What is the Mundo?

I am the very happy owner of a Yuba Mundo Cargo bike, a purpose-built, long-tail, heavy-duty bike that is built to be a serious replacement for a carbon-emitting vehicle. I'm learning more every day what a bike can do, and I'm becoming convinced that a cargo bike with an electric assist is a truly fantastic machine!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

A Change in Lifestyle

June 21, 2012 was my last day as a public school employee.  As of my birthday on July 3, I will be officially retired from teaching after 20 years.  Ironically, I haven't had a day off since then, but today I can finally relax! My hat goes off to those teachers who love their schools so much that they spend 30 or 35 years working with youth, but for me, 20 years in the public school arena was enough.  I want to spend my time now promoting bicycling and other ways of living a low impact life, as we may have precious few years of profligate consumer living left unless we can radically alter our lifestyles.  Thanks to the Mundo, I am able to drive a lot less - I only filled up the tank once in June, and then again today.  If I'm careful I hope this tank of fuel can last until the end of August.

So, what has the Mundo been doing?  Going to the REC Farmers Market every Saturday from 10am - 1pm with the mobile bike repair kit.  This past Saturday, 6/30, was proclaimed "Farmers Market Day" by the Mayor of Worcester, Joe Petty.  Also in attendance were U.S. Congressman James McGovern and local city councilor Sarai Rivera.
James McGovern getting some fresh Veggies from our friends at Luna's Garden
Another big thing last week was having 3 teenage interns at Worcester Earn-a-Bike.  The interns are part of a program called Upward Bound that provides lots of after-school and summer opportunities for Worcester youth to help their community while preparing academically for college.  I was lucky to host Joseph, Immanuel, and Brittany who worked 6 hours a day in the shop from Monday through Thursday last week.  The major project was to build 3 workstations where we used to store bikes, move the bike storage, rearrange the tools, and generally reorganize the shop.  They really worked hard and not only did we get the shop fixed up better than ever, we also totally tuned-up Brittany's bike and built a bike for Immanuel to earn during regular hours.
Painting the new tool boards and workbenches
All finished with the new workstations
Anyway, a super busy week after the craziness of finishing up my last school year, and now I'm able to relax, think, and plan for the next phase of my life.

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Mundo goes to School

Here in Worcester (2nd biggest city in New England doncha know) there are a lot of very cool things going on.  We've blogged here about some of them: The Co-op Caravan, the REC Farmers Market, the Firehouse, and plenty more.  One of the groups that is making things happen is the Worcester Freeschool, a sort of school without walls that connects people and the community with stuff they can learn to help them become.... Everything: Independent, aware, inspired, and able to build a more sustainable future.  On Sunday the 24th we had a bicycle maintenance skill-share at Crystal Park on a beautiful early summer day.  The Mundo was enlisted to bring all the tools, parts, workstands, and training aids (old wheels to practice fixing flats).  Hooked up the trailer with the new, improved hitch, loaded up and headed over to the park.
Modified some 1" square pipe to fit the Burley trailer flex connector

The Burley on it's new hitch
Spent about 2 1/2 hours talking bikes, tools, and the what and why of Earn-a-Bike.  Everyone who brought a bike got a chance to fix whatever needed fixing or adjusting, everyone learned a lot, and I think we all went home feeling great about why we love bikes!
The Mundo arrives at Crystal Park with everything needed for the skill-share
The bliss of a good floor pump and proper tire pressure!
The power of having a workstand to help get all your neglected maintenance done

Going through the safety checklist on a new-to-her bicycle
Thanks to Dana and Liz from the freeschool for putting this together and inviting Worcester Earn-a-Bike to be a part of all the classes and workshops they are arranging this year.  We loved it!





Saturday, June 16, 2012

Mundo Mobile Earn-a-Bike!

Today was the first trial run of something I've wanted to do for a long time.  A couple of years ago my friend Josh was living in Boston and volunteered with the Boston Cyclists Union to run a portable bike repair setup at Boston area farmers markets.  He had a trailer with tools and a workstand, and he would go to 2 or 3 different farmers markets during the week and repair bikes while people shopped.  I thought it was a great idea, but didn't have time to try it here in Worcester until this summer.  So today was the first day of the Regional Environmental Council Farmers Market, and Earn-a-Bike was there with the Mundo!  I packed the go-getter bag with spare parts, tubes, flyers, and lubes and cleaners, I strapped a tool box to the rack, and hooked up a trailer to carry the tent, workstand, pump, and a couple of bikes to promote our $5 Kids Bike Sale.  Here's the Mundo loaded up to go:
Ready to roll with everything for a mobile bike repair setup.

