Let’s drink to staying warm

bicycle thermos

When it feels this damp, time has come to swap your water bottle for a thermos. Whatever the weather, this small thermos from Stanley will help keep you warm however you travel.
stanley thermos

Win a thermos

We have a 0.47 litre Stanley bicycle thermos worth £30 to give away. Simply leave a comment at the bottom of this page and let us know what you’d fill it with. We’ll pick a winner next week.

Cold weather cycling

This week’s commutes might have felt miserable, but it’s all relative. The pioneer adventure cyclists of the 1890s who took to the snowy wilds of northern Canada without the benefit of modern clothing (and 80 years before mountain bikes) knew a thing or two about cycling in the extreme cold. The Great Gold Rush drew 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1896 and 1899. Those who didn’t have the money to invest in dog teams used bicycles and rudimentary cold weather gear.

Max Hirschberg was 19 when he took to a bicycle to join the gold rush. His journal gives a fascinating insight into the cold weather gear of the day:

The day I left Dawson, March 2, 1900, was clear and crisp, 30° below zero. I was dressed in a flannel shirt, heavy fleece-lined overalls, a heavy mackinaw coat, a drill parka, two pairs of heavy woolen socks and felt high-top shoes, a fur cap that I pulled down over my ears, a fur nose piece, plus fur gauntlet gloves. On the handlebars of the bicycle I strapped a large fur robe. Fastened to the springs, back of the seat, was a canvas sack containing a heavy shirt, socks, underwear, a diary in waterproof covering, pencils and several blocks of sulfur matches. In my pockets I carried a penknife and a watch.”

ETA cycle insurance

Ethical cycle insurance

On the face of it, one cycle insurance policy is much like another, but the devil is the detail. How much excess you will be charged is just one of the things that varies wildly between providers. Another is so called ‘new-for-old’ replacement – many insurers use this term, but if your bicycle is more than a few years old, devalue it severely. This means you are left out of pocket when you come to replace it.

With ETA cycle insurance, however old the bike, if it’s stolen you get enough to buy a new model.

For 29 years we have been providing this kind of straightforward, affordable bicycle insurance. Little wonder The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be Britain’s most ethical insurance company.

 

 

Comments

  1. Su

    Reply

    I would fill it with hot lingonberry juice, to remind me of being in the snow in Sweden!

  2. Clare Gordon

    Reply

    Hot blackcurrant made with homemade cordial – a taste of summer in the depths of winter.

  3. Graham Corfield

    Reply

    I would fill it with hot chocolate, to keep me warm and give me calories to carry on!!

  4. Toity Deave

    Reply

    Hot Marmite has to be in there! If not, it will be basic ‘char’ – good old teabag tea.

  5. Steve

    Reply

    Just the job!!

  6. Peter Clark

    Reply

    Good old fashioned tea.

  7. Keith Graham

    Reply

    I would fill it with decaff coffee – heat without hyperactivity!

  8. Gavin

    Reply

    I had one of these exact thermos when I was in the army. A few years later, when back in the UK, I lent it to my dad – who then left it on the roof of a cathedral (he was a stonemason). Never got it back. This would be a good replacement after going without my Thermos the past 30 years!!!

  9. Robert Nunney

    Reply

    I’d love one of these. Ours leaks.

  10. Peter Shirley

    Reply

    Needed this today, 2 punctures and a total soaking.

  11. Chris

    Reply

    What an absolutely spiffing idea.

  12. Richard Scrase

    Reply

    Soup, mushroom, tomato, whatever is on the oven.

  13. Yousaf Mirza

    Reply

    Old school style for a veteran cyclist!

  14. Wynn James

    Reply

    I’d fill it with strong coffee to enhance my performance on the bike and reduces my aches when I get off the bike

  15. Bryn Gwyndaf Jones

    Reply

    Hot stuff!

  16. Ben

    Reply

    For me it would be gløgg, gluhwein,vin chaud or mulled wine – depending on brexit of course….

