I finally got my cargobike on February 13th. I called up our local bike shop Rubber Soul and talked details with the owner Rich. From talking with him, he agreed that the Tern cargo bikes were the way to go. I was leaning towards the Tern HSD since it is a smaller and less pricey, but Rich only had a Tern GSD S10, which he was willing to let me borrow for the weekend. So, I did.
B had been worried that a cargobike was overkill, and I just needed an electric bike. I had told Rich how much I was hauling and that I kept wearing out the brakes on my Specialized bike. When the front brake line broke, B took it to Steven's bicycles where it took them three weeks to fix. I have a brand new bike to ride, but it was really bad riding B's road bike in the meantime. The 19" work computer is a really big drag to carry even in a backpack on a road bike. I ended up falling on his bike a couple of times. Rich had mentioned that they sold electric bikes that would suffice for the commutes but not for the grocery runs.
I spent a wonderful four days with the Tern GSD from Saturday through Tuesday. I put 50 miles on the bike to make sure it could handle the longer trips that I wanted to open myself up to. I had originally been looking at the RadWagon 4 thinking that cost was what was keeping me from a cargobike, but they won't allow you to return the bike if it had more than 10 miles on it. Considering that would be only one long ride, B didn't feel comfortable spending so much money on something we couldn't return. (It's hard enough spending that kind of money on the animals.)
After riding the bike home from the store, I did a Target trip with two gallons of milk, four pounds of Impossible meat, three packs of mushrooms, three pounds of apples, and two half-gallons of coconut milk. The Target team member had said, "Omg, I thought someone was messing with me when I got the message you were showing up on bike for all this stuff!" The bike handled the stuff and the underpass on Marks Ave north of Shaw beautifully. I got to 25mph coasting down. The Tern bike's pedal assist only works up to 20mph, and so that was fun and definitely safe with the bike's hydraulic disc brakes. I did a few more rides around the neighborhood including with Caboose riding in a side bag.
The last long ride I did was from home all the way to Ro's school (about 11 miles) to pick up school materials. It was wonderful. Because I could move quickly, it was easier to ride with traffic without drivers being really crazy. Part of it may have been because the yellow bike was incredibly visible and the bike itself is huge. Either way, I had no trouble getting there or going home.
After a discussion with B about how much I liked the bike. We decided to order a bright red Tern HSD P9. I was leaning towards the Tern HSD S8i because I though the internal hub and carbon drive belt would mean less maintenance or tune ups would be needed, but B said we shouldn't worry about that. I gave the salesperson David a huge wish list that included a captain's chair, joyride bars, double kickstand, and Velcro water bottle holder. The captain's chair was backordered, and so I didn't anticipating getting the chair for awhile after the bike came in since the bike was schedule to arrive in one or two weeks on a Friday.
Two weeks later on Friday, February 12th, I called the store since I hadn't heard anything the previous Friday. The clerk said my bike had come in but still needed to be assembled and I definitely could pick it up on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, they had the bike ready with my whole wish list to ride home. I was so happy that I may have scared the store clerk helping me out with my excitement. When I got home, I told Ro to put on his helmet and we immediately tested the bike around the neighborhood. We had so much fun.
On Valentine's Day, B went on a hike early in the morning, and so Ro and I went on our own adventure. We picked up breakfast sandwiches from Benediction, chocolates from Raphio's chocolates, spinach from the Market, and a heart-shaped pizza from Me-N-Eds. Ro was excited about the whole trip. He made friends with the chocolate shops' owners who gave him stickers and origami boats. We met another family from the neighborhood at the Market with a blue Yuba Spicy Curry cargobike. We returned home at almost the exact same time that B did from his hike and his own grocery shopping. Ro was super excited about having the Valentine's Day presents for his dad.
Ro and I went on a few more long rides after that including going to Woodward Park, a long loop off Milburn with B, the farmer's market, and Ro's school to pick up school materials. B then realized that the crosstown rides might not be the safest to do with Ro. We compromised that Ro and I could still go places as long as we used the multiuse trails and neighborhood residential streets for the majority of the trips. So, Ro and I can go to Mabel's Kitchen and Fancy Burger because the majority of the trip would be either through the neighborhood or the Herndon bike trail and only have to quickly cross a major road. We could also go to the new Teazona place on Bullard and West because it would using the Van Ness Extension multiuse trail and cutting through the neighborhood to Forkner to use Bullard for a very short time.
The cargo bike has definitely extended my range. The Bosch battery easily ranges 40+ miles on a charge using Turbo (highest) assist. Supposedly, it can go 70 miles on Eco (lowest), but I haven't bothered testing that. Today, I made it to the farmer's market (chocolate, apples, tangelos, brocoli, radiccio, carrots, cilantro, mushrooms), Let it Grow (anniversary present), Whole Foods (milk), B's grandpa's house, and back home to make sure our own gallon milk didn't spoil.
Side note: Last year's anniversary was low-key and it's nice that this one was, too. B and Ro worked in the back yard. I got to go on my bike ride to run errands for a few hours. I made eggs, toast, and scones for breakfast. We had leftover Lahori Tikka chicken biriyani for lunch (Hussain remembered our anniversary was coming up last Wednesday, which was nice). We ordered out from Sabor for dinner and ate it while watching Recess. B turned on some music so Ro could have a Soul Train dance party (though he was the only one dancing, this kid has some moves) and now we're listening to clips from "The Other Guys."
So, I love my new bike. I already put 220 miles on it, and I think Ro and I will take it out for tea and milkshakes tomorrow. 😁
I love you and miss you.
Remember when you came into the room and Caboose executed the perfect Superman flying leap off the back of the sofa, except his back feet pushed the Afghan back causing him to go straight down and bellyflop on the carpet below? That was when you lived in the Fresno apartment. I also remember when he was a puppy, and you, he, and I went for a walk around the block at the apartment on Peach. You stopped at a convenience store while I waited outside with him. A buxom woman stopped to say "Hi" to him and he tried to jump into her low cut top.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure Torstein's going to stay small? He's already bigger than Boose, isn't he? He'll have some instincts based on his breeding. Terriers like to chase things and are quite active and dachshunds like to dig. Boose didn't like me, for no reason. Was B with you, when you picked up Torstein? He seems to be attracted to small people. Maybe he's like a cat, and wants to keep them around, Incase he gets hungry!
I hope your BP gets better. Try to lose some weight. I've started taking 25mg of Losartan. I weigh about 215#, and need to lose. I don't run much, but I do walk alot. Nothings close and A always babysits, so I'm usually alone to fend for myself all day. She's very active until she gets tired and goes to sleep on the couch. My doctor wants me to take something for lipids, but I refuse. I like the way, you can't eat grapefruit when you take the medication! Why don't they just tell you to eat grapefruit?
Love you and miss you, too. Thanks for the update. Tell B "Hi", and give Ro a hug just because.