The Worcester Regional Environmental Council is an amazing organization, if you don't know them you should check out their website.  The farmers markets are part of their food justice initiative, and includes community gardens, school gardens, "cooking matters", and the incredible YouthGrow Farm, where neighborhood kids learn to be farmers while earning money.  Earn-a-Bike is very excited to be part of the farmers market and bring mobile bike repair back to the heart of Main South Worcester every Saturday (except July 7).
Here's some more pictures of our setup at the farmers market and other vendors:


All this stuff fit on the Mundo and the trailer

Nuestro Huerto Community Farm with one of their bike/trailer setups.

A locally made bike trailer by Scott

Kids adding percussion to the performance by Big Jon Short, Bluesman extraordinaire.

Farmers markets tend to bring out the bikes.

Some of the people from the REC YouthGrow Farm selling their bomb hot sauce.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

A Saturday Morning on the Mundo

So yesterday morning I had a lot to do before opening the Earn-a-Bike shop at 11.  It was a beautiful, cool morning, so after a quick breakfast I got the Mundo out and headed over to the store for some groceries.  Wasn't going to have time later, we had to leave Worcester right after Earn-a-Bike at 4 to go down to the Cape to see my parents.  They have just arrived at their Hyannis area house for the summer, and always need a little help settling in.  They are both in their late 80's now, but doing well!

Anyway, went to the local organic food store and got some things that I'll need when we get back (Especially coffee: I like a mix of the Sumatran and Ethiopian from Roastmeister, another great Worcester endeavor).
The electric Mundo, a hybrid electric/human powered vehicle next to the Prius Gas/electric hybrid.  Give me human/electric anyday.

 Ran into my friend Dave M. who was also out and about early on a Saturday.  Nice to see him, and then it was back home to put away the food and then take the go-getter bag off the bike so I could go drop off some old books at the Goodwill and then to Home Depot and get some mulch.
Boxes of books on the rack for the Goodwill store.

Three 50 lb. bags, lashed them to the rear rack, and headed back home to make the container garden area look a little nicer.  Needed to lay down the mulch under the containers so we wouldn't have the problem of grass growing all around them.  Also, on my way to HD another friend pedaled up behind me and said hi.  He was on his way home from his 6 am Saturday morning group ride.  Worcester is such a great place to be in the summer!
Loaded up with mulch!

So I got a lot accomplished and had a great time riding and seeing friends, and as usual some of the people at Home Depot were really interested in the Mundo, it's always fun to be out talking to people about what a bike can do!
Mulch for the container garden.  Kale and tomatoes, CSA for the rest :-)


And just for fun, here's a picture of me and my mother down at North Bay after getting her boat put together on the beach, ready for a summer of easy sailing!
My mother and I with the main hull of the Windrider trimaran at its summer home on the beach at North Bay.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Dodging Raindrops and Drinking Lemonade

Finally got to ride the Mundo to work today, it's been raining a lot this week.  Even today we had a couple of episodes of heavy rain and thunder, but I was lucky to get home this afternoon without getting too wet, and had a lovely (real) lemonade from Lala Java on the way home.  As for the rain,   once again there seemed to be a rain cloud nestled in to the Lake Quinsigamond valley between Shrewsbury and Worcester.  Every time I ride on a potentially rainy day it is _always_ raining there.  Oh well.  Here's a pic of the rain clouds coming in from the center of Shrewsbury, using my new HTC Evo 4G LTE phone as my camera, with the setting on HDR (High Dynamic Range):

Rain clouds moving in towards Shrewsbury
Love the camera on this new phone, I look forward to getting some good pics on my rides without having to bring the DSLR.

And on a totally unrelated/un-Mundo note, I finally achieved my goal of surpassing the highest scoring student at my school on Temple Run.  I know it's still pathetic compared to the real masters out there, but I am the King of Temple Run in my classroom.  Love it!

A Phoenix Record!

