As a result of raising more than £8,000, Nick Hand of the Letterpress Collective in Bristol and handmade bike specialist Robin Mather are about to go live with The Printing Bike project. 

As the name suggests, this involves that most unlikely of combinations: cycling and printing. 

Mather will construct a specially-designed bike, with small wheels and a long beam, to transport Hand, his Adana 8x5, paper, ink, typecases, and “all the tools needed” for printing postcards on the go. Oh, and camping gear. 

The journey from Bristol to Mainz, the birth-place of father of print Johannes Gutenberg, will involve stop-offs along the way to meet artists and poets. And probably the development of Chris Hoy-esque thigh muscles. 

The artists’ work will be used for postcards that Hand will print en route. Various printed goodies (including postcards) will be sent to its backers. 

“The Printing Bike Project brings together both Nick and Robin’s interests and skills to recreate what would have been common in Britain not so long ago. A bicycle designed to travel long distances and carry out a trade,” says the duo. Although we are in agreement that “travelling printers” were indeed less common. 

Still, we’ve had the print milk float, so why not?