Living Car Free - Transporting bicycle wheels via bike?

So, fed ex sent my brand new wheel set to my billing address instead of my shipping address (Vendor's fault, not fed-ex) so I have to pick them up tomorrow on my folding Peugeot. It has a pretty kickass rack with a spring loaded "clamp" on it along with a bungie cord. It's about a 5 mile trek... which isn't much but you should try riding this bike. Should I be attempting to carry wheels on my rack? I dropped a relative amount of money on them and I will cry if they fall off my bike. I have a car but refuse to use it unless I'm taking it to the mountains for biking. Besides, I'm going there straight from work, my car does not go to work.

I don't have a backpack to strap them to, I don't want to carry them in one hand across Oakland, but I really need to get them to the bike I'm putting them on ASAP. Ideas? Lots of zip ties and some bungie cords seem to be a good idea for me. And a blanket to keep them from clanging against my bike.

You don't own a backpack of any kind? :(

My usual way to transport wheels is on my backpack. I'm lucky though in that my backpack (regular school backpack size) has adjustable, camping backpack style, straps across the back.

If you have (or can borrow) a kid trailer or cargo trailer, that's one way to move a couple wheels.

Can you Ride to get them and walk em home on the bike using it as sort of a dolly?
I've carried wheels on my crappy OEM Fuji touring rack but I had panniers on each side to give it more surface area.

Why don't you go riding in the mountains after work. You can pick up the new wheels on the way.

I've done it. I always have stuff shipped to work, so I always have weird stuff to transport home on the bike.

When my wheels arrived I just bungeed them to the rack, box and all. Two across and one fore-and-aft. Looked like a couple of very thick, large pizza boxes on the back. Actually, it was not all that different from when I've transported pizza on the rack.

It helps, BTW, that I have an expedition-length rack. Those three extra inches come in very handy for oddball stuff.

For one wheel, I've stapped it to my back. Use a rope, belt, elastic or similar to wrap through the spokes and over your shoulders and chest. I never tried it with more than one wheel, but it would probably work.

I'd always prefer if possible to put the load on the bike, but this got me thinking.... I know there are cargo carriers that you wear on your back, essentially external frame backpacks without the bag. There's a shelf at the bottom and you lash boxes, etc, onto the backpack frame. Seems like this might be okay for relatively light but bulky boxes that might not otherwise fit on the bike rack. Or it could be a total disaster. It doesn't sound to me like a general purpose option either, that is, it isn't always handy.

My limited Google-Fu (Tiger-Clan) skills only turned up a sort of military oriented option:

http://www.outinstyle.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/alicecargoshelfdet.jpg

and a Let's-kill-a-big-animal-and-pack-the-pieces-out option:

http://www.bullpacs.com/images/products/regularbull.gif

Surely there must be other of these, like the Sherp-hauling-Hillary-Up-Everest Option? But then again, maybe an Xtracycle or Longbike is a much better option.

On second thought, this might be a bad idea on a bicycle..... as you slide forward off the seat, if the shelf is low enough it will potentially hang up on the bike seat.

A week ago i brought tire and brought it home attached to my backpack with cords. Worked great.

Easiest thing? Get a backpack of any description and strap them to it at three points-think upright triangle. Not comfy taking both at the same time? Don't. Bring back one at a time.

Bring a roll of duct tape and convert the shipping box into a backpack.

I've carried wheels on my back a few times before. No backpack required -- just take a couple of old tubes, cut out the section with the stem, and thread them through the spokes. I usually use two of them at different spots on the wheel to keep things stable.

I've also carried a frame the same way. It takes a little fiddling to get it attached right, but it's not really a big deal. I suppose you could carry a whole bike like this, but the weight might be a bit much.

Old tubes are great for securing loads. I usually prefer them to ropes or bungie cords.