Monday, June 4, 2012

No commuting today or tomorrow, lousy weather here in New England in the beginning of June. Ugh!
However, the bad weather broke long enough for a fabulous ride at the Bikes not Bombs Bike-o-Thon on Sunday the 3rd.  Team Worcester Earn-a-Bike (Me, Steph, Rebecca, and Paula) brought all the EAB propaganda and set up a table for the Green Roots Festival, and then all of us except Paula went on the 25 mile ride.
Gray, Steph, and Rebecca ready for the Bike-o-Thon

The Bike-o-Thon is the major fundraiser for Bikes not Bombs, and at the end of the day yesterday they had raised $105,000!  Excellent!  If anyone out there in blog-land wants to contribute to them, you can click here.
The 25 mile ride takes the riders on a beautiful ride through idyllic parks, quiet streets with Victorian era houses, and up through the Blue Hills reservation.  Really nice.  Rode the electric Mundo, of course, and then Steph and I traded at the half-way point.  She is now a Mundo convert!
Steph takes over on the Mundo
After the ride, we hung out at the Earn-a-Bike info table and talked with a lot of very cool people about Earn-a-Bike, bikes, music, and food.  And coffee.  Paula and I took a ride on the Mundo over to the Ula Cafe for coffee and cookies, and that started a stampede of people wanting to try out the Mundo.  Lots of happy people!
Also, I finally got to meet John Partridge, the guy from Ferris Wheels Bike shop who actually built my Mundo for me.  It was great to talk to him and show him the electric kit and 15Ah LiFePO4 battery I installed, and also to check out some of the other Mundo's at the Fest that had come through Ferris Wheels.  John rigged up a nifty brake light for their shop Mundo, a project I'm going to try this summer.  Details when I do it.
Lots of other cool cargo bikes at the Fest, I think Boston is going to be the next Portland (except with better weather???).  Here's some pics:

And finally, here's a picture of the Earn-a-Bike info booth and Paula, who was the set-up person while the rest of us were out riding.
Rebecca and Paula
Earn-a-Bike info table with the Mundo



Monday, May 21, 2012

Saw this handy bicycle savings calculator in an article about how riding your bike instead of driving saves a lot of money!  Basically, Kiplingers figures it costs 46 cents a mile to run a car.  Have to do some research on where they get that number...  But hey, click the link for the savings calculator.

UPDATE: I asked the author of the article, Amanda Lilly,  how they got the mileage cost number, and this is her response:

The per-mile cost of driving to work is 55.5 cents, including gasoline, insurance, maintenance and depreciation, according to the IRS' 2012 standard mileage rates. Actual rates may vary by vehicle.

Our estimate of the per-mile cost of biking is 10 cents and includes maintenance and depreciation, based on interviews with U.S. cycling organizations and previously published research, including from
Road Kill: How Solo Driving Runs Down the Economy.
So there it is.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Last week was pretty good for riding to work, only one day was so rainy that I had to drive instead.  Grrr.  Another day started off dry, but by the time I was about 7 miles into the 18.5 mile trip, it was raining.  However, it was a relatively warm rain,  and I always carry my rain pants in the Go-Getter bag just in case, so along with my windbreaker, I was pretty dry when I arrived at school.  The Mundo handles the wet weather with aplomb, and the ezee hub motor seems impervious to the road spray.  I love this system!

When I get a little more time I'm going to set up this blog with some new pages to focus on each aspect of the bike: the electric kit, the Go-Getter bag, the DIY stoker bars, and of course, the cup holder!  For today though, I just wanted to post some pictures that once again show what a bike can do.

I got some starter plants at the Regional Environmental Council Spring Garden Festival at the YouthGrow Urban farm on Oread Street, Main South Worcester.  Yeah!  Anyway, got the plants (Kale, Kale, Kale, and some tomatoes...) and needed to get some dirt and manure and containers to plant them in.  We're trying out some container gardening this year, to supplement our CSA share.  Rode the Mundo over to the local depot place that has that stuff, got it loaded on pretty easily, and headed back to the house with about 170 pounds of stuff lashed to the rack.  In typical Worcester fashion, people sort of looked sideways at the crazy person with the weird bike, but nobody said anything.  Very easy trip, but I'd like to build some kind of open boxes that attach to the rear rack that could easily be loaded with large bulky items (such as 80 lb bags of dirt).  I'll let you know when I get them built, any suggestions on design and materials?  Anyone else build something like that yet?  Drop me a comment if you have an idea.  Thanks!

