when I play with her. I called him Little Machak II. (see black panther on the right of the photo below) Sadly, Little Machak II was stolen, along with my handlebar bag shown in this photo, and all my pins from places I've been ... and worst of all, my bicycle Machak. I'm not sure I'll actually get over that.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/...865076829c.jpg


I have purchased a new cat to go with my new Titanium bicycle but have not attached the new cat to the new Titanium yet.


Incidentally ... my name Machka means female cat, and Machak (my stolen Marinoni Ciclo's name) means male cat ... so having a cat as a mascot just seemed like a very natural thing to do.

I had a small stuffed tiger that my baby sister gave me right before I left for my trans continental in 1977, she was 9 at the time. I never really figured out the significance of why a tiger, but he rode with me for the entire trip and several tours beyond. I still have the poor bedraggled fellow, but his touring days are done.

Aaron :)

meet mr. ducky
(bigger pic http://omploader.org/vNTZyZA)

I'm currently looking for the right Frog to add to my bike. For a very long time before we even got married, when I was asked what I wanted for B-Day/Christmas/whatever... I would say "A Frog". So my soon to be wife (now married 19.5 years) bought and made enough different kinds of frogs, (ceramic, plush, stamps, you name it..) it was all in a 2'x2'x2' box, stuffed to the gills... So ever since than I have always had a frog somewhere in all my gifts.

It didn't take long before the little buggers started taking over the house :p plus some made noise and the drove my wife nuts so they went into the care (the noise makers). Now all my vehicles have a frog n them somewhere... Sometimes I remember to remove them when the are sold off, sometimes not :( ...

So now the search is on for the new Mascot for the bike :)

I've been thinking about getting one for my new bike, but can't figure out what it would be. I guess I'll know when I see it.

My cousin gave me a small stuffed M&M (Blue) for my birthday. I been carrying him with me ever since.

I have been toying with the idea of sewing on country flag patches to my panniers, like backpackers do for the places they have been, but I am always hesitant. I am worried that eventually the American flag might be taken the wrong way. I guess I could exclude my own countries flag?

Hungarian?

I think I'll use my Crucial memory hoghttp://www.coolermaster-usa.com/micr...lmemoryhog.jpg

This is my touring mascot. I have only had one tour but I dont think I would add it to any of my other
bikes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostona...53605/sizes/m/

Gumby is zip tied to my brake cable housing.. on my bike I'm pretty Pokey..

i never start with one, but i usually find one somewhere and ziptie it to my bike. here's a teletubby (under my saddle) i found last year:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/pics/...G_1802.JPG?v=0

up yours, jerry falwell


if you believe the bicycle lore, a mascot or mojo will protect you on your bike. i think the rule is that you must find it, or it must be given to you; you can't buy it.

I sewed my country flags to the inside flap of my saddlebag.

It seems to be serbian: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ma%C4%8Dak
In hungarian they use the same word (macska) but there are no female/male nouns in hungarian.

Serbo-Croatian ... I'm Serbian.

Mini moxie in her traveling sweater.

Ah...I was wondering. Coming from a Hungarian family, I remembered the word for "cat" but did not recall it being gender specific. Now it makes sense.:)

I have a little red Buddha figure I'd like to attach to my bike, but I have to drill a hole in him to do it. It just doesn't seem right.

I ran into the same "concern" during 5 years in Europe while serving as an American serviceman - even back in the bad old days of the Bader Meinhof gang (Germany) and the Red Brigade (Italy). I basically took the attitude that my carriage, demeanor and dress identified me as an American no matter what I did - especialy since I sported a "high and tight" haircut. So, while riding or backpacking, I just did what I did - and my pack was festooned with both American/other courtry's flags and pins without a second thought. I never had a problem.

Same idea when I travelled in Southeast Asia. I figured if people had trouble with "America", that's their problem. If they wanted to confront me/talk with me about it, that's cool.

I wish I had a flag on my tour, it was pretty great to be able to identify other tourers this way

I have a little Canadian flag sticker on my bike.

I have a little tan and white toy basset hound that travels with me everywhere. He can easily fit into a handlebar bag along with my other high value items. I got him because he looks a lot like my real basset hound. I named the toy dog Grumpy because he has a sort of sour look on his face which I somehow find endearing. I have a series of photographs I call Travels With Grumpy because I like to pose him with recognizable landmarks. I would post one, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to post a picture here. You guys that do must be geniuses.

Quatchi mascot
 

Just got my first mascot and he joined me on a camping trip on the Sunshine Coast...he's Quatchi, one of the little Vancouver Olympics mascots. Might have to get a spare in case he gets kidnapped or escapes.

Douglas is a little groundhog who rides with me on the bike. If you're going to have an animal companion, shouldn't it be someone whose ability to forecast the weather is legendary? (Couldn't get a big picture to upload, but that's him as the avatar leading off this post; he's riding in my water-bottle holder.)