Living Car Free - VC with a trailer

Since many here use trailers . . .

. . . do you guys/gals ride with your trailers VC (in the street) or do you try to stay off the streets since they are wider etc.? I'm asking because I'm getting a Burley trailer (two-wheeled) this week, and was wondering if it's "SMART" to ride VC with it. BTW I ride VC 100% of the time, so I'm plenty use to the practice.

Thanks in Advance,
Mehow

#1 you'll love your burley

#2 my Nomad is not much wider than my bike really, I'd say it's no wider than my bike would be if I had a set of panniers on there.

#3 I'd say a factor is that the trailer is low, and behind your bike, a lot of the time drivers see you but don't see this long low thing behind you. Use the flag that comes with it!

#4 by "stay off of the streets" do you mean stay on the sidewalks? I'd say, better to do the "sidewalk sneaky" and stay alive than try to jump into Harbor Boulevard traffic and keep up and get squished, but keep in mind that VC is often safer.

#5 In the morning I get to hitch up my trailer and go to a swapmeet, since it will be an early Saturday morning, there won't be much traffic to deal with. No problem riding VC. On the way back it will be mid-day, and again on the route I take, VC is no problem. On Sunday I get to go somewhere else with the trailer, and again it's VC all the way. However, the roads where I am are a lot more bike-friendly than many of the roads in OC.

Since many here use trailers . . .

. . . do you guys/gals ride with your trailers VC (in the street) or do you try to stay off the streets since they are wider etc.? I'm asking because I'm getting a Burley trailer (two-wheeled) this week, and was wondering if it's "SMART" to ride VC with it.
Mehow

It is absolutely smart to ride VC with a trailer. It is also easier, in my opinion. You are more visible to cars. You are not going to take up much more of the roadway with your trailer, certainly not anywhere near the room motorists should be givng you anyway. Haul that thing in the road.

--AK (who isn't too cool to attach his dorky orange Burley flag to his Nomad for extra visablity)

Thank You both . . . I currently do use a pannier on the rear on my left side, so I guess your right when you say that it wouldn't be that much wider than a set of panniers. I'll only be using the trailer when needed, since my Arkel BUG backpack/pannier works well for 99% of my commuting.

I think I'll ride VC with the trailer . . . as long as my cargo isn't too bulky or too heavy, and when it is I'll try to ride VC through residential streets.

Does anyone object to that? :D

Hey! Those Burley flags aren't dorky! They're cool! Cool!!! COOOOOOOOOL!!

I ride VC with the trailer, though I admit I avoid the heavier/faster traffic streets when I'm pulling the trailer.

My daughter has now graduated to a trailer-bike (articulated tandem-type thingy) and I'm able to zip around traffic a lot more easily with that than with the 2-wheel parachute.

RFM

I pull a BOB trailer VC daily. It is narrower than the Burley trailers so I don't really think much about it anymore. I love the BOB, I think it pulls better than the Burleys, but the BOB won't carry as big or heavy a load as the Burley trailers do. I also pull my BOB behind our Burley Tandem...I hope that's not violating some cosmic balance!

Yeah my riding was all VC today, but I did keep off of the faster streets, my route was fairly residential and it was nice to be out riding, what a lovely day! Tomorrow I'm doing a route that's through a tech/commercial/industrial area, but since it will be sunday traffic will be really light.

Those BOBs look really um, burly. But I dunno I really like my Nomad.

A friend of mine is also trailer shopping. There is a guy in our town named Jim Gregory who runs a bicycle powered delivery service...he moves thousands of pound of cargo--helps people move appliances (refigerators, washers and dryers, etc.) all by bicycle. He also builds bike trailers...of the industrial strength kind. His web site is www.bikesatwork.com. It also has carfree info.

My friend is thinking of buying one of Jim's custom trailers.

And today was another great day with the trailer. Lots of pieces and parts and a nifty signal generator and a noise measurement thing, whoohoo! I may have exceeded the wt. limit of the trailer again, but hopefully by not too much.

I was thinking about this, a BOB trailer might be really good on a mountain bike, going on narrow trails, and its subtle grey color can be an advantage too at times, stealthy.

I think mountain bikers tend to prefer BOBs. They even have a model with a suspension--3" of travel...in case your cargo needs a cushy ride over the bumps.

I see a BOB as being great for stealthily taking stuff out to your "grow" site through the woods with your MTB at 4:20 in the afternoon ..... :-) hehe