Tag Archives: family tandem

Cycling 3500 Miles Across the USA by Tandem – Fox on a Lead

Breaking up the flights from Australia back home to the UK, by pedaling across the big landmass in-between, has brought a headache of logistics but somehow plans have fallen into place. We now find ourselves sat in our Sand Diego motel room eagerly waiting on a phone call from reception to let us know when UPS have delivered our parcel.

Inside the parcel will be bright orange, 27 gear, compact tandem with 20inch wheels. It’s been manufactured in the USA by Bike Friday and will be delivered just in time for L and me to hop on and start pedaling 3500 miles, west to east! One thing’s for sure, ‘The Flying Fox’ as our new tandem will from now be known, should prove to be a major upgrade from our previous Chinese crisis (of a folding 20inch wheel tandem) known as ‘Tandy’. (Check out the early blog posts).

The lady on reception with the drawn on, inch thick, purple eyebrows had been most helpful relocating us to another non-smoking room after our arrival. The new room didn’t honk of stale cigarettes and wasn’t located on the 4th floor, we settled for the 1st floor. Not quite the easy access ground floor room we’d envisaged when booking a motel opposed to a hotel, but the thought of lugging a tandem up and down one flight of outside steps is preferable to four.

The all too familiar,” what do we do now and how did we get into this mess?”.

Prior to the arrival of the all-important package, L and I had sourced one or two miscellaneous cycle related items for the trip. We’d also spoken to an enthusiastic T-mobile employee who helped us with getting a local sim card and who went further to assist with directions to the nearest supermarket. Apparently, we needed to ‘get on the trolly’. Neither of us had any idea what this meant so instead we walked.

The eagerly awaited phone call soon arrived and before we knew it, we’d spent a couple of hours unpacking and putting together The Flying Fox. Working out how to cram on and attach all of our luggage, took a tad longer. Bungees at the ready. Say hello to The Flying Fox!

The Flying Fox is made by Bike Friday an American company who specialize in small wheel collapsible bikes, purpose built in various load carrying configurations. They also happen to make a range of tandems and have kindly given us a discount because we will be raising money for charity and in exchange for social media updates.

Keen to sponsor our USA west coast to east coast 3 months tandem attempt?
LINK: https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/foxonalead
Small print. Clause 1647: If we run out of peddling time before making it to the east coast, your generous donations will still be going to the good causes stated!)

Follow the full journey via their blog at: The Flying Fox

Bike Friday Family Tandem on an adventure in New Zealand

What does a bicycle call its dad? A: Pop-cycle

Family adventure abounds in this on-going story which will soon(we hope) be turned into a book.  Enjoy this amazing families story done on two Bike Friday Tandem Bikes…the adventure of a lifetime for these two kids, who, have seen more adventure in their short years than many have seen in their whole life.

Forget Ms. Frizzle, we’re riding the Magic School Bikes: New Zealand Week Nine
Greymouth to Fox Glacier, 338km (total cycled to date: 2,458 km)

Sometimes parenting is like a hyperactive game of Trivial Pursuit.

“Where does water come from?” “What’s my blood for?” “When did the first human happen?” “How are glaciers formed?”

New Zealand family adventure

At home, there’s Wikipedia. On a cycle tour along the ruggedly gorgeous west coast of New Zealand, you cobble together the faded remnants from depressingly distant high school and university classes – and then your bike by an actual glacier and discover the answers firsthand.

We encounter a lot of curiosity (slash concern) on our rest stops about what we’re doing for the boys’ schooling. At their ages they should be in a classroom six hours a day – and they are, only theirs has no walls (literal or figurative) and great exercise because every day is a field trip.

Family adventure in New Zealand on Bike Friday Tandem

This week in our world-schooling adventure began on the West Coast Wilderness Trail, a three-day inland jaunt through a fern-filled native forest and along mighty mountain rivers. The cycling was exhilarating as we slalomed along the smooth off-road paths with loads of twists and bends like a day-long dirt bike ride. While we whisked along, Heron learned several new French verbs with Ed, while Sitka resumed his line of questioning for Joyce about human anatomy and bodily systems – kind of a pre-pre-med program for an inquisitive kindergartener.

