Jessy Clonts, our neighbor in the Bay Area, test rode a Radish for 30-days this spring. This is a journal about her expectations, experiences and feedback. Enjoy!
Days 8-10
My friends and I have taken to using the word “bike” as an adjective to describe extreme bike-like behavior. As in, “That dude’s messenger bag is pretty bike,” or, “Did you see the way she just jumped over that pothole? So bike!”
I am becoming more “bike,” that much I know, but “bike” enough to ride the Radish in the rain? Not so much. Okay, I admit it, I cheated, alright? I cheated on the 30-day challenge just eight days in and got groceries in a car. But no doubt my eggs and paper milk carton lived thanks to the dryness in the trunk of said car.
I know what you’re thinking: the FreeLoaders are water resistant. I only did it the one time, and I walked and BARTed everywhere else during the torrential downpours this week. I’m telling you, I am working on it. I am really trying to become more “bike!”
Jessy Clonts, our neighbor in the Bay Area, test rode a Radish for 30-days this spring. This is a journal about her expectations, experiences and feedback. Enjoy!
Day 5
I channeled Bill Withers and was ready to ride on this Lovely Day. A friend and I rolled to The Trappist in downtown Oakland, a pub that specializes in ridiculously expensive artisan-made beer.
It was way warmer than anticipated and I was truly grateful to have a place to store my jacket and scarf. My afternoon buddy also shed her extra layers into the FreeLoaders.
After a glass of Trappist ale and some hand-cut noodles at a Chinatown noodle shop, we smartly decided to take BART back to Berkeley. Carrying the Radish down the three flights of stairs fully loaded with clothing and purses was an interesting endeavor. While the front end was light as a feather, the back end was…Not. Light. At. All. And as tempted as I was to grab the back end by the Snap Deck, I knew it had the potential to pop off. So I decided to roll, or rather bump, the back wheels down the stairs while lifting the front end. Flights one and two went somewhat smoothly. By flight three, I made a new friend in a woman who helped lift the back end for me. Thanks, lady!
On the BART, I met a woman named Angel who complimented the Radish. This led to a bike conversation for champions for the rest of the seven-minute ride. It ended with an exchange of phone numbers for future bike talk.
Considering the struggle to get the Radish down to the platform, I decided to take the elevator back to street level. It seems the BART engineers didn’t account for long sports utility bikes when designing the elevators, for it took some severe front wheel manipulation to load the Radish. While it was pretty hilarious, I deemed the Radish a little BART un-friendly.
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