I read a story about a woman who was a secretary. She got tired of typing errors (I'm not sure what they used to correct them in those days,) so she came up with the idea of painting over the letters. "Liquid Paper" was borne, along with a woman who quit her secretarial position.

Don't bicycle commuters have some ideas that could be applied in their realm of experience? I have so many "do-it-yourself" projects I have fiddled at that I am sure we have lots of possible ideas.

After all, the Wright brothers were bicycle mechanics.

I am a bicycle mechanic who came up with the idea of a pedal powered airplane, it was a heck of an idea, but it never really got off the ground (pun)...lol. So sad, I know..........Pix

Here is some more trivia for you. That secretary Pete is refering to who invented Liquid Paper was Mike Nesbit's mother - Mike Nesbit of the Monkees musical/Television stardom.

Random fact of the day:

That woman was also Michael Nesmith's (of Monkees fame) mother.

Oh! Look at that!

Mike has already provided you with that information.

That'll learn me to read all the posts before I reply.


(to my credit though, I did correct the spelling of Mr. Nesmith's last name...)

So Pete,

Let us know some of your ideas.

I have a local tailor make me narrow bags that fit in between the triangle of the frame (top,seat,down). It is accessible while i ride and is nice with heavy items. The only disadvantage is in very strong cross winds.

I can post pix if needed.


Erik

The best idea for all weather commuting cyclists was the invention of plastic bags.

Don't know if cyclists in the land of banana benders ever get cold, when rain protection is just a plastic bag; but I sure do remember sitting in a fast food restaurant along with a bunch of grumpy wet cyclists. Thought our cycling friendships would come to an end that day, but we all got through it. One of those surprise rain storms. We went like 30 miles with just plastic bags keeping our feet dry, that we picked out of the trash..
On long tours, I will be better prepared.

Plastic bags aren't for keeping one's self warm, as that is never necessary around here. They are for keeping the contents of one's panniers dry when a tropical downpour shows the failings of so-called "waterproof" panniers. If one wants to keep one's self warm after riding in the rain, they will need a dry change of clothes which will be kept dry in, you guessed it, a plastic bag.

Just make sure, especially if you're using recycled plastic bags from shopping, that they don't have any tiny tears or holes in them. It only takes a little opening to let a lot of rain get in. I speak from actual experience.

This idea is beyond my actual know-how, but I would love to see
a device that can electronically (or magnetically, or something) set off a traffic signal.

I also have an idea that is beyond my ability to create. I would like to invent a cycling jersey that will make the wearer of the jersey appear to be bigger than he/she really is. When a driver of a car is 100 yards or more behind the cyclist in my jersey, the cyclist would appear somewhat in the way of the driver. As a result, hopefully, the driver will veer away from the path of the cyclist a bit more than usual. At 20 yards or less the cyclist will appear normal to the motorist.

The chance of a cyclist getting hit from behind by a car is less than the chance of most other cycling accidents, but a newbie cyclist wouldn't know this fact. For this reason my cycling jersey would almost sell itself.