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!

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.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Haven't been able to ride for 5 days now - I was out of town over the weekend, then mad busy through today.  Will ride tomorrow, and test out the new Go-Getter bag that just arrived.  Can't wait, review to follow!  Also, despite the fact that I haven't ridden, the "clean living" benefit keeps adding up to off-set the cost of the bike :-)  I'll explain that idea more in a later post, but for now I'm calling it a day.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

10 miles today around Worcester on the Mundo, felt great.  First, coffee, of course, then over to the bank on Shrewsbury St, then over to Earn-a-Bike to drop off some stuff for Rebecca and Sue, and then home.  Stopped at my favorite Worcester Landmark, Turtle Boy to snap a pic with the mundo.
Of course, lots of people talking about the weather.  That's normal, but the weather is insane, definitely the warmest March ever - it usually doesn't warm up like this until May.  Sure it's nice, but everyone is sort of looking over their shoulder wondering what the downside of this is going to be.  I don't know, but it probably won't be pretty.  We need a critical mass of people trading their cars for bikes and their minivans and trucks for cargo bikes because there is clearly too much CO2 in the atmosphere for life as we know it to continue.  Yikes.

In the meantime though, Turtle Boy will abide...





Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Today's ride on the mundo = 5.6 miles, roundtrip to the Earn-a-Bike shop.  Had to bring another bike with me, along with 2 panniers full of things for the shop.  Loaded the bike sideways onto the top of the rack since the panniers were in the way of the normal "towing" position.  Made for a wide load going down Park Av :-)
Anyway, got to the shop and some people were there that hadn't seen the mundo yet, so lots of attention. (That's why we get new bikes, isn't it?)  Funny thing is, the thing people liked the most wasn't the awesome rack or the 48 spoke rear wheel or the disc brakes, it was the CUP HOLDER.  Geez.  Got to admit it is very cool, and holds my travel mug perfectly.


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

So I got the mundo last weekend, and when I picked it up I had to wait a few minutes for the shop to open up (Ferris Wheels Bike Shop in Jamaica Plain), so I stopped in to the local coffee shop (Fiore's Bakery).  As I was waiting, another cargo bike, a Surly Big Dummy pulled up outside and it was Evan Greer with his friend Josh, and their kids.  Nice to see them, and as it turns out they were the first people to see my new Mundo.  Nice!
Then on Monday I was riding around town and ended up seeing a bunch of other people who wanted to check out the fabulousness of the mundo,  so it's been a very social experience so far.  Obviously, people are curious, but beyond that the bike moves at a slower pace than my road bike, and I am in a more upright riding position, so it feels a lot more open to what is going on around me.
And then today Paula came with me on a ride over to the Worcester Art Museum for our Tai Chi class, and we had a beautiful ride on this summer-like evening, stopping for fish tacos on the way back at Sol of Mexico.  So far, the Mundo is proving to be all I had hoped for!

Here's a picture of me and my mundo at my local coffee shop, Espress Yourself, living the life :-)
Iced Coffee, free wifi, and the Mundo.  Perfect!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Picked up my new Yuba Mundo cargo bike this past weekend of St. Patrick's Day, just in time for a summer weather preview.  Great riding already!  Spent this afternoon riding around town, ended up at the coffee shop to sit in the sun and look up how to run a blogger site.