More bikes on drinks labels. Sweet

Bicycles on wine labels are pretty common, as previous posts (1, 2) have mentioned.

However, there are also teetotal drinks labels featuring bikes. We spotted this one on a bottle of Monin Syrup in a cafe-bar the other day, for instance. It's a standard element of many cocktails, evidently just the sort to pep you up as you cycle from Paris to Roubaix circa 1903.

But 'gum'? Have we been getting it wrong? Is it to drink, or fix your tyres with?

Fair outcome: Fruit of your cycling labour

Just time between the showers today to pedal your own free smoothie at the final day of the Fair Trade Festival (right) in Potters Fields, right underneath Tower Bridge.

The blender-bike here comes from Kitchen Academy, who provide mobile cooking services at various events. So if you want a bike-powered drinks generator for your own event, you know where to go.


The Fair Trade festival offers a range of activities highlighting the organisation's activities, such as Hook-a-Banana (like hook a duck, only more equitable) and banana jousting (so you can have fight after one too many at the bar and still get one of your five a day). And various free samples. Which is fair enough.

Cheers! Brewer celebrates bike trip with special ale

We spotted this special cycling beer on sale in a Shropshire pub over the weekend, during a biking break in the hills round Church Stretton.

The one-off 30-60 Challenge ale comes from Wood Brewery, based in Craven Arms (that's a place, not a pub). It marks a bike trip by its MD, Edward Wood. He's celebrating his 60th birthday (and the 30th of the brewery) by cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats, and he starts today (he's on Twitter, too).

Edward is raising money for Midlands Air Ambulance, and 10p from every pint goes towards to the charity. The deliciously hoppy brew quickly became the official beer of our weekend too. In the Green Dragon pub in Little Stretton - which, incidentally, does quite the best pub chips any of us could remember - we must have contributed enough to buy them a helicopter already.

Good luck, Edward. We think the idea of celebratory biking brews is an outstanding one. Perhaps you might do some commissions for us, too, when you get back?

Anyway, here's some ideas for one-off, London-based, cycling ales:
• Cycling Superhighways Special - identical to beer that was there before, only coloured blue
• Boris Blond - lots of fizz and energy, flows smoothly, but no taste
• Council Cream - dull and thin; only comes in half-measures, and liable to give headaches
• TfL Tipple - mostly froth, and a watered-down feel

You're always wining

I've often bought a bottle of wine just because it had a bike on the label. (Another common reason is because it's cheap.)

One Flickr user (presumably called Paul Dunn) has put up his collection of photos featuring wine bottles that feature bikes: an impressive two-and-a-half dozen. Must have been a good weekend.

Wine and bikes is an excellent combination. There's even a Flickr group dedicated to the subject (to which I see a name very familiar to CTC members is an enthusiastic contributor).

But, obviously, you shouldn't drink and cycle. It could be dangerous. Stop, pull over to the side of the road, drink the wine, replace it safely in your pannier, and then proceed.