>
>Hey, I guess you vanagon.lenti guys weren't the very first...  :)
>
>"alt.humor.best-of-usenet (moderated) #2430 (4 more)
>From: palmer@alumni.caltech.edu (David M. Palmer)
>Subject: [sci.space.science] Re: Cosmonauts urinating on a bus tire?
>Followup-To: alt.humor.best-of-usenet.d
>Date: Sat Apr 01 11:26:20 PST 1995
>Organization: best of usenet humor
>Lines: 19
>X-Disclaimer: the "Approved" header verifies header information for article
>+             transmission and does not imply approval of content.  See .sig
>+             below.
>X-Submissions-To: ahbou-sub@acpub.duke.edu
>Originator: sht123@herald.usask.ca
>
>From: David Ruggiero <jdavid@halcyon.com>
>Newsgroups: sci.space.science
>Subject: Re: Cosmonauts urinating on a bus tire?
>
>lklaes@aol.com (LKlaes) writes:
>:Would someone please explain to me the reason for the following Russian
>:tradition:  Apparently cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin urinated on the tire of the
>:bus which took him to the launch pad for his VOSTOK 1 mission in 1961.
>:This tradition has been kept up by decades of following cosmonauts,
>:including astronaut-cosmonaut Norm Thagard before leaving on his MIR 18
>:flight.
>
>If I had to guess, I'd bet that Laika started it."
>

There is a custom in Turkey of washing the wheels of your cart before 
leaving on a long journey. I witnessed this many times as a kid. It was to 
wish the travellers good luck. It was also the only times our Landrover was 
washed in its life. Where in Russia was Gagarin from, Turkmenistan maybe? 
Maybe he just needed a quick pee? tim s.