More Thursday errands on the Blue Truck (Xtracycle)
Another unusual weather day in Northeastern Minnesota. Seventy degrees and sunny with calm winds. The kind of weather that is unheard of in October here. On my commute this morning the Blue Truck felt different then it has in the past. It felt like my bike. That's the only way I can put it into words. I've been riding it once or twice a week since I finished building it in July. Today was the first day it didn't feel foreign to me or feel like a new bike. I mean I've been riding this bike since 1991. But with the FreeRadical conversion and mostly new components, it was like getting reacquainted with an old friend you hadn't seen in a long time. The Blue Truck and I are best friends again and it's really nice.
Today I stopped, once again, at our local food coop. I picked up a 25 lb bag of Brown Rice Flour I bulk ordered. That's what I do all my Gluten Free baking with. When you arrive by bicycle you get prime parking right at the front door. I like that!! After picking up some items and the flour I stopped by our pick up site for our weekly organic veggie farm share. Lots more goodies today. The plastic bin on the Blue Truck is what these get picked up in. You drop off the empty bin from last week and pick up a new loaded bin. The wide loader comes in handy for stabilizing the wide bin.
Between the flour, the veggies and misc other stuff for work, I must of been hauling over 50 lbs of weight. The Blue Truck handles it all in stride. I don't think I was even close to maxing it out. If any of you ever decide to go car free, an Xracycle or other utility bicycle is a must have. It makes a huge difference in what you can do by bike.It was so beautiful outside when I got home I couldn't stay inside. I took the Cross Check back out for one more errand, a stop at Walgreens, and put in another hour on the bike. I went across the Bong Bridge to Wisconsin and did a loop around Billings Park.
Thursday: 32 mi
October: 125 mi
2007: 5,654 mi
posted by Doug @ 8:22 PM
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5 Comments:
I pick up my Xtracycle tomorrow. I can't wait!
I can't wait for Jason to pick up his Xtracycle either!
It was also unseasonably warm in Upstate NY last night. Three of us on Team RocBike went on a quite enjoyable ride.
Hey Doug. Might I solicit some advice? Might be hard to answer this but I'll ask anyway. What's the biggest difference to your bike after you installed the xtra cycle? My first thought would obviously be handling/turning related, but did you notice a big difference in the speed and longer distances being much more work? I've got a fairly long commute, and often I end up taking my pick up just because I need to pick up enough stuff that I could get on any of my bikes right now. My commute is 26 miles each way and takes 1 1/2hrs or less. If an extra-cycle might only add 10 or 20 minutes, I could see that being feasible. Much more than that and I lose too much day to commuting. Just curious how you've found it. Thanks.
Jerome,
Where I notice the weight of the Xtracycle the most is on the big hills we have locally. But once I get it rolling on the flats I am often amazed to discover I roll along at 16 mph without much additional effort. About the same speed I do with the other commuter bike. Add 20+ lbs of weight and the hills get even slower, but the speed stays the same on the flats. I think it might be feasible for you. Although if you pick up stuff near where you work, depending on how much weight you'll be carrying, it could be a long ride home.
I'll also note I can keep up the same speeds on the flats, but I do notice I'm a little more tired once I get home. There is a cumulative effect of hauling that extra weight.
Hope that helps.
It certainly does. Thanks a lot. I do pick up everything near where I work, as the town I live in has only 375 people and where I work is right on the edge of the closest big town that actually has more than one store.
Definitely got ye ole' wheels turning in my head....
Thanks again.
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