Every Day Adventurers

Almost 2 years ago, we profiled Jay Marlette, who had decided to make his home inspection business greener by adding an Xtracycle to the mix. As you can see from our photos and video, this wasn’t a small commitment.  The ladder is longer than the Xtracycle!

When people make a shift like this, it’s natural to wonder how things worked out.  So guess who I ran into the other day just as he was wrapping up a home inspection:

Two years later and he’s still going strong!  A lot of people can say they’ve gone green, but when you see Jay riding around town hauling that ladder, you know he’s walking the talk.

Some things need to be seen to be believed, so if you want to check out Jay’s geared-up Xtracycle and ask him about his experiences in going green via bike, both Jay and his ride will be at the Berkeley Earth Day celebration this Saturday, April 23rd (12-5pm, Civic Center Park).  As part of the Earth Day celebration, Jay will be fielding general home questions and can also offer advice on ways to make your home more energy efficient.

The Earth Day celebration will have free valet bike parking (which we love to hear). For complete event details, click here.

the family steed

As most Xtracycle owners know, doing more with your bicycle and less with your car instills a feeling of independence like no other.

Your ability to tackle the day’s requests of errands, tasks and trips by using your bicycle and your own power instead of pollution causing, money draining automobiles builds a self-reliance that only grows with time.

So, I totally relate to Michael’s enthusiasm about his wife stating, “I think I’d like to get an Xtracycle.”

While I’m happy to hear that another American is thinking about using our cargo bikes, I’m more excited because I know what a positive impact owning one will have on her life.

Irene, Michael’s wife, I’m sure already knows about the benenfits of cargo bicycle ownership, her husband rocks out on a Big Dummy already. But, just as my wife knew of the benefits and utility of my cargo bike, she didn’t quite ‘get it’ until I built up her first Xtracycle this past fall.

Normally I’m the one who hauls her, our groceries, our laundry and other tasks of substantial size because my Xtracycle is easier to access and it’s what we’re used to. However, recently I went away for a trip to see my grandparents and Alicia, my wife, was stuck with laundry duty. Instead of lugging it piecemeal to the laundromat by short bike, she utilized her FreeRadical and finished the task without hassle or inconvenience.

On our nightly reconnect by cellular, she proudly informed me that she tackled the laundry using her Xtracycle. I asked how it went and she said, “Piece of cake!” :) She’s using her Xtracycle more and feeling empowered by the capability of her steed, and I’m excited to see her sharing the same sentiments that I felt in my first months of Xtracycle ridership.

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Read Michael’s full post on why they’re going car-light and upgrading their family to a two-Xtracycle family.

After living in temperate climes for the past five years, I’ve lost a little of my Nor’easter edge. But those RootsRadicals and Tweeters living in winter’y zones are chatting about riding tips regarding cold, wet, icy riding. Nice thing about a longtail, you’ve got a longer wheelbase = more stable.

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Editor Update: This is a semi-permanent solution for getting Footsies to work with KickBack. If you want to use WideLoaders, you’ll have to remove the bolts holding the Footsies on, so only do this mod if a) you’re fine voiding your warranty and b) don’t use WideLoaders.

KickBack is all the rage these days regarding our DIT tutorials. Our most recent tutorial focused on extending the peg platform of KickBack by using the handles off a Razor scooter. You can read up on that post here.

Taking passenger appeasement a step further, I wanted to explore a fast, simple solution to get your Footsies to play nice with KickBack. This mod will void your Footsie warranty, so proceed with caution (and if not installed properly, may void your KickBack warranty, too). Let’s begin!

Footsies modified to play nice with KickBack

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Patrick Boone, a Wisconsin Xtracycle rider, submitted a video to CNN’s iReport. CNN asked people to try to live car-free for one day (big leap, but better than nothing) by using their bicycle.

We offered up a store gift certificate to the Xtracycle riders that got their videos selected for the iReport. Congrats, Patrick, and thanks for the quality video and Xtracycle plug. Ride on!