Bicycle Fixation Weblog
[Previous entry: "Carfree Suburb in Germany"] [Next entry: "Knickers, Hats, Whatever...."]
06/06/2007: "Maxi Multi Modal Madness"
So I had to figure out how to transport two built-up 27" bicycle wheels to Harv's house, way up on top of a hill in Montecito heights, and bring back the two built-up 650B wheels I was trading them for.A bicycle wheel without the bicycle attached is a cumbersome object to carry on a bicycle.
Harv said he'd strapped one to each side of a rack before, but I have big feet and was worried my heels would bump them. So I just tried stacking them like pancakes on top of the rack, and using a bungee cord, and small cargo net, and a couple of rags.
Oddly enough, it worked, and rode well over the fairly bumpy LA streets.
I didn't really have a lot of faith in the bungee cords, so I took the rig on the Red and Gold line trains till I was fairly near Harv's house. But everything stayed put, even when I forgot myself and got going a little faster, in spite of the bumpy streets. The two-mile climb to Harv's house was uneventful.
Afterwards, with the 650B wheels strapped on the same way, I rode to South Pasadena to have lunch with Chuck Schmidt, bicycle lover extraordinaire and keeper of the Velo Retro website, then hopped the Gold Line back to Downtown LA to meet another friend of mine in the Garment District (with whom I had some business), which entailed a several mile ride from Union Station. Then back to 7th and Fig to the Red Line, which dropped me off two or three miles from home.
Satchmo, my old Fuji, handled it all with aplomb, even though he was born a road bike. Looked silly--but it worked!
