August 20th – I keep seeing interesting bikes parked at Waitrose. This again, is the steed of a lady of a certain maturity, and frankly, I find it a bit baffling. It’s either a refurbed Raleigh 3 speed of the classic variety, or a modern copy. Authenticity is good, and that’s a real Sturmey Archer hub gear. Note the rod brakes and steel rims. I can’t for the life of me think why anyone would choose to ride a bike with such a crap braking system in this day and age. The carrier is also rather heavily engineered. It’s a nice thing, to be sure, but I’m not sure I’d fancy riding it.