Xtracycle vs. Trailer Cagematch

I'm a huge fan of all things bicycle. When it comes to doing all things that I can on the bike, I'm totally there. That being said, I haven't made the jump to the Xtracycle (yet). I love the concept and always have, but every time I weigh the pros and cons, my Burley Flatbed (aka "The Grocery Getter") wins.



Advantages:

1. I can haul so much more with the Burley Flatbed, especially since the "upgrade" to the 45 gallon Rubbermaid container from the "weenie" 30 gallon one.

2. It disconnects easily allowing me to put it on almost any bike. My son often uses it to pull his tenor sax to school which is way cool by me.

Disadvantages:

1. Two extra tires to worry about about.

2. Only a 100 pound load limit (supposedly).

I want to hear from you Xtracycle people about your great love of your bike as a cargo carrier or if you think that maybe my choice is spot on. I'm not here to say that either choice is better. I'm just here to continue the conversation that the voices in my head have on occasion.

In case you were wondering, if I was to go the Xtracycle route, I do dream in Surly Big Dummy green.

The Grocery Getter Gets an Upgrade

I took the picture below to show the upgraded capacity--from 30 to 45 gallons of cargo space with the grocery getter--and then the redneck in me started thinking: What if I used a couple bungee cords and used both containers for bigger loads???......Jeff Foxworthy/Bill Engvall would be so proud!

Which is Longer?

Which is longer: A Ford Windstar or a Tandem with a Trail-a-Bike and a Burley flatbed?



As you see even Carson was impressed with the Grocery Getter semi. The looks we received on the way to the grocery store were pretty priceless too. Thanks to Barry S. for the inspiration.

Redneck Bicycling?

Laura had the van. I needed gas so the oldest could continue to mow. No problem, I'll just hook up the Grocery Getter and get some gas while the older two watched the youngest. Well, not so fast: Carson was adamant that he wanted to go. When I mean adamant, I mean adamant.



NO NO NO...Not "Adam Ant" (you have "Goody Two Shoes" stuck in your head right now...admit it), adamant. Demanding. Determined. I AM GOING WITH YOU.

Well let's see: Gas can might be tough to hold while pulling the trail-a-bike. Other options? Hmmmm....let's see if the grocery getter will hook up behind the trail-a-bike. I tried this behind the kid carrier once and it was not great because one trailer was out into traffic too far. This time however, it amazingly hooked up great!

Marissa rode along too as we picked up gas and a couple gallons of milk (because we could). Oh the looks we received. I wondered how many were amazed and how many thought I was the ultimate cycling redneck. I could care less. I'm biking. You're not. It was painful enough filling up my little container for the lawnmower at $3.59 a gallon (I wonder if Mom still has the old non-powered blade mower). I digress yet again.

Anyhow, here is the redneck bicycle train in all its glory.

The Grocery-Getter Report Sept 24-30

Another fun week with GG. There may be weeks with no "picture of the week" from GG, but THIS week you are lucky enough to get THREE!

The Report:

Sept 24 - Sept 30:

* 2 laptops
* 3 apples for snacks
* 3 surplus computers
* 1 replacement tablet motherboard
* 1 tenor saxophone to and from schol
* 1 Bottle Captain Morgan (how did THAT get in there?)
* Workout clothes to and from the Dome
* 2 port replicators and a motherboard to ship back to Gateway
* 2 gallons of milk
* 1 USD Intramural Champions t-shirt delivery to Craig D.
* 1 bag of Fair Trade Coffee and 1 headlamp to Joe P.
* 2 surplus monitors
* 5 surplus keyboards
* 1 standing fan (from Freecycle! - for the dreaded indoor riding season)
* 2 Gallons of milk
* Cardboard to the Recycling Center
* $50 trip to Walmart, including a big bag of potting soil

The Saxophone:


The "Freecycle" Fan:


Cardboard to the Recycling Center:

The Grocery-Getter Report Sept 17-23

This was a fun week for me and the Grocery Getter. It was maybe a little busier than normal, but not much. It was actually fun to keep track of what all was transported by "GG" as I've never done that before. Without further ado, here is the list:

* Backpack containing workout clothes and my USB Flash Drive
* 4 New Gateway m295 Tablet Computers
* 1 Replacement Hard Drive for a m280 Tablet Computer
* 1 Port Replicator for m285 Tablet Computer
* Returned 3 movies back to the video store
* One New Music Stand for Austin
* Two Boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats from the store
* One "Poof" Ball for use with body soap in the shower
* One helmet for Austin whose helmet is falling apart
* 2 Bananas for lunch
* 2 17" CRT monitors (separate trips--poor GG would have a heart attack otherwise)
* keyboard/mouse/Ethernet cables
* 2 New Hard Drives
* 2 Replacement Port Replicators for Tablet Computers
* Load of recycling to the recycling trailer.
* Trip to the Grocery Story ($55.48 worth of groceries)

Grocery-Getter picture of the week: Recycling trip



Even though it's not GG related, we also hung six loads of laundry on the clothes line this week. I thought that deserved mention!

New Thoughts on Posting

While I will still post some ride information and keep you up to date with monthly totals, I don't think many are interested in reading about my Weekly Activity (unless something spectacular happens). I think what I will focus on more in my posts are things I see differently while biking versus driving, trips I make with the Grocery Getter including a new feature, "What has been hauled by the grocery getter this week".



As much as I love to ride my road bike for miles on end, I think the thing I'm proudest of are my in town commuting/errand miles. Vermillion is a relatively small town (a little over 10,000) and from where I live, literally nothing is over three miles away, and most things are less than 2 miles. So while I may not have near the commuting miles as some, I'm proud to say that I drive very very little in town. I take the Grocery Getter with me quite often now. As an example, here are some of the things it did in the last couple weeks for me:

* Hauled many computers and monitors from various places on campus due to a bunch of new faculty computers that came in and carried the old ones back to my office.
* Hauled a few smaller printers back that were replaced.
* A few trips to the grocery store for groceries. I have figured out that I can completely fill a small shopping cart at Hy-Vee along with a couple gallons of milk underneath and it will all fit in the Grocery Getter.
* Trips to Walmart for things
* Trips to the Dakota Dome with my backpack full of workout clothes inside
* Recyclables to the the recycling center/recycling trailers (no curbside pickup yet!)
* Hauled my wife's massage table to and from her office. I know, it's hard to get a mental image of this, so I'll work on taking a picture for you on this one!

You get the general picture. I use the Grocery Getter like most people use a car. I'm sure many people in town think I am the strangest thing ever with that cart on back. Do I care? Are you kidding? I could care less. Okay, I might feel bad if the kids get crap in school about their weird Dad, but many of the kids think that my obsessive bike riding is actually cool (The kid who delivers the local shopper newspaper LOVES my cart!).

From here on out, there will be biking stories, grocery getter updates, and monthly mileage updates along with the usual family happenings. Part of the purpose of my blog is to encourage people to drive less. Now I need to SHOW people how I do so much with my bike and without my car!