SSenorPedro

This just came to mind today as I was helping my GF get her new classroom all set up for her first year of teaching. (Finally a job, whew)

Anyway, she had bought a rather large rug somewhere that she thought would be great for the classroom - the kids would get a kick out of the colors.

Aside from commuting everyday on my fix, I recently built up a cheapo bike that I leave at her place as this allows me to more easily persuade her into going on a bike ride with me whenever the chance presents itself. Having already volunteered to help with the classroom, I thought maybe I could turn this task into a bike ride opportunity .

Needless to say I ended up carrying the rug on my back. I am not a messenger, so I haven't carried anything very weird, but this was interesting indeed. The thing stuck out about a foot and a half to two feet on each side of me, gathering more than one weird look from people, as well as a couple of car mirrors getting clocked.

So what is the largest/oddest/mostuncomfortable/neatest thing you have carried by bike? And I am not meaning with a trailer, although, if it is interesting then post by all means.

-Pete

Bikkhu

triple rush ****ing bagel from a deli to ad agency midwinter. I was thinking 'I'm gonna die and they find the bloody bagel in my bag - I died for a bagel"

Other: 2m long cardboard tubes, giant heart shaped balloon to a new mom in a hospital, green plants

SSSwede

12 cans of Guiness on the handlebars..

fixiechick

A pair of aluminum crutches which I fetched for a friend from the hospital.

A vacuum cleaner (those weird little flat self-vacuuming ones) which tucked nicely into my Chrome (messengering days).

A guinea pig (had to take him to the vet a few blocks away).

Pete, I can't believe you rode with that rug horizontally on your back. Did you smack cars along the way? I find it annoying to even ride with my yoga mat horizontally strapped to my bag because my peripheral clearance instincts are thrown off. But then again, I'm riding in narrow Chicago traffic.

HereNT

Heaviest : Case of beer and a 175 of Jameson w/ all my tools
Biggest : Guitar in hardshell case. Really easy to carry, though, just put it on the top tube then over the handlebars.
Oddest : Me.

marked001

..my dacshund a couple of times.. he loved it.. stuck his head out from under the side of the flap and he could look ahead of us he's getting a little fat for this now..dont know if my shoulder can take it

danielmolloy

an entire bike strapped to my Pac bag. I took off the wheels and strapped the whole thing under the flap. I was without car at the time, and needed to get something fixed on the bike. It was actually very easy to do. The Pac is wondeful with all the extra straps and d-rings. I think I could carry just about anything with it.

DanFromDetroit

I think I qualify as the oddest thing carried on my bike.

Though not considered strange here, My neighbors thought that I was loopy for carrying about 75lbs of groceries on my bike (with panniers and a backpack) through a snowstorm.

Dan

hammye

well there were the times I would have to pick up packages with foreskin in them. These we would deliver to a lab that would treat burn victims. Or there were the umbilical cords we would deliver for another lab, the 2 manaquins from the park plaza to the mall. I had to deliver a Cuirious George costume once. I took it upon myself to get dressed in it and ride down Boylston st.

MKRG

Bowling pin

kurremkarm

Since guiness tastes like ass this gets my vote!

gilby

Among the weirdest things (really just everyday items, but kinda awkward on a bike): watermelon, art portfolio, roll of paper (3'x6"x6"), bowling ball bag (w/10 lb ball & shoes), a chair

timmhaan

13 inch TV (not recommended)
two 25 lbs dumbells (also not recommended).

jfmckenna

I always travell with a long bow and a quiver of arrows

glomarduck

One Gallon of liquid latex.

Moonshot

I think we have a winner!

hammye

I also had a friend who had to deliver breast implants. The story was that the doctor had forgoten them and the patient was on the table waiting. Or what about the hair peices we would have to get and drop off for cleaning. Ahhh the stories are endless.

hammye

This infact has been covered in the past. There was a great photo of a guy with a deer straped to his back I believe. That to me was most impressive.

tomb

100lb + cast iron sink and pedestal, in a basket tho. also 2 full sheets of 3/4 birch plywood... what a b*tch

s2sxiii

some ball bearings, a Fetzer valve, 3 in 1 oil, some gauze pads, and ten quarts of anti-freeze...Prestone....or was it Quaker State?

techone

A package with a dog's urine, stool, and blood sample. Complete with the biohazard label!
Another strange one was a stuffed mackaw (the big red tropical, parrot looking birds). I strapped it to the outside of my bag so it looked like it was sitting on my shoulder, pirate style!

Nothing near as cool as foreskin tho.

SSenorPedro

It was definitely an awkward sensation - not at all uncomfortable or unmanageable, but it did require some additional spatial awareness.

My girlfriend lives right near downtown here in Portland and the school is about 130 blocks out in a more casual residential environment. So, getting out of the hectic traffic was sketchy. People were giving me a huge berth and making awful faces. I did hit a few mirrors of cars parked on the side of the road, but nothing moving.

The decision was made to find a much less populated by-way and go by that route. Much improved.


By the way, some definitely interesting stuff out there folks.

hammye

I don't know about that. A pirate on the shoulder gives you some serious style. Where as with the foreskins nobody knows what ya got. Oh and s2sxiii, it sounds like you are making some kind of cologne.

commuteORdie

A bike wheel. I winded up hitting some guys side view mirror, he screamed at me, and I took off down a side street. I also carried a rug around once, but it was much smaller.

progre-ss

• mountain bike frame I was bringing to a LBS across from where I worked downtown. They were gonna switch parts from my current and dying ride to the newer one. I wasn't very mechanical at the time. I strapped it to my messenger bag and rode in from the burbs to downtown which is a good hour's ride.

• a coat and hat rack that I found in the trash on the way home.

• big boxes that were ackward to carry and too big to fit in my bag. Had to carry them by resting them on my bars and top tube/arms. Didn't know why they didn't send a car for the pick up.