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314 comments on DrumBeat: August 2, 2008

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Fremont on August 2, 2008 - 4:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

What I do in town? See a movie? Bad Chinese food? Maybe a junkyard visit? No problemo. Five days round trip, that's OK. Four nights sleeping out no problem either. Wintertime will be a bit rough, but I can do it. The five hundred miles, round trip, to visit my Daughter will just take up one half of the month, maybe a bit more, again, it depends. Whatever minimum wage is, $7 per hour (?), well the five days for 140 miles, 8 hours per day, times $7/hr. times 5 days = $280. To compare, my truck gets 15 mpg diesel, at $5 per gallon = 10 gallons for the 150 mile round trip, more or less, or $50 in fuel vs. $280 lost wages at minimum wage for the 5 day trip. Of course, this is pretty meaningless. The point is, we get a lot for our fuel costs, even at $5 per gallon. A $50 fuel bill beats the hell out of five days round trip and four nights on the ground, rain or shine.

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CrystalRadio on August 2, 2008 - 11:18pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Hey, the world as we know it is about to end and you gotta go all coy and serious on me? And here I was going to invite you to Mabel's place when you had that day in town.:(

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Scabby dog on August 3, 2008 - 8:41am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Wouldn't a bicycle be quicker than your mule?

Don't have to feed it either.

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mcgowanmc on August 3, 2008 - 11:05am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

You can't pull a plow, or a wagon for instance.

And speed will not be a prerequisite BTW.

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AlanfromBigEasy on August 3, 2008 - 1:44pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

One can tow several hundred lbs. of payload on a bike trailer, and more on the bike/trike itself.

http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page6.html

Best Hopes for Bicycles & Tricycles,

Alan

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boilereric on August 3, 2008 - 3:46pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Do you know anyone who does this regularly, or even occassionally, for the distances mentioned? I bike to work (and everywhere else, as I don't have a car), an 8 mile roundtrip with significant hills in 15 minutes there, 20-25 back, carrying up to 40-50 pounds when work requires traveling, and I can't imagine towing several hundred pounds up the hills I encounter on my trip would be pleasant, whether trying to brake or pedal. Granted I've never tried towing weight before, but towing that much weight on anything but rather flat ground strikes me as a challenge I would rather dodge. Anyway, just curious if this does happen.

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moabite on August 3, 2008 - 5:42pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

You can pull an amazing amount of weight with a bike trailer. Going uphill is tough, and stopping is too. But, gearing is everything, and as long as you accept very low speeds on the climbs, 1000 lb on a smooth road is very doable with the right gears.

If you ride enough with your trailer, maybe you can make the Olympic cycling team, like Svein Tuft. This is an AMAZING story:

http://www.bcsportsbeat.ca/More/olympian_svein_tuft_story_719.htm

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neutrino23 on August 3, 2008 - 10:07pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

20 years ago in Beijing the streets were full of bicycle "trucks" carrying all sorts of goods around the city. They were slow but it was amazing what they could carry.

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314 comments on DrumBeat: August 2, 2008

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