The bulk of our cycling days are filled with Q&A on whatever whim of a topic piques the boys’ intrigue – often it’s math or spelling games (we finally stumped them with chlorophyll and photosynthesis), or meteorology, as we experience weather firsthand and endlessly try to predict what the clouds will bring next. One afternoon, we passed a series of reservoir lakes and talked about where drinking water comes from. And when signs warned of old gold mining shafts, we switched on to minerals and geology. For the next week, the boys constructed mining towns at every beach and rest stop, as they often do, recreating what they’ve seen during the day in their extraordinary imaginations.

Tandem bike fording a small river in New Zealand

Then, in the evening between our incredible visits to the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, we stayed with two recent geology grads, Jules and Mark, who have passed the last few months as glacier guides taking tourists up to the summits in helicopters. The boys’ every question was answered about the rocks we found (some compressed from sand over 125 million years ago) and how the Southern Alps range is still rising from the rubbing tectonic plates deep below.

We all learn quite a bit on our own, too. Both Heron and Sitka read every info sign they see in its entirety, recounting for hours every detail about the tree or creature in question. Did you know New Zealand’s freshwater eel grows to two metres over almost 100 years of life, and at the end migrates far into the South Pacific to an island where they spawn a new generation, that then floats back on ocean currents to the same lake their parents lived in? Well, now you do.

Read the rest of the story and follow their adventures here:

– Click Here – 

Bike Friday Family Tandem on an adventure in New Zealand

6 Reasons Why Cargo Bikes Are The Next Big Thing

We already have seen the impact  of Cargo Bikes. Have you?

Check out this post on Grist.org

 

 

 

Testimonial from a Hardcore Roadie

Jeff Linder on his Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Cargo Bike with BionX electric pedal assist

Jeff Linder on his Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Cargo Bike with BionX electric pedal assist

By Jeff Linder
Bike Friday Angel Investor

I really don’t know where to begin …

The new Bike Friday Haul-a-Day has so captured my imagination, making it difficult to prioritize the long list of things I truly like about this bike.

The global view is that this bike has the potential of freeing the up the younger families from dependence on the second car. At least that’s the way it presents itself to me.

A car can be, and most frequently is an essential tool in today’s family experience but just as commonly the use case for the second car is not quite so compelling and if you can be offered an alternative that can help you do those collateral essentials then hey, fantastic. AND if you can make it fun too — holy Toledo, Batman, what a score.

I’ve been riding the Haul-a-Day now for a few months and have had just the best time. It’s so versatile and delightful and it brings a smile to my face every time.


My Haul-a-Day has the BionX electric assist installed and I’m nothing short of a convert. Full disclosure — I’m the kind of guy who likes to ride with the assist at full tilt-boogie, allowing me to cruise at 20-plus mph in virtually all conditions that include some pretty significant hills.

I really enjoy loading up with the Costco goods or packages from local retail outlets to the bewilderment of many onlookers. I’m quite certain that I’m often pushing 75-100 pounds worth of bike and cargo, and have passed my local litmus test of getting up my 22-degree driveway, which is borderline insanity.

This is easily one of the best things to ever come out of the skunk works at Bike Friday and I’m pleased and honored to have one of the first production bikes to test and enjoy. Here are a couple of pictures of yours truly and the Haul-a-Day in action.

A Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Cargo Bike with BionX Electric Assist loaded with supplies from Costco.

A Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Cargo Bike with BionX Electric Assist loaded with supplies from Costco.

A Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Cargo Bike loaded down with Propane tanks.

A Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Cargo Bike loaded down with Propane tanks.

Pedaling My Arse Around Ireland

Bike Friday owner Erica Stevenson spent three weeks touring Ireland on her Pocket Llama, and she shares her tales.

By Erica Stevenson

The title of this journal was inspired by a comment from a man on my last long bike tour. He called out: “Y’all know over here, you can’t be peddling your ass around here!” – or something like that.

Anyway, our interactions with the local people in each town were the funniest and most memorable experiences of the trip. Meeting some good Irish people (and especially seeing my family) is what has encouraged me to ride my bicycle around this beautiful little island.

