My Alfine Tikit arrived yesterday. Superbly packaged, it was out of the box and assembled within an hour. It looks the business. The disc brakes will no doubt take a little care getting used to as they seem mega powerful. Tomorrow I may get a chance to get a quick ride although as luck would have it I am working this weekend at the Focus on Imaging show. Just when the weather turns warm, still I will get to spend some time with Jose Navarro whose photography I love (check out ‘Across Mali on a bicycle‘)
Anyway the main observation for today is that the Tikit arrived with a bill from Revenue and Customs, not for 15% VAT but what appears to be 47%. Now I don’t mind paying taxes, that how we can afford an NHS for goodness sake. But 47%? It appears I am not the only one to notice and it seems quite a few cyclists have asked Gordon Brown if he might do something about it. And it seems Gordon would love to, just that he can’t. Over to you Gordon to explain why
Hmm, well British jobs for British workers then Gordon, at least for the time being. The trouble is I personally do not mind whether the worker who builds my bike lives in the UK, the US, Taiwan or Italy. I do rather care that he or she works in a safe environment and gets a decent wage. And I am not sure how taxing bicycles helps.
In the meantime, it would appear the best way to import a folding bike rather than ride a Brompton would be to fly out, ride it around a bit to get a bit of dirt on it, fold it up and fly home as if you have had it for ages.
[Combing my hair warning: The last suggestion is illegal]
[Combing my hair warning: The last suggestion would rather defeat the carbon dioxide objective which may be why your are cycling rather than driving.]
Combing my hair in a brand new style 