Name That Bike

So this is it.

Tomorrow I will cycle from Cape Cornwall to my house. On Sunday from my house to Plymouth and then I will catch the ferry to Santander. In less than 3 weeks I will be in Morocco, I could be in Mauritania by Christmas. Sometime in the future I hope to roll into Cape Town on my bike.

My bike, a Qoroz Mountain Won which I picked up from MSG bikes in Lancing a couple of days ago is a thing of beauty. I have made it less beautiful by loading it up to the hilt with clothes and camping gear but it is still gorgeous. Sleek, metallic, and kitted out especially for me I can’t wait to ride it. (Picture to Follow)

My bike, however, doesn’t have a name. My sister suggested calling it “Field Marshall Jones.” This is a family in joke which I will attempt to explain. When I was very small my brother and sister who are both much older (this prompted the shadow culture secretary to call me ‘an accident’ once - Long story.) used to have to play with me on my parents orders.

My brother would take me to the woods, climb a tree and read a book while I splashed around in the stream. My sister on the other hand, probably took things too far. My sister for her geography A level had to collect samples of earth and measure their PH levels. This became an army mission and I was me and she was Field Marshall Jones, both of us camoed up with Early Learning Centre face paint trekking over fields collecting samples of mud.

This became a game I thoroughly looked forward to playing at the weekends and I think my sister regretted inventing the game. Sales of face paint in Cornwall, though, have never been so high. So that is why she suggested calling it Field Marshall Jones. I was thinking of ’Bertie’ because that was the name of my small replica John Deere tractor before I graduated on to bikes. The dilemma I am facing though is that I would prefer my bike to have a female name. The thought of saying ‘I’ve just ridden Bertie’ is a bit disconcerting.

So if anyone has any suggestions for what to name my bike in the next 12 hours of so then please, let me know!