From disaster, to joy, to inspiration…

A few weeks back, I received a discount voucher from MTBMEETUPUK for a company based in Brighton known as @brokenriders. So, I treated myself to one of their new MTB mugs. Yes yes…I know most of you may be thinking to yourselves “Why on earth would I read a post about a bloody mug?!” Well, read on…

You still here reading then? Good! You are in for a treat. As we all know a mug can also be known as a cup, a flagon, a chalice, a jug or even an MTB tankard. For the purposes of simplicity in this post (you may notice I like simple) we shall just use the good old term “Mug”.

We all use a mug to help us carry our favourite hot or cold beverages, but have you ever looked deeper at the possibilities of the humble mug? I have, and I shall detail them here for your reading pleasure and inspiration.

The back story

Before we look at the vast potential of a mug, I want to let you know about just how amazing the guys over at Broken Riders are. As mentioned, I was the proud owner of my shiny new mug when disaster struck – barely two weeks of proud mug ownership I dropped it. Bounced right out my hand it did! Hit the floor and SMASH!! Well I’m guessing that mugs and vinyl flooring don’t go well together as I found when I was staring down at a load of bits.

I was devastated. I had only managed about a 63 mugs of tea, 1 mug of milk and a mug of water… I guess we can never know the life expectancy of a mug these days, especially in my hands. It may be gone, but not forgotten. Upon declaring my loss on Twitter, whilst listening to Our Song from radio one, I received a message from Tom over at Broken Riders saying they would send me a replacement, obviously with extra bubble wrap so it had a chance of surviving my ham-fistedness. I have not felt so happy since finding a solid chocolate finger in a Kit-Kat!

Fair to say that not only is Tom at Broken Riders an absolute legend, his gear is the bomb too. If my kids didn’t eat up all my money, I’d have a wardrobe full of broken riders kit.

The potential of a mug

So, after receiving my new mug it got me thinking; “What can a Mug actually do?” Here we have two mugs – one a ceramic piece of wonderment from Broken Riders, the other is me (G aka TrailAbuse)

What could possibly go wrong? on this occasion, nothing. So, here are my thoughts on what you can do with your very own Broken Riders mug:

• The first use I found for it was that it could be used as a desk tidy
• My second choice was obvious and that is tea (coffee will be just as at home in a Broken Riders mug..)
• As an impromptu snow shovel – very useful in the current Siberian conditions we have in the UK…
• As an MTB themed plant pot for the green-fingered ones amongst you
• Should the worst happen and it be broken, the pieces can be put to use in making a rather fetching wind-chime
• Helps to inform the world around you of your love for all things MTB
• Can spark up conversation with those strange non-MTB types so we can explain all about mountain bikes to them for hours on end, whether they like it or not
• In the workshop for holding those all-important small bits and bobs that we can’t quite remember how to fit back onto the bike after a service or strip down

Go get yourself over to Broken Riders and check out the goodies they have to offer.