Loaded up for the trip home
Kale and tomatoes looking forward to their new container home.



Sunday, May 13, 2012

Riding double on the Mundo

Here's a little video Scott took at the Mayday Heyday event showing Paula and I cruising on the Mundo.


Saturday, May 12, 2012

Pictures for the Yuba Bike Month Contest

Sweet Saturday, beautiful weather, super busy at Earn-a-Bike.  Rode the Mundo around on some errands before EAB, then went for coffee after, and last but not least, got some kale, baby bok choy, and beer at the local organic store.  Very pleasant, now getting ready to make dinner, but I wanted to post these 2 pictures (I'm trying to win the free T-Shirt from Yuba bicycles ;-)

At the coffee shop working on the blog in the sunshine.  Iced americano hiding behind the laptop.

Stopped at Living Earth for kale, baby bok, and beer.  Still plenty of room in the go-getter bag for my computer and other stuff.
Bike Month Contest

Friday, May 11, 2012

Last Sunday was the "Mayday Heyday" at The Shop, a collective of artisans, engineers, farmers and urban sustainability beauties.  One of the activities was the "Coop Caravan", a bike ride around Worcester to visit some local businesses that are committed to building a better city through new kinds of cooperative business models.  Very cool!  Paula and I led the caravan to the first stop aboard the Mundo, with Paula shooting video from her perch on the rear rack.  Scott sent me a couple of pictures to share with you:
Gray and Paula with Judy in the background
Leading out the Coop Caravan

Thursday, May 10, 2012

It's been raining a lot here in central MA.  Last week I was only able to ride to work 3 out of 5 days, this week (if the weather holds for tomorrow) I'll only get 2 commutes in.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all rained out.  Very frustrating, but good for the trees and gardens.  Anyway, I'm really looking forward to riding more tomorrow, only did about 7.5 miles this afternoon after work on some errands around town.
And in other news, did you see that Yuba is having a photo contest?  Here's the info:

Want to win a free Yuba tee shirt, apron or hat this month?
Simply submit a photo of how you are celebrating May Bike Month. Show us the cutest, heaviest, most epic loads you’ve hauled this month, and you can win a prize.
To enter, simply submit the photo on the Yuba Bicycles Facebook page. Think Facebook is creepy? Then just email your photo directly to kaytea@yubaride.com.
At the end of the month, three lucky winners will be chosen at random. 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

I'd like to use this forum to talk about things both Yuba specific and the benefits of bicycling in general.  To wit: last Thursday evening was Bike Night, a yearly fundraiser for MassBike.  I was fortunate enough to go, and it was a great event for a worthy organization.  MassBike is working for better access, better motorist education, bicyclists rights, and more.  It was quite awesome to see all the people who came out to support them at Bike Night.
On the Yuba specific side, I set up the Mundo to carry another person on the back today so that Paula and I could ride together to the Mayday Heyday event as well as ride along on the Coop Caravan.  Lots of great things happening in Worcester to make a more just and sustainable city!
Here is the picture of the rear "stoker" bar to help the person on the back stay balanced.  Found an old stem and handlebar at Earn-a-Bike, cut the bars down so it's still easy to swing my leg over the seat, and cinched down a piece of foam for a sit-pad on the back rack.

Paula loved it!  We had a great time riding around Worcester together, the bike handled very easily, and Paula was able to take pictures and video of the Coop Caravan as we traveled around to the different cooperative businesses (such as WooDaddy Waffles!) and houses on the route.  Once again, the Mundo has proven to be a unique and amazing vehicle, and there was a lot of interest in it at the Mayday Heyday event.  Loved talking to people about what a bike can do!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Woo Hoo!  30 Days of Biking is done!  And now, the National Bike Challenge: A free program from May 1 to August 31 with the goal of uniting 50,000 people to bike 10 million miles.  You sign up with Endomondo, download GPS tracking software to your smartphone (or just enter your rides on the website), and start riding. (BTW, please sign up for Team Worcester Earn-a-Bike).
The 30 Days of Biking is a great idea, because once you start thinking about how you'll use your bike every day it becomes a normal part of the daily routine.  Now that April is over, I see no need to give up biking everyday, and yeah, I signed up for the National Bike Challenge so if I ever am tempted not to bike I'll remember that I've got to add more miles.  I'm a very lazy person at heart and if there isn't some kind of goal in sight I'm likely to sleep late and skip the biking.
Here's a picture of the Cycle Analyst readout from my 18.4 mile trip to work.


