Why do we keep souvenirs from trips we have made or holidays taken? Or perhaps a seemingly random piece of childhood memorabilia as a memento of a childhood long since past? Or in my sister's case the ear and tattered skin of a fluffy cuddly cow (affectionately known as Cow)? The answer of course is obvious to us all, it's because it gives us a link to the past. A physical link that connects us directly to that event, place, time or person, or possibly all of these things. Often these items get shelved or dumped in a box, buried not seeing the light again for years; sometime decades, archived. Forsaken? Never.
So when we stumble across these trinkets, bits of paper or old toys it can give us a jolt, a blast from the past, if you will. A reminder of who we were or who we wanted to be. I have some such treasured items in storage. Well, actually floating somewhere on the Indian Ocean en-route to Perth WA, whereupon they will be reunited with their owner. Items such as a 20-odd year old Mongoose BMX jersey, which may just be the coolest biking garment to have ever been made. A genuine leather American Football given to me by an Aunt Jenny for my 13th birthday. Several letters sent back and forth to Saudi Arabia by a young boy to his best friend after his parents re-located there. And a bottle top.
Yes a bottle top. Just your garden-vareity draught beer bottle top. But it's got special properties this bottle top. I know this because every time I touch it, it takes me directly up 842 metres to the top of the infamous High Street on a windy Saturday morning in October, towering above Ullswater and beyond in the Lake District, North West England. Whereupon after an epic ascent of High Street I produced two bottles of God's finest to my riding buddy, training partner, workmate and friend for life Nick Brewster, and we toasted to our friendship, rides done, rides nearly done (bailed/bonked/mechanicals) and rides pending.
So maybe it's time to venture in to the loft, and take a look at some of those hidden items, you never know where they may take you.
