I’m pretty happy to have finally found a silver rear rack. I think the bike is starting to look really good. Next question is whether to service the rear wheel (and lose the plastic pie plate) or build new city wheels with an internal hubs. I go back and forth. Bike projects are fun though!

From reader P, a bike report from his trip to the Cape and Islands:

Went to Nantucket for a day and here’s what I saw.

1. Cool Cape Bike (notice the nice basket and the fishing pole holders on the back)

2. Free waterfront parking. Compared to on the spot for a day, parking elsewhere in Hyannis (for free) and riding a bike nets big savings (is that chic or not?)

3. Cool rentals

4. Abandoned cruiser (This has been there for over a month and I’d love to know its story)

Charlotte would like to ask that, if possible, the comments to this post be written in the form of a limerick.
“There once was a bike in Nantucket…”

This time the street artists chose to leave beautiful handmade flowers festooning the bike racks next to some Community Gardens on the Southwest Corridor Park.

The flowers are all handmade to represent identifiable plants, and I particularly love the bee with the huge grin on his face:

I can only imagine what fun the South End Knitters had as they planned and executed this art installation. I wish I were a knitter, this group looks like a lot of fun!

I will have to put the flowers on my bike and return to take a photo of everyone bedecked in flowers!

Sent in by reader P, here’s a mystery bike for you. P tells me:

The head tube badge says it’s a ‘Royal Ascot’, but I haven’t been able to find anything about them. Most searches turn up stories of people who bike to Royal Ascot, and while they’re interesting, it’s not the information I’m looking for. Perhaps one of your knowledgeable readers will know something about the brand.

The bike was in good condition, Sturmey-Archer 3 speed, classic English frame, braze-ons for a frame pump. It looks mostly original.

Does anyone know anything more about this bicycle maker?

This lady looks so elegant on her summer evening out. I love the classical simplicity in all that she does – from the bike which must have a coaster brake (given the clean lines of her handlebars) to the single silver necklace for jewelry – she knows the power of a simple statement.

Here is a submitted set of photos from the Cambridge Bicycle bike party, which was rescheduled and I could not attend. Thanks are due to my friend C, who sent in photos and commentary. His thoughts, and my comments, below.

Apologies in advance about the blurry cameraphone pics, but I was at the Cambridge Bicycle commuter block party last night and thought you might appreciate these pictures of some swanky commuter bikes.

C, I do indeed, I think we all thank you so much for sharing these!

Red Independent Fabrication Step-through (!) with cork grips, Alfine internal gear hub and thermos holder.

I haven’t ever seen this bike! WOW! It’s beautiful!

don’t remember maker of this one, but I just liked the wicker basket.

It’s a gorgeous basket!

ANT Boston Roadster with blue powdercoat, Nexus internal gear hub, hammered Honjo fenders and one of Mike’s chainguards.

I enjoyed chatting with the owner of this bike at the Friday party. I have been drooling on this bike on numerous occasions now, the owner of the bike is finally OK with it, though it’s embarrassing to me.

Vintage Austro-Daimler frame, black with nice yellow accents. Pretty bike!

That is a beautiful bike, with a nice classically simple austerity to it.

The infamous “Man In Black” and his Velorbis won best All-Around commuter. The Sexiest bike awards were all grabbed by some rather h0tt fixed gears with nice custom paint jobs.

Thanks for the report C! Now we all want photos of your sexy bike!

Not much to say these days, the weather is beautiful and the lovely ladies are out riding and enjoying it. Hurray for summertime!

I saw these Mardi Gras beads on the bike and thought “instant party”. I followed her a few blocks and they didn’t seem to interfere with her wheel, though why remains a bit of a mystery.

Anyhow, enjoy your Memorial Day!

My husband’s only complaint about his Brompton has been the stock lighting system. He tried to use it for a while but eventually stripped it all off. It just wasn’t worth the hassle.
I’d like him to use more lights on his bike, so when I saw this clever Brompton set-up I took photos for him. Then I realized that some of you might be interested too.
At first I thought it was a DIY bracket, but after visiting Bikes Not Bombs I saw that they sell a Planet Bike rack bracket for the Planet Bike light, and that must be what we see here.
What is important, and may not come across in the photos, is that the light is low profile enough that it’s protected by the wheels on the rack and does not need to be removed to fold the bike.