Sunday, April 29, 2012

The 30 Days of Biking Challenge is almost up - only 1 more day and I will have done it! Luckily it's going to be a beautiful day here in New England, and I'm planning to commute by bike tomorrow. My total mileage this month (about 400 so far) is probably the most I've ever done this early in the season. Feels great.
Today, a lazy Sunday after a very busy Saturday collecting bikes for Earn-a-Bike, the only ride we did was down to the local coffee shop. Paula rode the Mundo today, and she is "charged up" about electric biking.
Paula on the Mundo at the Pleasant Street coffee/bbq/mini-mart outdoor fiesta.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Just finished out the week with 4 out of 5 days of riding to work and back.  Couldn't (wouldn't) do it on Monday because of pouring rain.  Nonetheless, that's like 160 miles just for commuting this week.  Nice!  Next week, if the weather cooperates, all 5 days!
Long distance commuting on car-centric roads is interesting, definitely want to talk about that some more. Suffice to say that there are some car drivers out there that need some bike-awareness education.  Had a guy today tell me to ride on the sidewalk on a stretch of road through Northborough that doesn't even have a sidewalk.  Brilliant!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

What can an (electric) bike do?  How about commute back and forth to work (18.4 miles each way) rather painlessly.  And zip around the city doing errands in the April showers but not worrying about getting a little wet?
Things I love about the Mundo so far:
- seems to be built very well, I see myself having this bike for at least as long as I've had my 1967 Raleigh.
- The stock saddle is surprisingly comfortable - I ride more than 40 miles a day in my work clothes.
- The stock fenders really do a good job of keeping the wet road off of me and the rest of the bike.
- The ability to load up a lot of stuff: computer, lunch, snacks, drinks, classroom materials, and still have room to pickup groceries on the way home.
- The disc brakes (avid bb7) which work flawlessly in the wet weather.
- The handling of the bike: this is a _fun_ bike to ride!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Haven't had a chance to post for a few days, last week was very busy getting ready for the big Worcester Earn-a-Bike fundraiser party.  The party was a great success, but I must admit that the only bike ride I took on Saturday was on the stationary bikes attached to the roller racing setup.  But hey, I did three 500 meter sprints, so I think that still counts for the 30 days of biking.

Sunday was the Earth Day Critical Mass in Worcester, but my tired feeling from the night before {The wages of sin are death, but after they take out for taxes it's just sort of a tired feeling :-) (Paula Poundstone)} combined with some wet weather prevented me from participating.  I was on my way to the critical mass meeting place at the Turtle Boy statue, but I was wet and cold and I decided to go back home instead.  Weak.

Today, however, I did go out in the rain and do my afternoon errands on the Mundo, and I must say the fenders that come on the bike work very well.

And finally, I'm including a picture of one of the patches that we had as prizes at the Earn-a-Bike party.  Stephanie grabbed a picture from a facebook album of me racing at the George Street Challenge for Major Taylor, photoshopped it up and made a silkscreen and printed a whole lot of patches.  I am truly honored!

A pic of me riding up George St. in Worcester printed on some awesome patches.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Mundo inspiration: In February Paula and I visited our son Lowell in Berkeley, CA, and one day we rented bikes on the Embarcadero in S.F. and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausilito, where we were lucky enough to visit the Yuba Bicycle Headquarters.  Tried out the bikes, fell in love with the ride, and the rest is history.
Gray at Yuba HQ in Sausilito

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Just a quick update: The savings are starting to add up, only 26 days into the project and have saved over 10% of the cost of the bike (not counting the electric kit, need to update that).  Also, very impressed with the bike, the electric assist, and myself for riding about 125 miles in the last 3 days.  It's 38 miles a day round trip to work plus all the regular errands, and the system is working flawlessly!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

2nd trip to and from work today, 37 miles round trip.  Then some errands in Worcester for a total of about  42 miles today.  Excellent!  Still keeping up with the 30 Days of Biking, even if on Monday it was only a quick trip to the coffee shop.  I'm proposing that all the people in the Worcester area doing the 30 Days of Biking thing should meet up at the Earth Day Critical Mass ride on April 22.  According to one of the organizers, one of the goals is to get over 100 people, which as far as I know would be the biggest Critical Mass ever held in Worcester.  I'll be there, just look for the guy with the Yuba Mundo...

