What Do You Make of That?



Artwork by Kat


It is always a pleasant surprise to find out what people can craft from used bicycle parts.  You could call it rebicycling.  Taking something that was destined for the landfill and then using that item to make something something beautiful or prcatical.
Last evening, an avid year-round cyclist aquaintance of mine showed up at an outdoor picnic with a strange contraption strapped to her pannier rack.  Knowing this lady and how handy she is, I wanted very much to find out what on earth was this?  It struck me as looking like a woven quilt made from black suausages, about two feet long and 16 inches wide with a corrugated plastic bed.


Black sausage creation by: C.F.


Once she unfastened the contraption from her bike, she announced to one and all that this was her toboggan.  Made from discarded bicycle innertubes, it did look like it might offer a comfortable ride down our many snowy slopes.  I didn't look closely enough at the "toboggan" to detect how the inflated rubber tubes were fastened to the corroplast bed and my cycling chum did reflect that she would have preferred to use 20 inch tubes as the 24 inchers on the sled did hang over the rear of the craft.  But still, a fine idea and probably a lot of fun.  I might have tried it except I wasn't wearing enough winter clothing and I had a "Lemonade Chicken" in the slow cooker at home that needed my attention.




Jewellery by: Jan's Treasures

The above photo displays a necklace made from various bike parts and some copper wire.  The smaller toothed wheel is a lockring from a rear cassette but the larger wheel I can't place.  Any ideas?