Chai and Mark's Toys

Just spent a strangely happy evening sifting through a dead friend's gear.  His missus, also a friend, had a whole floor of Bromptons, Moultons, a Dahon Speed and a Birdy and crate after crate of stuff which needed sorting into "keep" "ebay" "freecycle" and so on.  It was weird picking through someone else's bike parts stash - amusing that the stash had certain universal commons (plastic toeclips, different-sized stems, wheel reflectors still in their plastic, obsolete lights) - maybe it's like bread or cake: some ingredients are always the same, some are different.  He did have some great kit.  A spare Thudbuster?  And you can get a sense of the mood of a person from their gear and tools: the habit of upgrading, and a dislike of carbon, for one. 

He said "he who dies with the most toys wins" and among the bikes we found model rockets and cameras and guitars and gods know what.  At the funeral his Birdy was propped up against the coffin.  Bikes make the best toys.