Bicycle Touring 101: Adding a flag for a knightly touch

A knight with shield and pennant.
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Sir Jamie Ridealot with his trusty IceBike. Notice the snow on the rims.
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It's true that bicycle touring is a slower form of travel. The slower pace has the significant advantage of really letting you get to know the area around you rather then have just speed on through it.

One hundred and fifty years ago almost all long distance travel was completed by train. Go back three hundred years ago and the horse or wind-powered sailing vessel were the way to travel.

For many people riding a bicycle on a touring adventure can easily make you feel like you are back in the earlier time periods when the horse was truly king. Add a flag to your bicycle along with a bit of imagination and you can easily be transported back to the days of yore when knights in shining armour wandered the paths of the world.

You might be asking why would you want to add a flag to your bike? Flags have a reputation for improving visibility and increasing the amount of space that cars give you when passing.

I was always skeptical because quite frankly there is also a bit of stigma against putting a flag on a bike. Somehow it's seen as something only fitting for a child's bike or a trailer for hauling kids.

Well recently I picked up three bicycle touring flags. Two of these are well known flags that have been seen all over the world. The last one is a new flag that over time will hopefully also get around.

Three Touring Flags. Top is the Bicycle Touring 101 flag, middle is an upside down BOB trailer flag and at the bottom is the Phred / International Bicycle Touring Mailing List flag.
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When I mounted the new flag and it's pole on my Icebike I was surprised to find that my over-active imagination found it very easy to see me as a knight riding on my trusty steed. What I also quickly discovered is that it is true that cars give you much more room when passing especially if your flag hangs out a little further into the side of the lane where cars typically pass.

Front view showing the flag hanging out to the side.
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The third flag is the Bicycle Touring 101 flag and I plan to fly it during my next touring adventure so if you see it in your travels please take a moment to say hi to Sir Jamie Ridealot.( grin )