Where living a car free lifestyle can sometimes be a hassle... just a few weeks ago, I went looking for plates. I was thinking about getting maybe 4 nice dining plates, of the sort you find in second hand shops. Well, I found a whole set of dining plates, soup bowls, serving dishes and potato dishes and cups and saucers for the same amount I'd planned on spending on just 4 plates. I bought the whole set.
I then immediately ran into the problem of transporting the whole set home. 6 plates, 6 bowls, 3 dishes of various shapes, plus 9 cups and 9 saucers... uhm, good luck fitting that onto a bike? dun dun dun. The lady in the shop packed the china for me wrapped in newspapers and in three sturdy plastic bags. I fit a bag onto the luggage rack and one into the basket in front and the remaining bag (and by far the lightest of the load since it held the cups and saucers), I let hang from a handlebar. I still couldn't bike anywhere with it since I didn't want to risk rattling my new awesome china and chip it or break it, or losing the bag that I'd balanced on the luggage rack. I was roughly 10km from home. What I ended up having to do was walk to the nearest metro station (about 500m), take the metro as close to home as possible (about 200m) and walk the rest of the way. And I made it and my china was intact.
Another time I'd made 25 cupcakes for a summer party and with no means of transporting them but on my bike. I ended up very creatively packing them in shoeboxes and stacking them on the luggage rack and strapping them to the bike with twine to avoid them falling off.
So while it's sometimes more cumbersome to live a car free lifestyle, it can also be incredibly rewarding when you manage to get round an obstacle. You pretty much feel like the King of the World and a Genius.
Hello, is it possible for you to get a "trailer" for your bike? I've built a home made utility trailer out of a old "child carrier trailer", I can haul a lot of gear and 2 weeks worth of food, etc. Just a thought.
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Take Care, Ride Safe, have FUN! :)
Jo: 2009 ICE Trice T
BJ: 2011 ICE Sprint Special Edition