  17. Julia

    Reply

    Hot marmite drink or homemade soup.

  18. Hollie

    Reply

    It might be a slightly unconventional cycling fuel, but it’s got to be Heinz Tomato soup.

  19. Carol W

    Reply

    Nice toasty hot lentil soup. Yum 🙂

  20. Jamie J

    Reply

    A sweet chai…

  21. Alan

    Reply

    Coffee. Add scotch to taste from hip flask

  22. Giuseppe Caruso

    Reply

    Tea at hand akways

  23. Jim Woodlingfield

    Reply

    Broth to fuel me up those hills!

  24. James

    Reply

    Could be used in winter for hot drinks and in the summer to keep drinks cold sounds a great idea

  25. David

    Reply

    A hot drink without the fuss of a stove:)

  26. Sarah

    Reply

    Good heartwarming homemade soup, probably something spicy like a Mexican bean.

  27. John Fletcher

    Reply

    The prospect of taking my wife’s wonderful smoked bacon and lentil soup on a winter ride – heaven indeed!

  28. Chris

    Reply

    I should have said soup!

  29. Rory Harkins

    Reply

    Coffee

  30. Toby James

    Reply

    Hot chocolate with marshmallows during the winter. Ice cold chocolate milk during the summer, cos it’s the best for recovering

  31. Seph

    Reply

    It has to be tea.

  32. Raf

    Reply

    I’d fill it with the milk of human kindness : )

  33. Peter Chisnall

    Reply

    Warming!

  34. Greg

    Reply

    Themobost my ride

  35. Mark B

    Reply

    Hot chocolate with a splash of dark rum. Only to be consumed on arrival you understand!

  36. Craig

    Reply

    On a long ride on the coldest days recently, I would have been glad of any hot drink in one of these.

    Nice prize, thanks ETA.

    Craig

  37. Gillian Watling

    Reply

    I was out riding off road in the snow near Zurich Switzerland a couple of weeks ago and it was so cold my water bottle froze!!!! Think I need to start taking some hot chocolate in a nice thermos flask, just like this PLEASE. 🙂

  38. frank

    Reply

    Just plain boiled water from the kettle!

  39. Mike Croker

    Reply

    Definitely hot chocolate, for the calories.

  40. David Hamilton

    Reply

    I’d love this for my morning coffee on the way to work.

  41. Iain Shanks

    Reply

    Perfect for a cup of tea

  42. Stephen

    Reply

    My choice would be steaming hot Ribena for winter rides on my classic Bianchi bicycle. Think the colour of this flask will even match the frame!

  43. Rob

    Reply

    Does it fit in a standard water bottle cage? If so, I would love one!

  44. Jonathan

    Reply

    I’d fill the beauriful flask with hot steamy ‘mocha’ hmm.

  45. Johnny Faro

    Reply

    I’d fill it with anything sweet as still bitter about the wife chucking my faithful 15 year old flask as took up too much space in the cupboard!

  46. Darren C

    Reply

    Keep it simple – black Coffee. Great all year round, perfect in the summer on those cycling/camping trips and a good hit of hot caffeine to warm the toes & fingers in the winter.

  47. MARK

    Reply

    Nothing can beat a nice hot chocolate on a cold ride. Hot with some calories and tasty as well.

    (Drinking hot chocolate in the cold, reminds me of sitting around a camp fire at scout camp as a youngster….)

  48. David Hunt

    Reply

    Stanley is the original and best thermos! I had the one from my grandparents for years!
    I’d use it for all types of hot drinks, but soup is a great warmer after a walk/ride in the cold!

  49. Philip

    Reply

    Stew…piping hot….a meal and a drink in one to restore mind and body

  50. Sue

    Reply

    Just the thing to keep the inside warm on those bitterly cold mornings in the frozen north!

  51. Penny Price

    Reply

    I think some hot spicy ginger and pear cordial would be pretty good

Add your comment

Your email address will not be published. Your name and email are required.