dzrthauler

Congrats on the Pug!! I don't think any of us list all of the runs we all make... no point. We all know we are utility bikers and that we are all out there doing our part constantly...

HandsomeRyan

So it turns out that the front "beer rack" I built also works for transporting tandem wheels with bent axles. I rigged this up and I was about half way to the bike shop for a new axle when I remembered I have a cargo trailer. Oh well.



There is still room to ride back there...

Gareth

Only a 2 mile 15 kg laundry run, and a 5 litre micro brewery 6.5% ABV Cider run for me today.

qmsdc15

On the other hand, there can never be too many pictures of tubs of mail on my trailer! Unfortunately, I didn't realize I was supposed to do another guy's route also. I dropped six of these eight tubs to two nearby offices, then returned for four more.

qmsdc15

Two boxes of printed material from one law firm to another, and a couple tubs of mail.

Gareth

Only an 18 kg or so Grocery run, of 3 kms each way for me today. Which I managed to get in the front pannier bags: 5kgs Potatoes, 4 litres Milk, 4 litres orange juice, 2 X 1.7kg frozen Ducks, 2 X 1kg frozen Fish Fingers, 500g Cauliflower, an 800g Wholemeal Loaf and a 300g Black pudding.

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As one of the frozen Ducks and one packet of Fish fingers needed to go into my freezer, I swung by my place on the way back to Lois' and picked up my roasting tray and three smaller roasting trins, which I fitted onto the rear rack with my small bungee type cargo net and spare orange strap.

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Which reminded me of a tip that I wanted to pass on to you guys: Two plastic Skippy brand Peanut butter jars bolted together make a very convenient storage device for cargo nets and bungee straps, etc. and they fit perfectly into a standard cycle bottle rack:

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qmsdc15

Mmm, roast duck! Hot tip on the double peanut butter jars. That's a cool idea. Thanks!

Fred Mertz

When did fish get fingers?

Gareth

Do you not have Fish fingers on your side of the pond?

They make a great sandwich, between to lumps of wholemeal bread, and lashings of tomato ketchup.

larryfeltonj

I've been using the "Did you ride today?" thread on the Southeast regional forum to help me enforce my policy of riding every day that I'm not injured or sick, and the "How was the commute?" thread on the Commuting forum to help me enforce my discipline of always cycle commuting. So I'm going to try to make at least one utility trip every day, and post it here.

The advantage of disciplining myself to not miss days is that it ensures that I keep my gear available and maintained. When I'm riding sporadically I'll spend a half hour looking for some piece of equipment (lock, tire levers, spares, shoes, etc). When I'm riding every day I know where everything is, and keep by bikes maintained.

My utility trip today was to my LBS (Intown Bicycles on Monroe Drive) to pick up a few supplies. I also used it as an opportunity to check out both my rain gear (there's been a steady moderate rain here today) and my new racks and fenders. The rack and fenders are the cantilevered type for newer racing frames which won't accept most standard hardware. I have a few older bikes set up as utility bikes (including an old Peugeot, a Raleigh Twenty, and a Raleigh shopper). I love my Raleigh Supercourse, though, particularly when I have a long distance to cover, and when the head tube cracked and Raleigh replaced it they sent me a new frame which doesn't have the clearances for standard accessories. So I ordered a seat post rack and cantilevered fenders designed for racing frames. Today they did well. I'll see how they hold up over time.

All in all it was a nice utility trip. It would've been a total of nine miles, but I stretched it to eighteen to put my rain gear to the test.

larryfeltonj

I believe those are marketed as "fish sticks" here, or as I often call them "synthetic reconstituted somewhat fish-like product" :-)

larryfeltonj

Today I tried out a new route to the Dekalb Farmer's Market from my house in the East Atlanta neighborhood of Atlanta. The Farmer's Market is probably the best place to buy groceries in the Atlanta area. It's about 8 miles from my house. It was a good route, but the headwinds on the return trip were vicious. I felt like I was trying to cycle while pulling a parachute.

Sixty Fiver

My epic grocery ride the other day... had six panniers filled to overflowing and the beans, rice, and flour really helped with the traction.

Folks at the market could not believe I was going to carry close to 100 pounds of food on a bike.

larryfeltonj

My first utility ride of the day was just to the bank. I'll make more short runs later, but will spare y'all the details.

Dan Burkhart 

You know, if you compiled all the great photos you put up here, it would make a dandy coffee table book.

qmsdc15

Thanks Dan! You're into freight bikes so you like the pictures, but most people couldn't care less about the hobo bike. Take that out of the pictures and you have tourist's shots of DC.

I also post pictures in a thread called K street traffic in the southeast regional forum, and in my photobucket bike album. Take a look.

I'm often in the right place at the right time, but usually miss the shot.

Totaled108

I love browsing this thread, I just wish I had taken pictures today of my ride/commute to add to it. Next time, if its nice enough to take pix of.

I took the xtracycle 5miles to the rock gym at 7am, with a 30 meter rope, 2 pairs of climbing shoes, rain gear, change of clothes for work, climbing clothes, netbook,
climbing harness, some fruit, and a 'trunk bag' of misc. stuff for work. Still had room for 2 or 3 full back packs/grocery bags if needed. I love riding this thing.

Oh, climbed till 10am, then packed up again and rode 15 miles to work. Tonight I'll have to lug it all home, 13miles. Good times.

noglider 

I had to visit a client today 10 miles away. Mind you, I am not car free, but I'm working on reducing my driving and increasing my driving. I cycled there and got a bit lost, so it ended up being 12 miles. It was WINDY! I even had to pedal DOWNHILL at one point. I made it in about an hour.

I had to rush to my next appointment, near home, but the wind was at my back, and I made it in 50 minutes. I didn't even expect to be on time, and I was!

I'm tired now! But I'm glad I did it.

noglider 

That is an epic grocery run. What's your distance? What kind of low gear do you have, and did you need it?

Sixty Fiver

Tom - The bike has a triple with a 28/30 low but on flat ground and over a distance of a few miles that granny isn't needed and I have not found a hill I could not climb when the bike was loaded down.

For bigger towing jobs I use my hybrid which is lighter and has a slightly lower bottom gear.

Dan Burkhart 

Hey Tom, I was in your neck of the woods yesterday. Windy, WOW. I felt like I was going to be blown off one of those bridges.

noglider 

Yeah, we get windy winters!

qmsdc15

Couture from a dress shop on Connecticut Ave. to one on 7th SE, across the street from the historic Eastern Market.

noglider 

Rode to the supermarket today, about 2.5 miles each way. My wild guess is that my trailer weighed 60 pounds. It wasn't hard. I just shifted down and went more slowly. I got a lot of onlookers from the sidewalk and cars. I don't know what intrigued them more, that I was carrying cargo or that I was doing it in the winter. I certainly wasn't cold! I was a bit overdressed.

qmsdc15

Two large boxes