Some of my favorite rides last year were my Saturday morning errand runs on the Blue Truck. I was able to get out on a bicycle ride AND get weekend errands done all at the same time. Plus, when I got out early enough the roads were quiet and the stores have few customers in them yet.
I've had the
Xtracycle ready to go since early last month. However, today was the first run of the season on it. Susan and I keep a very strict household budget. We managed to spend most of our March money early in the month and had no money left to shop the last couple weeks of March. So the
Xtra didn't see any action. Now with a new month, I had plenty of errands to run.
I actually had a load going both ways today. I haven't had my computer since Thursday. It won't let me in. It's 8 years old. And despite running fine, its hard drive will be lucky to make it much longer. So I had to haul the CPU tower to the computer store to get some work done. It's a heavy tower. It required the installation of the right side wide loader to support it's bulky weight.
Then I stopped at the
food co-op to stock up for the month. I always say my
Pugsley gets the most comments from bikers, and non-bikers alike. I forgot the
Xtracycle gets almost as much attention as the
Pugsley. As I was locking up at the bike rack in front of the co-op an older guy walks up and asks me if I was the guy he saw riding out west this morning
haulin a computer? I told him that was me. He told me I sure get around on that thing. I told him that it was my car, it's how I get around.
Earlier when I stopped at the main Post Office a middle aged guy in a Honda Element pulled up beside me, rolled down his window and said, "Big Dummy, huh?" I had to tell him it was not a
Big Dummy , but an
Xtracycle. I tried to explain the similarities and differences to him. But he gave me a look like he was skeptical of my explanation. I think he was convinced he had a Big Dummy sighting. It's not the first time people have told me I was riding a Big Dummy. People give me a puzzled look when I tell them I had my
Xtracycle a year and a half before the Big Dummy was introduced. I guess people believe Surly invented the long tail bike because of all the press it's gotten.
Anyhoo...I had yet another nice Saturday morning errand run on the Blue Truck. I forgot how nice that bike rides, even with four loaded bags of groceries. It was also nice to get out on a day I would otherwise not have had the chance to ride. I've had a cold all week. I was able to ride to work everyday except Wednesday when I called in. It
was a miserable week. If it wasn't for this leisurely errand run, I might have not ridden at all today.
I actually had a load going both ways today. I haven't had my computer since Thursday. It won't let me in. It's 8 years old. And despite running fine, its hard drive will be lucky to make it much longer. So I had to haul the CPU tower to the computer store to get some work done. It's a heavy tower. It required the installation of the right side wide loader to support it's bulky weight.
Then I stopped at the food co-op to stock up for the month. I always say my Pugsley gets the most comments from bikers, and non-bikers alike. I forgot the Xtracycle gets almost as much attention as the Pugsley. As I was locking up at the bike rack in front of the co-op an older guy walks up and asks me if I was the guy he saw riding out west this morning haulin a computer? I told him that was me. He told me I sure get around on that thing. I told him that it was my car, it's how I get around.
Earlier when I stopped at the main Post Office a middle aged guy in a Honda Element pulled up beside me, rolled down his window and said, "Big Dummy, huh?" I had to tell him it was not a Big Dummy , but an Xtracycle. I tried to explain the similarities and differences to him. But he gave me a look like he was skeptical of my explanation. I think he was convinced he had a Big Dummy sighting. It's not the first time people have told me I was riding a Big Dummy. People give me a puzzled look when I tell them I had my Xtracycle a year and a half before the Big Dummy was introduced. I guess people believe Surly invented the long tail bike because of all the press it's gotten.
Anyhoo...I had yet another nice Saturday morning errand run on the Blue Truck. I forgot how nice that bike rides, even with four loaded bags of groceries. It was also nice to get out on a day I would otherwise not have had the chance to ride. I've had a cold all week. I was able to ride to work everyday except Wednesday when I called in. It was a miserable week. If it wasn't for this leisurely errand run, I might have not ridden at all today.