The Blue Truck (Xtracycle) gives the Surly Pugsley a tow.
It's really starting to look like fall on my commutes this week. Trees are about 30% colored up. Today the temps on both commutes were in the 50's. I have to admit I really, really like cool temps like this. The morning commute in 50 degree weather is so refreshing and stimulating. I took a shorter way home after work today so I could get my Pugsley to my LBS. I mentioned in yesterdays post I could not get the crank arm off to clean the chainrings. I thought maybe my crank puller was the wrong type or something. Turns out I needed a $5.00 Shimano Crank Tool, along with my crank puller, to get off my Isis type crank arm. It's the first time I've removed this type of crank. Denis got the crank pulled off and I purchased the Crank Tool for next time.
If Susan happened to be home I thought I'd use her car to run the Pugsley over to the bicycle shop. Very rare for me these days to even consider using a car. But I really wanted to get this done today. Susan doesn't have a set end to her day. She's done when she's done. She's rarely home before me. Sure enough she wasn't home when I got home. It was 4:50 and the shop closes at 6:00. So I strapped the Pugsley to the Blue Truck, minus the wheels and racks, and off I went. Who'd ever thunk I'd be taking a bike over to the bike shop with a bike. This may be hard to believe, but once you get the rig rolling, you hardly notice the load you're carrying. The versatility of the Xtracycle amazes me. For ease of loading and carrying this load I definitely needed the wide loader and long loader.Tuesday: 20 miles
September: 293 miles
2007: 5,442 miles
posted by Doug @ 8:42 PM
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4 Comments:
You know, I've said it before and I'll continue saying it. The only time you really notice the weight of a really heavy bicycle is accelerating and when you have to pick it up to carry it. In my case, lugging the bike-du-jour up 15 stairs is a daily affair.
Really, though, it doesn't matter what bike I ride. It can be my 15 pound road bike or my 35 pound hardtail winter beater. The road bike can be empty or bogged down with 30+ pounds in the panniers. It all rolls the same.
The closest I've ever come to what you did was hauling a 26" wheelset home from the bike shop. It certainly wasn't at heavy as your Pugs, but it was awkward without having panniers or freeloaders.
Those two bikes of yours have been among my favorites. Today, I'm riding my hybrid-ized Diamondback Outlook. Since as long as 6 months ago, I've been planning to toss a FreeRadical kit on it.
For some reason, I'm having trouble getting my wife to let me put away bike funds equal to the same amount of cash she dumps into her gas tank each month.
Keep on truckin'. I just got my winter rig put back together recently, too. Not nearly as nice as yours, but I'm also 8 lats south of you.
Wish I had a pugs. Every time you post about it, I get jealous. Keep it up though, it's fueling the dream. Cheers.
Amazing stuff Doug. In the big pic, not great b/c you're just running an errand, but you're running it in a way that only a handful throughout our fair patch of land do. Keep truckin'!
Good on you, Doug. You might try a wide loader with a Yakima tray like this. Just has to be shimmed to fit the clamps to the wide loader. And I suppose you'd have to modeefy the fork clamp for the Pugs too. Hmmmm. Maybe what you did is just easier.
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