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Cargo Bicycles, Utility Bikes, Longtail Limos and other Xtracycle cycling chatter

A Radish A Day – Day 6

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 6

After a long Saturday night, another trip to the gym took a lot of will power to hop on the bike and not beg a ride from a friend. Of course, once I was pedaling downhill in the beautiful 75-degree weather, I was more than glad to be on wheels.

More friends wanted more rides on the SnapDeck and I happily obliged. This Xtracycle really breeds community (or slackerism). I love it!

Jessy Enjoying Her Radish LongTail

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A Radish A Day – Day 5

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!

Jessy Enjoying Her Radish LongTail

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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DIT: PizzaLoader

In the spirit of the Longtail Standard, we happily present you with detailed instructions to build your very own PizzaLoader.

Three Pies High on Xtracycle PizzaLoaderWhile we’d love to design, prototype and build every idea we sketch out, we’re still a bit grounded in reality and like to choose our products carefully. But don’t get us wrong, we love do-it-together (DIT) approaches to accessories, except the ones involving transportation of wee ones.

With that said we’re pleased to introduce: PizzaLoader! While there are a few bicycle pizza delivery services out there, the costs don’t justify the production on our end. Thank goodness for places like IKEA, where you can find just the right combination of parts to create masterpieces.

Wife and hubby team, Jeremy and Carrie, longed for the ability to carry pizza on their Xtracycle. Unfortunately, the square shape of a pie box leaves too much overhang when using a standard SnapDeck. Combine that factor with greasy, weak cardboard box and you’ll quickly accessorize gravel with your fresh pizza.

Solution? Build a wide-platform SnapDeck with rail to provide proper support and containment for your pizza as it travels from its brick oven womb to your home and, ultimately, belly. Let’s dig in!

Ingredients:

PizzaLoader Ingredients

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