Why bother building a bike trailer or using one? What is the point? How often will you really use it to buy groceries or run errands? In the midst of the "doing" of building a trailer, I have revisited the reasons behind it.
Rather than head to the shop to re-read the instructions for mounting and using a radial arm saw dado blade, I searched my photo files to be reminded of my inspiration for this project. That effort alone can occupy hours since I have never really settled on a naming and filing scheme that really makes finding stuff easy. But, I knew that in the hundreds of folders and thousands of digital images, there were several that inspired my interest in the bicycle at its humblest, but highest use: transportation. By that, I mean transportation that gets the user to and from a destination and serves to carry their goods for them.
I was prompted to do this review and search by something that my good friend, Wild Bill, said in an email message. He is a rural letter carrier for the US Postal Service, an occupation well-suited to bicycle transportation. After seeing this blog and reading some of my stories on bikeportland.org, he related a conversation he had with his father. His dad grew up in New Jersey where his first job was making deliveries for a butcher prior to WWII. He did it on a bike whose style is probably in the French porteur mode. That reminded me to look in my files and here's what I found.
I recall seeing the ladies above in the town of Beaune, France during a bike tour. Guessing a woman's age might be a dangerous thing, but I'm sure they were beyond 65. The older woman holding the bike suggested for me a person who had used that bike or something like it since her youth. It had served her well and continues to be her primary transportation as she shops, visits friends and the like.
The two postal bikes represent current practices and the historical perspective of a fundamental transportation device that literally connected people, communities and the world. Talk about social networking. The French model in current use makes so much sense for carrying letters and postal packages in town. The designer of the Bamboo Bicycle Trailer has created a fine alternative for the Royal Mail.
Finally, a visit to Mexico showed me just how useful a bicycle can be. The Mercurio tricycle cargo bikes are used for all manner of transport. They serve as taxis, as furniture movers, adapted as vending trucks and many other uses. The basic model costs about $250 USD in Mexico. They can be purchased in the US for considerably more, but still a reasonable fee. Their adaptation appears to be DIY with a great deal of individual style.
These few examples of bicycles as transport vehicles continue to motivate me to adapt and build the Bamboo Bike Trailer. I can only hope that its utility is as great as the rigs pictured here.
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