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Saturday, busy day at Earn-a-Bike, so only a short (1.8 mile) ride this morning to the coffee shop.  Love the electric assist!  The bike is heavier, but now there is no excuse for not using the bike for mad errands.  Load it up!  The commute to work on Friday was awesome, very exciting, felt like superman going up the hills.  Took about 6Ah of battery to get to work, 7Ah to get back home.  Lots of hills, some pretty steep, each way, and that has held me back from ever doing it before.  However, it is more uphill on the way home: Worcester elevation (at my place): 660 ft above sea level,  Marlborough elevation: 450 ft above sea level, so a little more power to get back.  Nonetheless, the 20Ah battery has plenty of power for a round trip, so I can leave the charger at home. Sweet!

So hey, there is a Food Truck Festival coming to Worcester on July 14.  Should the Mundo be there?  Maybe making smoothies?  Maybe "Bicycle Burrito's"?  What do you think?


Friday, April 6, 2012

YES!  First commute using the Mundo! 

18.4 miles from my apartment to my school, avg speed 16.6mph despite the mighty hills, just over an hour.  Very doable, and how great is it to get to work feeling great?  The electric assist worked flawlessly:
Only used 6Ah of energy from the 20Ah battery, better than expected.  Pedal power + electric power = commuting power!
The kids at my school are totally psyched to see the Mundo, it's very inspiring to me to see how excited they are about a bike.  I'm sure it will lead to a lot of great discussions, but in the meantime it is time for class ;-)
The Mundo in my classroom at the "recharging station".

Thursday, April 5, 2012

OK, day 5 of the 30 days of biking in the bag.  10 miles today testing out the new electric assist kit on the Mundo.  400 watt hub motor in the front by Ezee (same as on the El Mundo from Yuba), 36V, 20Ah battery from Ping.  What an awesome ride!  From my place 5 miles almost all uphill to Leicester, no problem, big ring all the way :-)  I'm thinking of re-naming this blog "Me and Mr. Ping".  For the geeks out there: 5 miles uphill = 3 Ah.  For the rest of us: Plenty of power to make my 18 mile commute (each way) a piece of cake.  Tomorrow, April 6, 2012 I will ride my bike to work for the first time in almost 4 years!  YES!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Day 2 of the 30 Days of Biking Challenge, and I am on it!  Didn't ride the last 2 days of March for various reasons, but went for a short ride Sunday 4/1 to the Worcester Indoor Farmer's Market.  (they will be closed on Easter Sunday FYI) Just 4 or 5 vendors right now, but got some good bread, local eggs, and organic Rhubarb Jam.  There was also a person there selling some rather delicious looking prepared foods, but I resisted.
Today a little bit longer ride, another 8 miles including a trip to the Earn-a-Bike shop and the organic kale store.
Soon I will be riding to work, however I need to install the hub-motor and battery on the Mundo.  Going to get a few items I need to complete the installation tomorrow, and if all goes well I'll be riding the Mundo with electric assist on my 40 mile daily commute.  That will really start to rack up the savings on fuel :-)
And I'm thinking of adding something to the savings spreadsheet, too.  How much credit do you think I should allow for fuel not burned?  Sort of like carbon credits or something...  Every gallon of diesel I don't  buy is not just $4.15 saved, it is lessening my environmental footprint, and presumably has a monetary value?  Maybe I'm stretching it, but I want people to see that biking, especially if you use your bike to do your normal errands instead of driving, is really a huge money saver as well as being a no-brainer sustainability-wise.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Today's ride was only about 4 miles.  Went to the post office, got some stuff for dinner, and went and had a coffee.  Thought it was kind of a wimpy ride, but then again it just goes to show that a bicycle is much better than a car for running errands.  In fact, according to the 2009 National Household Travel Survey, urban dwellers (like us in Worcester) travel an average of 5.3 miles in our cars to do "errands".  With a bike like the Mundo and the new Go-Getter bag, I could pick up a load of groceries and tote my laptop to the coffee shop with ease.  Love it!
The Mundo with the new Go-Getter bag stuffed with groceries.