alicestrong

She might be both...


One of the main reasons that I'm budgeting for an Xtracycle is so I can take my pets to the vet,

As it is, I've had to "bum rides" off family and friends. The bus here does not allow pets.

Denny Koll

One guy I know Just gets a 12 foot leash, hooks up the cat and takes off. The cat is forced to keep up or else it gets dragged along. Since you're going to the Vet, any injury that happens along the way could easily be taken care of once you arrive at the office. By the time you head out for the return trip, the cat will be super motivated to keep up with the bike.

Purp

i wouldnt reccomend it because of the same reason i wouldnt reccomend strapping a baby to the rack, a random crash that we could easily survive could potentially be fatal or seriously damaging to the baby/cat. think about getting your handlebars bent in a wreck and instead having that force applied to your cat.

i would reccomend getting a $50 trike off craigslist, you could still get hit by cars but you couldnt fall to one side from hitting a bad pothole. put a blanket over a cat carrier in a metal basket attached to the frame in back (make sure it has holes to breathe, obv). trying to make the ride as smooth as possible, your cat wont like it, but it could work.

Artkansas 

That's cruel.

Cosmoline

Yes. Always. Sometimes several.

LetterRider

Lots of good suggestions on here - thanks! I guess it's just a matter of finding something the cats are (mostly) comfortable with. I think the safety aspect will always be an issue, but I would be an even more attentive and safe biker with my kitties along, not that that necessarily means anything. Thanks again for all the ideas - except for the long leash - that brings horrible images to my head.

gosmsgo

google search "burley flatbed"

that is one of the trailers that I have and they are the thing for putting a ped carrier on.

That would be the perfect thing for you because you can take the pet carrier off, slap a $15.00 45 gallon g(yes, I said 45 gallon) rubber maid tub on there and you can haul an entire cart of groceries home.

$200.00

donnamb 

That's one of my housemates, and she is a chick. So is the housemate who found the kitten. So am I.

bmclaughlin807

Here's a suggestion that will improve your riding immensely: Don't Crash.

wahoonc

Works for me! I always wonder why people think that a trailer is so much safer than a single bike? I agree that the ride might be a bit smoother, and putting the weight down low would be more stable. But what magic is there that says you aren't going to crash and have the trailer run over in traffic? Or something fails on the trailer and it flips? (I have had that happen once) I think if a person takes proper care in attaching something to the bike and has competent bike handling skills the risk is pretty minimal. JMHO... FWIW in all my years of commuting I only went down one time and it was because I did something stupid.

Aaron

bmclaughlin807

I can haul about 3/4ths of a cart home with just my rear rack and panniers(Total cost <$70)... I should hope for $200 you can haul quite a bit more!

I'd go for a burley trailer in a second if I had the cash, though... I'm currently looking for a used child trailer to convert for hauling my dogs and other stuff... If I can find a Burley for reasonable, I'd be a VERY happy camper!

Marrock

My BoB is rated for 70 lbs. but I regularly have about twice that much in it when we go on grocery runs... For some reason I always seem to wind up hauling all the heavy stuff, it's a mystery.

thebikeguy

Tell me you're kidding!!The only way that would work is if your buddy ran there bare foot too.You can't expect a cat to run on pavement for any length of time.There pads can't take it.There even more tender than a dog's.The rationalization that if it gets hurt well you're going to the vet anyway, is f@#king ********!These animals count on us to take proper care of them.Your buddy doesn't deserve having a cat if that's the way he deals with it.

Purp

This quote assumes all crashes are by choice...

You can be the best biker in the world but the world is still full of random adversities that can take you down.

That unseen rock or pothole can send your two-wheeled bike and whatever's strapped to the back crashing to the ground

a three-wheel is slightly more stable and less likely to fall in this situation, in a head-on collision with a car going 40mph the difference between two and three wheels is negligible

The "plan only for what you expect/want to happen" approach is not safe, why wear a helmet when you know you aren't going to be hit by a car?

bmclaughlin807

The ONLY crash I worry about on a bike is getting hit by a car. Everything else IS fully within my realm of control. I've only once hit a pothole that I didn't see coming, at the time I was doing 25 mph right behind a bus... the bus was concealing the pothole until was too late to avoid it.

Normally I'd say that was my fault for following the bus too close, but even then... a normal sized pothole I could have avoided (And know where they all are on the different routes I ride.) This pothole was a new one due to our VERY nasty winter weather last winter and was about 8" deep and several feet wide.

Just like when carrying a child, someone carrying a loved pet on their bike is going to be extra cautious and ride within their limits. As an example: I've never once crashed while carrying groceries on my bike, despite 2-3 trips per week of about 5 miles for the last year and a half.

It really isn't that hard to keep a bike upright.

ralph12

I have taken mine to the vet in a trailer, but I do not normally do this. I live in one of the hilliest parts of the country, and the ups and downs are just too stressful for him.

If you live in a flat landscape, a trailer could be a good solution though.

gosmsgo

I was in a road race once (never again!!) and hit a hellacious pothole while in the peleton. Besides it feeling like my prostate and every other organ had ruptured we all just kept right on chugging at 25 plus mph.

In case anyone cares how the race went I found myself up near the front with about 13 miles to go. I felt really, really scary strong and combined with nervousness I attacked! I stood out of the saddle and after about 4 good pumps realized what a terrible, terrible mistake I had made. I realized that I was not strong but rather knew immediately that I could not finish what I had started.

By now I am really, really nervous and emberassed. I tried to just let the peleton swallow me up again. They did but I could not go from coasting to 25 mph again fast enough to stay with them. As I found myself going backwards through the group I got a lot of swearing and name calling and then I was crapped out the back like a turd.

I ended up just being within eye shot of the group as they finished.

I was emberassed, scared and vowed to never do it again. ha ha ha

I would rather enter a tough man competition where at least I would understand what was going on and how I got my brains beaten out!!!

ralph12

What does this have to do with the thread?

Roody

Cat 6?

MillCreek

Here in Seattle, that would be 'womyn' to you, Bub!

Roody

I don't know....

The other day a couple of 60ish professional women were sitting in the break room at work. I know they both have pretty strong feminist backgrounds. I don't know why, but I greeted them with, "Hey, how you chicks doing today?" At first I worried that I had offended them, but they both kinda giggled. One said, "Chick? I haven't been called that in years. Thanks!"

Purp

you've obviously never ridden your bike home from the bar...

Marrock

You are gravity's "female dog".

folder fanatic

I would only consider using my bike's rear rack with the study plastic carrier strapped to in in the event that happend last year to my Leona the cat:

https://www.geocities.com/folder_fanatic/PetsPage.html

to

https://www.geocities.com/folder_fanatic/PetsPage2.html


I prefer to use the luggage cart and tow the carrier with the cat(s) inside first.

LetterRider

First of all, I am very glad your cat is okay. I cannot believe a tail would just fall off! My cat has a very badly bent tail - 90 degree angle right at the base and a few kinks the rest of the way up - and he has full mobility for the most part (a little off on the balance once in a while though) and I got him that way, so I wonder if something similar happened to him when he was a baby.
Second, I think that's a good idea - to have some back-up transportation or emergency options. I guess a cab could always be my emergency option.
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions and advice. I'm thinking a Burley or similar will probably be the next purchase after the new bike