"After perusing the excellent online Gallica archive for early French cycling racing photos, I discovered when racing picked up again after the Great War a lot of the now ex-soldier cyclists were using their old issue ration bags as cycling musettes. They can be seen often in races up to the mid twenties, usually with race numbers pinned on the back. The bags are not uncommon, as the basic pattern was in use from 1892 until after the Second World War. Pre WW1 they are natural linen coloured. During the war they introduce the reddy brown version, and the colour changes again in the 1930s to a grey green shade. As I wanted a bag I could use on cycle rides, and knowing from experience that can be quite hard wearing, I decided to make my own. It's proved more difficult than I thought, matching the materials, buttons and buckles, but the actual construction is fairly straightforward."
