Every Day Adventurers

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!

Week 1 Recap

I have to admit I was more than a little intimidated. There are people in my life that are bike-centric to the core, but I feel like an outsider in the movement. As I took the Radish for a test spin I worried about my turn radius; could I cut sharp corners if I needed to? Could I brake hard and fast? What if I needed to bail off the bike? In the midst of my concerns, I had somehow turned into some sort of danger-wielding stunt master. But once I rode it around a parking lot a couple of times, I realized it actually handled better than my “regular” bike. And I couldn’t wait to load it up with stuff.

For the inaugural trip out, I loaded the FreeLoader saddlebags with my heavy backpack, climbing gear, a change of clothing, and a water bottle. I put my U-lock in the handy hidden pocket and off I rode to the gym. In the first mile down the bicycle boulevard I got nods and smiles from nearly everyone I passed. Was that normal? Having rocked a rusted vintage Specialized for the last year, I felt like a million bucks on my shiny new Radish.

Nearly every day that I have ridden this Xtracycle, I’ve met someone new. I love the attention it gets! Not only am I becoming more confident in my riding, I really feel like I’m becoming a bike convert. And in the process, I might be making converts of others as well. It’s so much less difficult than I thought.

In seven days I’ve logged four trips to the gym, two to the library, one to downtown Oakland, multiple through downtown Berkeley, one to Mike’s Bikes, and one BART misadventure. The misadventure involved trying to fit a very long Radish into a very small elevator, which required much maneuvering through heaving bouts of laughter.

My friends are intrigued by the Radish as well, and they’ve all wanted a ride on the Snap Deck. Four of us jetted to an empty parking lot one day where we took turns giving each other rides. One of the guys managed to give both 115-pound girls a tandem ride on the deck; the triumph of the evening. Next up: Deck Surfing.

Everyone seems to have ideas for things I could peddle from the Radish (No pun intended. Okay, okay, pun intended.). So far we have popsicles, kettle corn, sushi, organic vegetables, and snow cones. Grandma pointed out I could get hauled in by the Health Dept., so I’m not going to try it. But it would be fun.

What will this bike get me into next?

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 3

Didn’t ride the Radish today.

Day 4

Rode the Radish to the gym again. The ride down was nothing to write home about, but the ride back was kind of hellatious. Maybe it was the 30 minutes I spent on the elliptical after bouldering for an hour, and maybe it was the gale force winds I was pedaling into on the way back uphill, but my legs were jelly. Almost toast.

… I came to a four way stop. A four way stop where from all four ways, cars want to get onto the freeway. To go home. On our way home. From a day of work.

And so, I stopped. And waited. And watched as each way had their turn. And then it was my turn. And I went. Straight ahead. Next to a car that was going straight ahead. Because it’s better that way – to ride with a car sometimes, so that no other cars from any of the other three ways, hit you – because while they may not see you on the bike, they’ll at least see the car.

But the car gassed it and flew away from me fast. And there I was, in the middle of the intersection, alone. And while I was there,  in the middle of the intersection, a black mercedes drove into the intersection and we made contact. My front wheel to her bumper and my right side to her hood.

And it was in slow motion. Slow enough that I knew and felt and thought about how she was going to hit me. And if I would get hurt. She never looked at me.

Afterwards. I stood there staring at her and she rolled down the window. And before I said anything, she said calmly, I didn’t even see you.

And I said, I know, you didn’t look my way, you just went. And she said, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even see you. And we just looked at each other. And I said, you HAVE to look. We’re out here. We’re everywhere. We’re here.

Look for us.

And she said, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.

We spoke calmly to each other. Like we were in line. At the grocery store. And cars were lining up at all the stops while we were in the middle of the intersection. We were talking. Not yelling. Not angry. We were there, just talking. And everything around us was frozen. Time stood still.

In the middle of the intersection.

And then someone honked, for us to get out the way. And  she squeezed my arm. And I squeezed her shoulder. And we both continued on our way, in separate directions. Home.

A few great videos from of users and their kids traveling by Xtracycle.

Xtracycle is busy working on an Xtracycle specific kid carrying system that will allow folks to carry 1 kid or two, and have specific seats for toddlers/kids above 40 lbs. We’ll keep you posted on this process and we hope to have these in production in early 2009. Until then, folks are using the PeaPod ($229) for the little ones and Magic Carpet ($39) + Footsies ($59) + Stoker Bar ($75) for the bigger kids.