Bike of Burden

The problem of carrying my skateboard on my bicycle has exercised me for a while. I like riding to the skatepark or between street spots, but I hate to carry my board on my back. Last year I made this skateboard carrier for my bike pannier, which has been working fine, but which I wanted to upgrade with some pockets and a shoulder strap so that it functions as a piece of luggage independent of the bike. Above is the finished item, and it was made thus:

BLUEPRINTS!

denim cut to size, folds marked

pockets cut in denim

pockets sewn and lined

there is a rigid board sewn into the carrier so that it holds its shape. Jez (Jeremy Granville Smith) is a master furniture restorer and totally overqualified to do this, but he did it anyway because he is a lovely geezer with a workshop

it attaches to the bike with either/both velcro and leather straps

bike + board

high-vis strips are sewn onto the edges

elastic straps across the top can carry some additional luggage, such as a comic book

the shoulder strap folds away into one of the pockets, and attaches with these big buttons

Alas, I am not happy with it. With the sewing machine as with skateboarding, my ambitions outstrip my abilities. It doesn't work as well as it ought - I don't trust the shoulder strap to hold, there's not enough volume in the pockets when the thing is closed, I didn't make the velcro straps as long as I should have, and the leather straps are a hassle to fasten. I find myself returning to the carrier that I made last year.

Fairdale Bikes and Roger Skateboards have collaborated on a bike/board set that is way more desirable.

Boatil Jaikit

I decided to equip my bike with a water bottle. As my old Claude Butler bicycle has no holes in the down tube to accommodate a bottle cage, I used a clamp to mount it on the handlebars. The clamp was slightly too small, so I thumped it into place with a hammer and replaced the lower bolt with a longer skateboard truck bolt to hold it tightly closed.

The bottle on the bike, with skateboard truck bolt holding the clamp in place

The cage is an 'Iris' King Cage, and the bottle a 27oz Klean Kanteen, both bought from the fine fellows at Cheeky Transport in Newtown. The bottle and cage are both lovely objects, unfussy and functional in their design.

The bottle sits snugly in the cage, but metal against metal inevitably creates a slight rattle. This began to annoy me, so I took out the sewing machine and knocked up a nice wee denim jacket with which to clad the bottle. The base was tricky to sew and is not too neat, but I am content with it. I fed a length of shoelace through the upper hem to act as a drawstring that can be pulled tight around the neck of the bottle.

boatil in the buff

boatil in a jaikit

I'm pleased with this, my 'hydration solution' (if you're a knob), my 'boatil in a jaikit' (if you're Scottish), which, like the tin of a penniless beggar, or an irate baby who throws things from its pushchair, or the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, no longer has a rattle.