British cycling misses a trick or three

Apparently British cycling, and "British Cycling", are dismayed at the IOC's refusal to add more cycling events at London 2012 . Obviously, the potential for expanding the only Olympic discipline us Brits have any consistent ability in (cycling round and round a banked track, i.e. going nowhere), should be explored to the full.

However, I can't help feeling we've missed a trick or three. British Cycling should take a leaf out of the swimmers' book, where outmoded and inefficient methods of progress are awarded their own separate events. Butterfly across the channel anyone?

So, if Britain proposed adding a penny-farthing pursuit, a boneshaker sprint, and a unicycle keirin, who could possibly argue?

Furthermore, although, amazingly, Britain is not the only country where two people actually daft enough to try riding the one bicycle at the same time, tandem-cycling does open up a whole swathe of possibilities. For example, a team pursuit for just two bikes; or eight participants with four hacksaws.

Take it one step further, and you could make up a whole set of events for which Britain is guaranteed to have the only entry.