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Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, celebrated the Royal nuptials with a tweeted link to a cartoon of Catherine Middleton and Prince William riding a Boris Bike tandem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFJYAVhWgfw
The cartoon video shows His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge riding the tandem, appropriate for a couple now associated with Cambridge, one of the UK’s top cycling cities.
Royal protocol clearly wasn’t on the top of the Mayor London’s list because he’s shown cycling past the couple on a solo Boris Bike.
(And what’s with the elephants?)
And in a ceremony in Trafalgar Square Johnson unveiled the actual spliced Boris Bike.
The tandem, tweeted from the Mayor of London’s twitpic account, is in the blue livery of the Barclays-sponsored scheme when, it could be assumed, a Royal tandem would be sponsored by Coutts, the ‘Royal bank’.
The bike was paid for by Serco, operator of the London Bike Hire scheme, and made by the Public Bike System Company, the same Canandian company that makes the standard Boris Bikes.
The bikes used in London were first used by PBSC in Montreal, Canada and is known as the BIXI. The bikes are designed by industrial designer Michel Dallaire and built in the Saguenay, Quebec region by Cycles DeVinci.
The tandem has an oversized downtube, seven speed gears, an adapted braking system, a greater wheelbase (1800 mm vs 1111 mm) and two bells.
Roger Plamondon, chairman of the Public Bike System Company said:
"We are very proud of the work we have accomplished to make this special gift a reality and are delighted to find our BIXI at the heart of the royal festivities."
As well as Montreal and London, BIXI public rental bikes can be found in Melbourne, Australia, and in American cities Minneapolis, Washington DC and Arlington.
The Royal couple may now be associated with Cambridge, but Will and Kate have not yet been anywhere near the Boris tandem: they left for Clarence house in Prince Charles’ sports car. Spoil sports.
