This summer, while visiting the folks at City Bikes Cooperative of Portland, in search of some utility type bikes we can use for shorter runs to the store and such, we found a cargo trailer made by Burley of Eugene. We have been looking at trailers for some time and the Burley Nomad one seemed just perfect. It is easy to hook up, it tracks reliably, it seems really strong and well built. It is not a trailer for hauling kids, and while Jack the dog would fit, he would certainly not sit still long enough to get out the driveway. But it will haul stuff. Burley recommends you limit the cargo to 100 pounds, which is certainly a limitation that I, as the pedaler most heartily endorse. They do not however have limits on what you can carry, hence our game of “What can we carry in our Burley?”
Our first cargo was hauling a watermelon to a 4th of July barbecue. We did not get a photo of that, and the ever helpful Honey is encouraging me to carry another so that we can get photographic proof.
Thanks Honey.
Since then the game has progressed. First pizza….

then, on another hot day, beer…….

And today, a trip to the home improvement store for 4 gallons of paint plus supplies. Lets see, one gallon of paint weighs 11 pounds, then four gallons times 11………

On Christmas Eve, we biked to the store to get groceries for Christmas dinner and the Holidays. The usual stuff, milk, yams, sausages, bananas, cranberries. The trick with a full trailer is balance. You need to balance the heavy stuff over the wheels, or the trailer creates this rhythmic up and down pressure on the bike which can be a little disconcerting in the rain.

A trip to Lowes for paint, plants and grass seed repair kit for those places that Jack the dog likes to frequent.

Our son G lives in an upstairs apartments that is starting to get hot. They need a fan. We have one. Had to take the upper supports off the trailer to fit it in, and secure the top with bungees since it didn’t fit easily. the efforts were worth it. It was a good ride.

Stops at a couple of nurseries yielded a good crop of plants for Honey to care for. On our last stop, she found a nice New Zealand Flax. Apologetically, she hunted for the plant in a smaller container. She couldn’t seem to find a smaller one. She was happier with the big one, she just didn’t want to admit it.

Finishing up our bathroom remodel, I broke the toilet tank top. By the way, replacements for the tank tops are not easy to find. Here in Portland, Hippo Hardware may have nearly a hundred used tops to choose from. Thats good, since I dont think there are two tops the same in that entire collection. But, we brought the old one to compare with, and found one that was pretty similar. A stop at a appliance shop earlier to find one was fruitless, but we did find two toilet seats and a towel rack that Honey liked so we added that to the load and pedaled home.

The following day, a short trip to Milwaukie Farmers Market, on Sunday yielded 7 one gallon plants Honey wants in the garden. Two of them stuck up out of the trailer about 4 feet. People were actually laughing at me as we pedaled down the street with the bright flowers swaying in the wind behind me.

Late in the year, fall is about done, but there is still time to plant bulbs.
So off to Portland Nursery for 200 bulbs.
Oh, lets stop at New Seasons to get salmon, and pot pies and bread.
And, since we are going by Bobs Red Mill, we need more gluten free products.
Find time for Starbucks on the way, and its a nice way to spend a Saturday