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Preventing Future Oil Spills 1 Big Backpack at a Time
They, the cashiers at the Feed Bin, said it couldn’t be done. “NO WAY” could I shove a fifty pound bag of chicken feed into my backpack and bike away. I would have to buy my lay pellets in one-pound-bag increments, they told me emphatically. They were wrong. On my second attempt, I was able to slide the clumsy sack into my super-sized “bike bag.” Years ago, I’d stuck an entire case of beer in the thing, so I fully expected the feed to squeeze in somehow or other.
“Now, what’s gonna happen when you gotta turn?” asked one of the still-skeptical cashiers as she eyed the bag-within-in-a-bag protruding 6 or 8 inches out of the top of my wide-open satchel.
“It’s not goin’ anywhere,” I replied as I attempted to prove my point by swinging my shoulders back and forth. By her quizzical gaze, I instantly realized that she wasn’t worried about me spilling 50 lbs. of lay pellets in the middle of St. Francis Drive. She was worried about me losing control of the excess weight on my back and spilling my ass over my elbow in the middle of St. Francis Drive. “Don’t worry about us. We'll be fine,” I smiled, headed for the door, and barked, “Let’s go Liam!”
Fortunately, we were fine and made it back with my son riding bravely along side. The only time we had to hop off of our bikes was on the last steep stretch of dirt road right around the corner from home. When we got to the top and turned, it was a thrill to see our newly replanted “We Support Bike-to-Work Week” banner that the late Gail Ryba had given us years ago. (We typically leave it up for two weeks before and after bike-to-work week.)
Sure, our chicken feed came to Santa Fe by truck from 450 miles away but at least we got our lay pellets home without the aid of fossil fuels. Hopefully, Gail is looking down at us with pride tonight because (as I said a post or two ago) her successful work on bike issues was a major motivating factor in getting us out on our gas-free and Gulf friendly vehicles today.
2 comments:
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Back aches a bit, but you should see my improved pectorals. Well...maybe not...who are you? As far as more cargo bikes, you may be right. In the past I've hauled feed (and groceries and tools and...) via Chariot, the kid trailer that we've had for six or seven years. It works great up to about that weight. The trailer was hooked up to my mountain bike which has a flat and I needed the tag-a-long in case we had to lock Liam's bike somewhere so that he could hitch a ride with me if he got tired. I actually almost had to do that after he bounced off of a curb and crashed his chest on his handle bars. Poor dude. But he's the strongest 7 year old I've ever met, and he made it back with almost not problem even though his wound caused us to keep him home the next day. He's fine now, but this was the real harrowing part of the story.
How's your back after that haul? We need to more cargo bikes and trikes in Santa Fe.