The Eugene (OR) Celebration Parade is fast fading into memory. But, never fear, the Eugene Bicyclist has announced its unofficial Best of Show Award goes to…
The Bike Friday Tandemonium Band. Turns out the group had a secret weapon, not visible in a pre-parade spy shot: high-visibility yellow cummerbunds, which, as Wikipedia reminds us, were originally used in less-colorful forms by the British in colonial India.
Members of the strangely affable cummerbunded bicycle band strike fear into the local populace. Photo courtesy of eugenebicyclist.com
Evidently the British refusal to adopt yellow cummerbunds led to the collapse of the British Raj. While some historians may dispute this particular cause-and-effect pairing, they may change their minds once I update the Wikipedia entry in question.
The Eugene Bicyclist has pictures of other members of the Tandemonium Band, including an accordion player and a flautist. Again, as Wikipedia reminds us, a flautist is any musician who uses a song to showcase unusual talents, such as actually being able to play an instrument (or it will once I add those words to Wikipedia).
The Tandemonium Band had some fearsome competitors for the top award, including the eventual winner of the Umqua Dairy/Most-Amazing-Milk-Crate-Bike-You-Ever-Saw Award.
Photo courtesy of eugenebicyclist.com
Obviously this entrant had no chance at top honors because it is a quadricycle, which is just silly.
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The Eugene Bicyclist notes the passing parade here. Definitely worth a look.
It’s not nice to flaunt your flautist. But seriously, where can I obtain one or more of these cumberbund items – Amazon? Do tell.
It must take some skill to play and ride, especially in that tandem-trailer configuration….. and that looks like a Bike Friday travel trailer …. pretty impressive how much weight it can hold!