http://bp1.blogger.com/_vUEhS0lU3eU/SEhoZT0GEaI/AAAAAAAAFeU/PBGZzpCMFPU/s400/Joel+2+sm.JPG

On our group social ride last night a Korean lady riding a Bike Friday flatted in a really swampy section of the bike path we were on. The mosquitoes were on us instantly. It was insane. Normally we'd have to just deal with the horror and fix the flat there, but luckily Joel, the other Calgary BD owner (http://viksbigdummy.blogspot.com/2008/06/joels-big-dummy.html), was on the ride. I told Mirye to jump on the back of the BD - to which she reacted with "that's not possible to carry me"...:eek:...and of course the rest of us, familiar with the BD just smiled and said "...no worries.."...;) Joel hit the gas and got her to higher ground further down the trail where we could fix her bike in relative peace....we still got 10 bites each, but it was way better than the 100+ bites...:twitchy: we would have rec'd where she originally flatted....:D

You just have to love the versatility of the Big Dummy - whatever the problem the BD is ready to pitch in and help solve it....:love:

Well Done! And praise to your Nobel steed as well. I have a semi-recumbent tandem. Once a friend had a broken bike. I had him sit in the recumbent seat while he held his bike. I pedalled the both of us to where he needed to go.

Yesterday was the last day of school here in Vancouver, Canada. We attended my daughter's end of term school picnic by Xtracycle carrying a blanket and straw mat for the grass, 3 bottles of 1.5 litre water (parents' contribution for the picnic). We are using the Xtracycle for all our short family trips as time permits. The only sad thing is that during the winter months, it is not as welcoming a procedure to travel in the rain and cold.

But for now, the long daylight, warm weather is very enjoyable!

Next step, planting an urban edible garden!

Glad you are enjoying your Xtra-rig. I'm finding the only thing stopping me from using my Big Dummy for 95% of my errands is laziness and time. If does take longer for rides that cover 10kms+ Although since I live downtown I would say many shorter trips are faster on bike than by car due to traffic and parking hassles.

We often have many dry cold days in the winter so I'll be using my BD lots in the winter, but I won't bother riding it when it's wet/cold out. The BD is just too big and awkward for me to clean it well and it lives in my carpeted apartment so I can't bring a nasty messy bike inside.

I really gotta get a little bike towing attachment going on my dummy, there's always breakdowns aplenty on the ridiculous mob rides here in los angeles.

I really gotta get a little bike towing attachment going on my dummy, there's always breakdowns aplenty on the ridiculous mob rides here in los angeles.

If you don't want to fork out the cash for a Tray Bien from Xtracycle you can make one yourself fairly easily if you have a wide loader.

For towing, I bolted an old front hub to a quill stem which bolts into the rearmost tube on the freeradical. voila!

For towing, I bolted an old front hub to a quill stem which bolts into the rearmost tube on the freeradical. voila!

do you have pics. PLEEASE

do you have pics. PLEEASE

Indeed! A quill stem is a great way to interface with the wideloader tube, but I can't imagine how to bolt a hub to one in the right orientation.

Details: The quill stem bolts into the rear tube with the stem facing aft, a small-but-beefy piece of 5/8 plywood bolts atop the quill stem roughly flat like a small floor, then a front hub bolts atop the plywood far enough outboard to clear the snapdeck and a reasonably small amount of cargo. I sawed the hub flanges to create a flat base and bolted the entire mess together with u-bolts. The axle is free, so the towed bike can rotate up and down with the road.

My apologies for the lack of photo. The bike is at my sister's place, where she and her brood are experimenting with cargo bike happiness.

Ah, makes perfect sense now.

Good story, Vik. Way to spread the Dummy Love.

Details: The quill stem bolts into the rear tube with the stem facing aft, a small-but-beefy piece of 5/8 plywood bolts atop the quill stem roughly flat like a small floor, then a front hub bolts atop the plywood far enough outboard to clear the snapdeck and a reasonably small amount of cargo. I sawed the hub flanges to create a flat base and bolted the entire mess together with u-bolts. The axle is free, so the towed bike can rotate up and down with the road.

My apologies for the lack of photo. The bike is at my sister's place, where she and her brood are experimenting with cargo bike happiness.

When you have a chance to take a pic, would you mind posting this? I'm having trouble imagining this. Are you not using any portion of the actual stem that would typically clamps the handlebar? Since I imagine the "down" portion of the stem goes horizontally into the side of the rear tube. With the stem facing aft, that would put the clamp vertical (holes are vertical).

I keep mosquito repellent in the bar bag. Nothing like a big sweaty CO2 belching cyclist taking a breather to draw in the bloodsuckers.

West Nile virus is not unknown in these parts. A colegue's wife got it, lived, but 2 years later still hadn't recovered fully. I've got enough problems without that sort of setback.