Touring Mascots
What are touring mascots? A lot of touring cyclists carry a mascot. Some are large and some are tiny to save weight. I have two of them. For a light weight version I have a small plastic chocolate colored moose that dispenses lollies from one end.
The much larger mascot is the tux penguin pictured below. While he might be quite large, he can also double as a pillow and for padding delicate things inside the panniers.
My touring mascot is Tux the pengiun on the right. He has found himself a friend.
So why do cycle tourists carry a mascot? Maybe it's someone to talk to when touring solo. Maybe it's for good luck.
In my case, it's for photographing something when touring solo. Trying to set the self timer on the camera is a pain sometimes, so it's easier to get Tux and position him in a good photographic position and then take a photo.
At least if Tux is photographed in some out of the way place, then it means that I was there to take the photograph. I usually try and get a photo of Tux on board the bike in some places. He has also been photographed in front of signs in some odd places.
However Tux is not waterproof and takes up valuable room in the panniers, so I'll be going back to the small plastic moose. It's small and light weight and doubles as a lolly dispenser. Stay tuned for some photographs of the moose in some far away places.....
