Flipping through pages of the Internet the other day I ran across a group in Boulder, Colo., who moved their home goods via their bikes — furniture, appliances, everything.
I know they aren’t the only ones ever to have done it. (I searched a little more.) So now I’m curious to know how common this is among the bike commuting, Earth-loving crowd.
My first thought upon seeing the string of photographs documenting the day was, “WTF?” And I mean that in the best way, because pretty soon after I thought, “That is so awesome!”
They put out the word, calling interested bike mover helpers and 11 showed up. I can only imagine the comradery, the exercise, the fun. They made four trips to get the whole apartment’s worth of life moved.
I mean, I hate to move. Hate. It. But I love learning about these sorts of people are out there.
It helps give me a sense of belief in humanity when so much of what surrounds us is negativity, especially right now with politics choking us morning, noon and night.
Have you ever participated in a bike move? Know anyone who has?
I’m curious to get thoughts and comments on… How did you set it up? What did you think of the effort? Would you ever do it again?
And I think it’s practically a tradition that when moving the typical way — friends, friends’ cars, U-Haul, etc. — that the day ends with friends getting beer, pizza and beer.
Does that still apply for cyclists who have spent all day pushing the pedals and throwing furniture — and still, presumably, have a ride of however many miles to get back home at day’s end?
It’s all good. I’m just impressed by people’s resolve sometimes, their willingness to live simply and call back to community activities of benefit.
In short, things that make time for productive human interaction away from modern “must-haves” such as cars, televisions and this computer I’m using to post this blog entry.
Related posts:
Dollars and Sense: Calculating Money and Environmental Benefits of Bike Commuting
World Naked Bike Ride: Is Anything Gained By Protesting Oil Dependency in the Buff?
David Byrne Makes Art of the Bike Rack
Image: Axcordion, via GNU Free Documentation License
Robin
Wow, and I felt full of myself this summer when I carried all our pool stuff back and forth to the public pool this summer on my bike. That’s nothing compared to this.
These guys are awesome.
Thi
I live in southern California and have never heard of this. This is great to know. I’m going to start asking around to see if anybody I know have heard of this. Great article – Thanks!
Cliff
A good trailer is essential for a bike move. I am moving most (or all) of my office in a few weeks via bike. Check out http://www.bikesatwork.com/ for some great trailers (I bought one myself) and some great pics of bikes hauling all kinds of stuff.
Recyclican
I read about a fella named Bernie in Fort Worth, Texas that packed an entire booth to go to a Prairiefest earlier this year: http://westandclear.com/2008/04/30/im-with-big-dummy/