Ian Ritchie, a chef in Louisville, KY, delivers homemade “soup by cycle” after his own experience losing his job. Now he delivers his culinary delights on his Surly Big Dummy Xtracycle cargo bicycle.
Ritchie says he started his one-man business after being laid off. “I had trouble finding a job, you know, with today’s economy not too many people are hiring,” he says.
So after doing a little research, he began his operations at the end of winter. He says, “I just decided to cook some soup one night and go around and deliver it to make a little money.”
He started by delivering to a few friends, then word got around. So he’s been delivering a few more bowls of soup each week.
His business is not yet profitable, but he hopes to make it so as cooler weather approaches and there is more demand for his product.
The name of the business is SoupByCycle. Customers can order on line at http://www.soupbycycle.com. Mondays he spends shopping for the ingredients, Tuesday he spends the day cooking, and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are delivery days — about 25 miles of cycling in the hot summer weather each day.
“Everyone I run into seems to like soup, and I love making soup,” he says.
Soup delivered by bicycle - FOX41.com Louisville News Kentucky Indiana News Weather Sports.
The snobbiest cyclist out there lashes Surly’s Big Dummy Xtracycle cargo bicycle after a 6-month ownership:
I do, however, want and need to carry crap, and the Big Dummy immediately proved to be very capable in this regard. In fact, I was surprised to discover that it soon seemed indispensable to me.
Of course, the only thing that makes this decadent orgy of cycling smugness possible is that I have a relatively safe place to store this bicycle at street level, which is not the case for many people in big cities (unless you’re a wealthy person with a hyphenated name–even in 21st century bike-friendly New York, smugness is a luxury). Also, while I’m comfortable trawling the streets of Brooklyn with it and even locking it up occasionally, the stock Big Dummy is an expensive bicycle, and it’s too lavishly-appointed to leave unattended in a place like Manhattan for long periods of time. For the same functionality (assuming you have the room), you can obviously bolt an Xtracycle to a crappy old mountain bike, or just get the Big Dummy frame if you’re one of those people with a bunch of spare parts, since it’s got provisions and braze-ons for pretty much everything.
Read the full review atBike Snob NYC.
Snag your Big Dummy here.
We’ve always been awed and inspired by the creatives in the cycling world. From Tom Ritchey to Joe the Frame Welder, someone, right now, is out there tinkering on the next new, cool cycling thing.
TerraCycle is one of those inspirational creatives. They design and manufacture a multitude of recumbent parts and accessories. Then they decided to adopt the Longtail Standard to make recumbents more cargo friendly and made a longtail extension that utilizes Xtracycle accessories and gear.
‘BentRider managing editor, Bryan J. Ball, recently installed a CargoMonster on their recumbent and are smitten with what they can do with it:
What cannot be denied is how amazingly useful the Cargo Monster is. It’s a technically brilliant solution that begs to be used. I could always manage to go get groceries on a standard trike but having the Cargo Monster made me WANT to go get groceries. In the cycling world, the only thing more hip right now than a fixed gear is a longtail and in my cycling-centric neighborhood, the Cargo Monster completely removed the TerraTrikes leaper status. It’s just… Cool. And there are so many Xtracycle options available that it’s easy to sit in front of the computer for hours and dream of things that you can carry on your Cargo Monster. (my emphasis)
Read the entire article here: ‘BentRider Online » Blog Archive » TerraCycle Cargo Monster.
And just to show that Joe the Frame Welder has been active, check out this latest creation:
Ever since Motocross International started distributing Xtracycles in Japan, we’ve noticed some excited new Xtracycle owners and it’s inspiring us to no end.
ロングテールバイクの集い【湘南編】 山本修二のサイクリング情報「お気楽自転車散歩日和」 or for those not fluent in Japanese, Shonan Chapter Meeting, The Long Tail Bikes
On the third stop of the Xtracycle Holishift Tour, founder Ross Evans shared his inspirations and experiences with Maker Faire attendees.
Permaculture.TV has a great post up with video of his talk and some Worldbike.org videos as well.
Don’t miss out on the tour. Carmel is tonight, followed by some more stops in SoCal before heading west to Arizona and New Mexico!
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