There was another bike move on the streets of Portland today. Debbie needed to move about four miles across town so instead of renting a truck, she put out the call to the Shift to Bikes email list. 17 people, 16 bikes and 12 trailers answered the call.
This wasn’t my first bike move, but it seemed like more trailers than usual showed up. Tom – a true cargo-bike aficionado – unveiled his bomber new trailer and broke it in with a full-sized stove! Already loaded with the stove I walked by and set a dresser on it. Tom said, “go ahead, it fits!” I was joking, he wasn’t.
As usual, the load wasn’t all pillows and paper towels. I saw an old, cast-iron sewing machine, an ironing board, a ladder, chairs, tables, all sorts of heavy stuff that was creatively packed and bungeed to panniers, baskets, buckets and trailers.
I brought Eleni along and she worked so hard loading up that she fell asleep en route.
We made signs before we left. This was a great idea because people are at a complete loss when they see us ride by (it is quite a sight to behold).
It was an uneventful ride to the new house. The only mishap was the one guy who wasn’t hauling anything…he got a flat!
It was a great effort and we were nicely rewarded at our destination with hot pizza, cold beer, and a bike move ballad by the one and only Timo.
Here is the complete bike move photo gallery.