So, this is my first solo bike tour and sort of my first solo vacation, though I’ve traveled on my own quite a bit for new jobs.

erica

In the last year, everywhere I’ve traveled by car has just made me think: “Hmmm, this would be so cool on a bicycle.” The speed of biking is a great way to see local life as it is and still actually go places.

Since moving back to the Bay Area, I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to tour just about everywhere in the world, but Ireland seems like the next logical place to go … I can visit family, it’s somewhat familiar, English, island (can’t get too lost!!) — perfect for a three-week time frame and my first solo bike tour. I’d love to have longer to tour, but I also have a rather cool job, so a crazy chunk-of-year(s) tour will have to wait.

About five months ago I booked a flight and started telling people, I’m going to Ireland!!, and that got the ball rolling.

The bike: I bought a folding bike a couple of months ago through a local Bike Friday dealer, Chain Reaction Bicycles in Redwood City, with the dream of easily flying and riding my own bike in far flung places.

I researched these cute little bikes to death and I was able to pretty much custom choose all of my components (without having the worry or cost of them not working out, which was nice!)

I chose dropbars, bar-end shifters, V-brakes, and I upgraded from their standard headset, seat post, and chain. I’ve put a few hundred miles on my Pocket Llama over the summer and he is AMAZING (and adorable).

Except for being a bit unsure when confronted with rocks, he feels very much like my full sized bikes, nimbly climbs up the steepest of hills, and is quite confident when loaded down.

You can read about Erica’s entire journey here.

Momentum Magazine’s Review of the Haul-a-Day

had-momentum

by: Sandra Allen

The Haul-a-Day is Bike Friday’s addition to the growing cargo bike market. Bike Friday is an Oregon-based bike building company who use words like local, organic, community, and handcraft to describe what they do. They specialize in custom folding and travel bikes, which means the Haul-a-Day has many of the inventive conveniences of those types of bikes and can be customized to your desire.

The Haul-a-Day is a mid-tail cargo bike so it has a smaller footprint but can still carry huge loads without being ‘tippy’ thanks to the 20” wheels giving it a low center of gravity. It adjusts to fit riders 4-foot to 6-foot-4 (1.2-1.9 m) and has a low step-over height which is immensely helpful when hopping on and off with kids aboard. Disc brakes front and back, a stabilizing two-leg kickstand, huge front basket and a plate-deck rear rack round out the specs, while you’ve got the choice of 8 or 24 speeds. The Haul-a-Day is light and agile and rides like a real bike while doing 10x the work. One can customize everything from the rear rack, the front basket, saddlebags, colour, and kid-attachments – Bike Friday loves to work with their customers to create the best bike for your lifestyle.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS You know that classic scene from E.T. that every cyclist loves to reference? Elliot on his bicycle flying through the sky, red hoodie up, E.T. tucked in the front basket. I feel like Elliot in that scene when I ride the Haul-a-Day. Maybe it’s the big basket in the front, or the upright riding position, or the fun, red colour of this model. It just feels like flying on this beautiful bicycle. I get compliments on it ALL the time, and the girls I nanny used to always ask why people were staring & waving at them all the time. I’ve had to explain that we just look so cool & unique, so that’s why all the attention!

I find the basket and 2 huge saddle bags handle all my loads perfectly. The basket is so solidly attached to the bike frame itself – and the wheel turns freely below it – which allows the bike to turn smoothly even in tight places. I don’t think I could handle the loads I do without such a low step-through and the small wheels. This makes it super sturdy and stable when loaded to the brim with cargo or kids or both! I am a small person and manage the bike just fine; I’ve even read an older child could use this cargo bike, which I believe is the only one on the market able to adjust for such a wide variety of people. Great disc brakes ensure I can stop no matter what and the SRAM dual drive 24-speed lets me gear down if I get stopped suddenly and really tackle those hills with ease.

