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BIKES for cycling stuff
BITS for stuff that's not Botts or Bikes
 Well, this is new. I was interviewed for a Podcast.
My partner met Claire from Story Solutions at the local co-working space and got chatting. She mentioned we are Lifestyle Cyclists and I have a LOT of bicycle experience. That's when the subject of Podcasts came up. A few weeks later we had a chat on Zoom for an hour or so and Claire produced this from that. Really good I thought. I still find it hard to listen to myself, but the online echo helped IMHO. https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-iwr4t-1434377 https://storysolutions.net/biketales/
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 On a day out with the dog up front in the full sun one need to make provision for the most precious of cargo. She loves the sun, but obviously can't get out of it on route.
When this picture was taken the temperatures were in the 30's Celsius. It's a little kids umbrella. It took an afternoon hunting tourist shops to eventually find it. I attached it to a tiny G-clamp so I could then mount it to my handlebars. Worked a treat, stayed on all day.  Took this snap of a Surley(?) Longtail Cargobike driving thru Oregon a few summers ago.
Ha, there's still room for more bags on this beauty! Maybe he's keeping the deck free for firewood. Love the Jones Bars, must try them one day. The North Oregon coast is AMAZING, book up spots in the costal camp sites NOW then get down there. We've never been to a more beautiful place.  You may think it's the act of a mad man to take a powered bicycle, let alone a long tail one, out into frozen liquid sunshine, on purpose. I actually remember saying, "Woo Hoo it's snowing, I'm gonna take the Spicy home". Well, dear non-believer, I may be stupid but I'm not an idiot. It was fresh snowfall, so no ice under it, and only an inch deep when I headed out. This is gonna be maximum commuting fun.
The Yuba Spicy Curry is not my regular ride, I have a Virtue Truck Cargo Bicycle that I have converted to electric but is off the road while I sort out why the hub motor got so noisy (it's the clutch). But I have ridden this one on and off all summer as it's one of our loaner fleet. Lucky lucky me. Pretty much the best perk of being a bike mechanic here. I had my choice of eight other eBicycles but this is my favorite by a country mile. I would totally buy one but unfortunately it's just about a country foot too long for my apartment lifestyle, even so, I still fantasize about owning one. They start at four and a half grand american, but still way cheaper than a decent secondhand car, fuel and insurance for a year and this bike could last a lifetime looked after correctly. You can't say that about a car.  The main thing I liked about the EVO MD-2 was how the Shimano STEPS mid-drive power comes in as I ride. For an eBike I think it’s pretty much the most important feature.
I adore step thru frames, they are brilliant, I'm English so I consider this style a unisex frame that is often ‘favoured’ by the ladies. The hydraulic disc brakes were just the right amount of powerful. Soft at the lever and not locking the wheels ever to bring me to a complete stop exactly where and when I need it. I did really like that the console was compact and quite discrete on the bike and that the salient info I chose was big. I've got to mention the rack. It has the touring style rear rack which means you can also use market type panniers and not just touring style only, brilliant.  There we were, leaning against our camper van in the alley behind our new home. We took a breath and sighed! Wow. Finally, the beautiful wife and I had become Vancouver residents.
Predictably we spent that first day monotonously humping all our stuff into the apartment. Trundling across the rippled concrete parkade, wait for the elevator, go up the elevator, roll down the corridor, drop off the boxes, roll back down the corridor, wait for the elevator, etc., etc. Thankfully we had no furniture at this point, having toured in an RV for a year. But what we did have was an awesome uninterrupted view of the mountains. In due course, I required a ‘medicinal’ beer, or two, for my aching back. You understand! So we went for our first neighbourhood walkabout. We chose this end of the city because it is walkable. Having come from a small market town in the UK, we were used to getting what we needed locally, be it beer, beef, or a bank. On our walk that first dusky evening, hand in hand, we were properly excited about our new city, our new life.  When I first saw the spec on this cargobike way back sometime in 2018 I was blown away. This is maybe the perfect cargo bike, long-tail variety that is, for me. Dunno about you. I cannot see a time when I would transport a tiny child behind me where they can’t be seen, talked to and cared for when longjohns and box trikes exist? And I don’t even like kids!!!! But I do have a Chihuahua I carry most days on the front of my my bicycle if that counts!!!
Then I saw the photos. Oh wow. Looking sooooooo good. Solid, two batteries, big bags, big front basket, bloke riding it, chunky 20” wheels front and back (my favorite), and made by Tern! And haven’t they got the best PR pic ever with the kid giving a finger to the sky like they’re on a roller coaster. Genius. I have a Tern Cargo Node, its a factory edition cargobike collaboration between Tern and Xtracycle. Its the nicest bicycle I have EVER ridden (so far!), so I was stoked when they announced the GSD. But what does GSD stand for? So far, from my research, and this isn’t from Tern, it means Get Shit Done. Funny if it’s true. Either way, it does, and then some.  I remember the very first time I came across Velopalooza, I was cycling with my wife one afternoon in East Vancouver. It was late autumn 2015, pleasantly warm, and I was trying to decide which brewery Linzi would enjoy the most. This lifestyle cyclist requires decent bicycle parking that I can see from my table, THEN the beer has to be good, right? There was less choice back then and Linzi has a very specific requirements as she’s not a natural born beer drinker.
We were stopped at a light. Adanac and Clark I think. My gaze resting in the mid-distance as I pondered our local adult beverage options. As deafening semi-trucks sped by Linzi spotted a very artistic mini-poster taped at a jaunty angle around the light pole. It had a bicycle on it. Naturally we had a closer look. “What’s Velopalooza” we wondered. It also stated ‘Two weeks of bike fun’ with dates in June just past. Shame! We missed it. Two weeks of bike fun sounds perfect. So I took a picture of it to look-up online later when we got home.  Brilliant! Saw this on Craigslist a while ago, funniest thing I ever saw. Probably selling as didnt ride quite right!! Ha Ha!!
 Always wonderful to roll past here. At Christmas they cover the bikes with Xmas lights and at Halloween pumpkins and orange lights.
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AuthorThis is my playground. So it's always 'work in progress'. I like to create all sorts that doesn't fit into one 'niche'! Mainly cartoon robots, bicycle culture and other 'bits' that occur to me like coffee, cooking on a camp stove and stormtroopers. Categories
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