Ever considered a cargo bike?

[Geonz]

I have one of those - tho' without the motor thingy (if you're not hauling refrigerators you don't need it). My bike is really not that different than it was before it got extended as far as riding goes, except it's 1000 times more useful and fun. The Free Radical is really a brilliant idea (bunch of Stanford engineers designed it).

When I first cruised to the http://www.xtracycle.com site I emailed my friend and said "this is cool but the good thing is it's four hundred dollars so I'm not even tempted." I was looking for panniers because I was tired of wanting to ride my bike to something three blocks away, but I had to bring something (like a pot luck dish).

It was a slow week at work, though, and I wandered back to the site and read up on its origins (http://www.xaccess.org - now http://www.worldbike.org/ ) and did more pricing on panniers and by the time you get all the pieces parts it's purty expensive anyway.

I asked my bike guru if he'd ever heard of them and yes and he would love to install one for me.

In the beginning of February I did the deed. I'd read the silly California blurges about "it changes your life" and thought "well, I am already so into bikes it won't make that much difference." I was wrong. That silly bike propelled me from "I like riding my bike" to "My bike is my vehicle." I drove the car today, primarily because it has been a month since it's seen the outside of the garage with a quarter tank of gas and it needs to warm up and get the dust out,... and I'm going to sell it to my brother in May. I'm not saying I won't replace it... but not right away.

They're a California thing so yes, they're available in the U.S. There are at least eight of them in our medium sized area (pop. 100,000).