Long bike... even longer trailer

Last Friday my boys wanted to go to the playground. There is no way I could haul them, my bike, and their trailer up the hill to my house, so I cheated and loaded them and my stuff in my truck and drove 2 miles to the bike path by the river. We loaded up the Xtracycle with toys, lunch, clothes, and potty training supplies, and were off. We ended up at a playground a few miles away, and they ran around til they were nearly incapable of walking. Snacks and a picnic were had by all, and we loaded up and rode back to the car. "I like bike rides, yeah, me too" were clearly heard from the peanut gallery I was towing behind me. That was the highlight of the trip for me.

On a technical note, the Xtracycle initially proved challenging to attach my trailer as it had been intended- at the rear wheel axle. I intend to make a double seat setup for the snapdeck as many have done on the internet, but for now this works. Turns out attaching it to the rearmost part of the X, where the Freeloader frames join the Freeradical frame works fine. In fact, it was way smoother than the original bike had been with a trailer. The tail wags the dog no more. It's just LONG.

Worked great, kids loved it, I'm a happy rider. Life's good.

Second trip...

Today I completed the second trip to & from. Felt less like an idiot and more comfortable with the equipment and the route. Made it driveway to bike rack in 25 minutes flat, return trip in 35 minutes ride time. Felt much stronger and better able to tackle my hill. Didn't have to do much delaying or resting going up today- just went straight up, non stop.

In two rides I've had two drivers nearly turn into my path. Reminds me how careful one needs to be in an area where cyclists are rare... drivers just don't see you. I am riding in daylight still, just before dusk, but I still have my flashers on front and rear. I've actually seen drivers pull up to the road and react to the light first, then focus back and see me. Definitely important- like daytime running lights for cars, same principle.

In the same two rides, however, I think I said "hi" to at least a dozen different people, smelled different foods being cooked in neighborhood kitchens along the way, and seen back alleys and tucked away corners of neighborhoods I've never seen in the nearly 10 years I've lived here. It's wonderful. Never would you experience that in a car. It must be good for me and these people at a basic human level- positive fellowship with perfect strangers in one's community simply because our eyes met while we were within hearing distance of each other and felt compelled to at least acknowledge each other's presence.

Hope to ride at least once more this week... will check back and see.

First ride

Today was my first ride to work. Made it there from home in 30 minutes, door to door. Takes 20 by car. Was tricky planning what clothes to bring, etc, but all worked out. Coming home I forgot to keep track of ride time, but noted that it only took an hour to ride home, shower, and eat. So probably wasn't more than 35 minutes home despite the uphill climb.

Ride description- mostly flat to gently rolling, but first or last 1.5 miles is a hill that represents almost 300 feet of descent/climb, some of it at up to 27% grade.

Some brief musings on car vs. bike impacts:

11 miles round trip in 1994 Dodge Dakota @ 14mpg = 15 lbs carbon dioxide emitted to atmosphere.
(Based on EPA estimate of 1 gallon of gas combusted creates 19lbs CO2)

4 trips per week * 16 weeks in a semester * 15 lbs CO2= 960 lbs CO2
960lbs CO2 *2 semesters = 1920

Bike: Zero smog, zero noise, zero oil drips, zero PM (particulate matter) emissions.

Reasonable estimate is that I reduce my CO2 emissions by half if I ride 50% of the time. Hopefully I can ride more than that, but we'll start small.

the project bike- late 1980s Gary Fisher Mt Tam plus 2009 Xtracycle Freeradical longloader kit



New monster bike parked next to some old iron. 1994 Dakota 4x4, averages 15mpg or so around town. 5000k annually, so hardly driven, but thirsty and polluting just the same.





Front view, with riser handlebars, new Vbrakes, etc. Rides like a limo, but one you have to propel yourself. Long wheelbase makes smooth, easy to ride a straight line. Cool stuff. No loads yet to report on.






Below is the final product under a full moon in the beginning of the Pennsylvania fall. Plans are to document rides, functionality, carbon saved, and physical benefit gained. Stay tuned!
-r
















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Welcome to the world of low-footprint thinking.

Welcome, this is my first foray into the blogosphere, so forgive the blunders along the way.

I'm a professor of environmental science and anthropology at a college in Pennsylvania, and teach about issues related to sustainability almost daily.

I decided a few years back that I would slowly work elements of my teaching into as much of my real life as possible, and start calculating the impact that these changes have in comparison to the average American and their lifestyle.

Go to myfootprint.org and calculate your environmental footprint- mine, despite composting, energy savings in the home, home gardening, buying all meat from local growers, etc, still came out to be 4.9 planets if all humans lived the lifestyle equal to mine.

This is untenable.

My first target for major change is transportation: I only live 5.5 miles to work, and have decided to start cycling instead of driving my old Dodge Dakota (@14mpg). Granted I drive it so little (less than 5k/yr) it pales compared to what many Americans do, it still is a lot of gas and pollution.

Enter the Xtracycle. The good folks at this great company make an awesome product for commuting by bicycle- the FreeRadical. You can go with complete bikes, but I had a really cool vintage mountain bike I wanted to re-use (again, less consumption = smaller carbon footprint). Check out the photos in the next post for the build project and final product.

Cheers!
R