WISH LIST There isn’t much I would change on this bike, it’s pretty darn awesome as is. But hey, we may as well try to get it perfect. So here’s what I’d like to see:

  • An option between the open-back hoop and the full hoop-la. Kids want independence when getting on & off but need the security to not fall off the back. Maybe a gate would help?
  • Stronger internal front shifter. I ride bikes hard it seems and needed to get it readjusted twice over six months.
  • More high gears for speed! I often topped out when riding on my own.
  • Built-in lights. When I attached a light on the back where it could be seen while carrying kids meant it got stepped on while the kids got on and off. Built-in lights are ideal for commuting bicycles!

SUMMARY A light, easy and fun mid-tail cargo bike. Having tried a lot of other load-hauling contraptions, getting on the Haul-a-Day was a pure delight! To not feel like the bike is out of your control or struggle much on any sort of incline, I really appreciated all the thought that went in to this beautiful bicycle. If you’re looking for a bike that can haul big loads safely and easily without being a huge presence, then the Haul-a-day is for you.

Read Sandra Allen’s review of the Haul-a-Day in Momentum magazine.

Haul-a-Day Camping in Style

Check out the great photo of a Haul-a-Day with the coolest camper on the planet.

View here

Haul-a-Days Shine at Eugene Disaster Relief Trials

Jordan and Eli Bishko won the Family Division of the Eugene Disaster Relief Trials on a Haul-a-Day.

BY RAZ

Bike Friday Haul-a-Days proved their mettle with another strong showing at the Eugene Disaster Relief Trials at Alton Baker Park on October 17th.

We counted 12 Haul-a-Days in the field of more than 50 riders, and Bike Friday Operations Manager Jordan Bishko and his son Eli led the parade by winning the Family Division and crossing the line as the first finishers of the event.

Jordan and Eli Bishko work at one of the obstacle stations in the Eugene Disaster Relief Trials.

The Disaster Relief Trials (DRT) is a cargo bike event designed to help demonstrate the capabilities of bikes in disaster situations.

The riders planned and navigated a course of their choosing to designated check points in order to fulfill the criteria of the trials, with fully loaded bikes on city roads. At each check point riders encountered obstacles or complete tasks to assist response teams (like a neighborhood Community Emergency Response Team – CERT group).

The DRT is a fundraiser for Eugene-Springfield’s Safe Routes to School Bicycle Education Program.

Bike Friday Co-Founder Alan Scholz prepares to compete in his third DRT, and placed third in the Resilience Class.

To help raise funds for Safe Routes to School, Bike Friday donated a Haul-a-Day as the grand prize of a raffle. Emma Newman of Springfield (former Springfield Schools Safe Routes to School Coordinator) won the bike.

Seven Bike Friday employees competed on Haul-a-Days including (from left) Damon Vold and his daughter, Jordan and Eli Bishko, Robbie Dow and Kent Peterson.

In addition to the 12 Haul-a-Days competing, we counted eight others rolling around Alton Baker Park, enjoying the Resilience Fair.

Bike Friday’s Kelly Humber (left) and Michael Macemon (right) also competed. Macemon finished second in his class on a Haul-a-Day powered by BionX electric pedal assist.

With its low center of gravity and easy step-over, the Haul-a-Day can handle whatever challenges daily life — or a disaster — might throw your way. Being able to control a bike with a load is the key to success, and the Haul-a-Day’s pedigree as a Bike Friday performance bicycle makes it a great choice for a family cargo bike.

Bike Friday Sales Manager Robbie Dow competed in the Resilience Class.

 

Momentum magazine Haul-a-Day review

Read Sandra Allen’s review of the Haul-a-Day in Momentum magazine.

Win a Haul-a-Day at the Philly Bike Expo

The 6th Annual Philly Bike Expo will return to the Pennsylvania Convention Center on November 7-8, and you can be entered to win a Bike Friday Haul-a-Day by purchasing your tickets in advance!

More than 150 artisans and manufacturers of bicycles, accessories and apparel display their latest products including Bike Friday, who will be showing off its Haul-a-Day among other bikes.

The show features seminars, how-to’s and family-friendly activities. Food and drink, rides, races and after-parties round out this two-day festival of bicycle culture.

Purchase your tickets on the Philly Bike Expo website. Use promo code: BIKEFRIDAY (must be all caps, no space)