Travelling by bike with two nine-foot surfboards attached behind on a tiny trolley doesn’t go unnoticed.
In an earlier post, I shared how a solution arrived for getting my surfboard to the beach without using our car. What I didn’t share was the unexpected attention this invention attracted.
Even though we’d trialled the surfboard trolley in the driveway, taking it onto the streets and footpaths was an altogether different set of circumstances. I was fairly sure the surfboard would stay attached to the bike and the trolley. However, I wasn’t so sure how the rig would handle bumps and turning corners. Would it jackknife if I went too fast or hit a bump? So, I was a bit nervous taking this rig out into the neighbourhood and decided a S L O W trip to the beach was wise.
Along the way, we see some ski paddlers loading their skis onto their cars after a morning paddle. As I ride past, a man gently elbows a woman standing next to him and nods in my direction, giving tacit approval to the trolley.
When we arrive at the beach carpark, five early morning swimmers fresh from doing laps in the estuary’s still waters, return to their cars. They pause and look inquisitively at my bike and its trolley. Questions follow. One of them has a surf ski that he carries to the beach and is very interested in the detail of how this rig works. “Great idea!”
I’m not sure if it was my nervous energy or the fact that I was pedalling the extra 12-14kgs of two surfboards or the unfamiliarity of it all (or perhaps all of the above), but by the time we reached the beach, I was exhausted! And I still had to muster up some stamina to surf!
So, it was a short surf that day. Like everything, once I’m more practiced at towing the trolley, it’ll become easier.
As we secure the trolley and its surfboards to the bike for the ride home, a man pauses on the footpath, gazes at the rig and lopes across the grass to see it closer. He’s also been looking for a way to carry his 9 foot surfboard to the beach without driving his car: “the car parking is crazy. You can never get a park”. We show him how the rig stays together and share other options that might work like golf trolleys, baby strollers and kiddie trailers.
I was surprised by the unexpected attention this humble surf trolley drew. It’s only a small sample of people on a single day… but it seems I’m not the only one looking for ways of not using my car to get to the beach. It’s encouraging! 🙂
Postscript: a week later, the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain mentioned my ‘Adapt – Invent – Surf’ post in their weekly round up of bike blogs. They thought finding an easy way to tow a surfboard to the beach was an idea worth noticing too!
Venturing onto the streets and footpaths with the surfboard trolley.
Navigating the cycleway on the way to the beach.
Downhill – slowly slowly. The trailer started to veer offline but arrived safely after a slow descent.
Ready to surf!
My experiment to ride my bicycle as much as possible in everyday life has cycled through four seasons.
This time last year, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into! I had a lot of questions in my mind about what would happen, how I’d cope, would I last the distance? Was this a ridiculous idea that would fizzle out like a sparkler at a birthday party?
But… I needn’t have worried… I did cope, I lasted the distance and the idea grew a brighter flame in me with every week and month that passed. Throughout, I never did know what was around the corner with this project. But I’ve been surprised and delighted with what’s unfolded over the four seasons.
I’ve pedalled over 3777 kms.*
I’ve met interesting and inspiring people in my neighbourhood and throughout the world.
I’ve explored different ways of doing things, adapting, inventing and challenging myself to change where I can and accept where I can’t just yet.
Now that I’ve cycled through the four seasons, I feel a wonderful sense of achievement. And I’m grateful for the growing community who follow, read, share and invigorate these stories. Thank you!
So, I’ve been thinking – and some have been asking – where to next?
Some of the changes that I’ve made because of this experiment, have become normal now. They’re no longer a dilemma or deserving of contemplation. That’s just the way I do the shopping or meet up with friends. This means that, in some ways, the ‘stretch’ factor of this change in lifestyle has lessened.
In other ways it hasn’t.
The weather, the different situations I face and the people I meet, bring fresh experiences, perhaps unexpected challenges, interesting decisions and new observations.
There’s so much that I don’t yet know or understand, there are new people to meet and so many new adventures to experience on two wheels.
So what’s next?
More seasons, more adventures and more stories!
Stay tuned – who knows what’s around the corner…? 🙂
*The actual tally is higher because there were some locations where I wasn’t set up to record my kilometres: on Lord Howe Island, while in Denmark and Norway; and also for springtime in Canberra.
Something happened yesterday. It was as if all the thinking, observing, pondering and patience merged into one ethereal stream and suddenly a solution floated to the surface.
All year I’ve been wondering how I could transport my surfboard to the beach without using our car. It’s been a prickly part of this project. Something that I felt was unresolved. A conundrum. A puzzle that I couldn’t solve.
You see it’s possible to buy a surfboard rack for a bike but my surfboard is a 9ft longboard and too long for that style of rack. Then, there are custom made trailers but they retail around AU$700 (plus AU$100 for the bike hitch). Even secondhand, they can sell for AU$300-400. I didn’t want to spend that amount of money. Why? Something told me there was another solution.
In the last few months, I’ve noticed a couple of interesting homemade trailers while out riding. One had adapted a bicycle trailer made for carrying kids. That looked promising and, since then, I’d been searching for secondhand kiddie trailers. Then yesterday, I saw a friend’s newly hatched homemade trailer. He used the wheels and frame of a baby stroller, added two lengths of aluminium tubing, some welding and an air valve switch to attach it to his pink scooter and was able to carry two longboards to the beach.
That was the clincher! It was time to dig into our garage, pull out the old kayak trolley and see if we could adapt it to carry a surfboard.
Step one was easy. My surfboard fitted neatly onto the small trolley secured with straps. The next step was to attach the board to the bike. This required more resourcefulness.
After experimenting with kayak cradles, foam padding, a variety of luggage straps and thoughts of dismantling an old car bicycle rack, a solution became clear. With some inventive weaving of a roof rack surfboard strap around the bike’s pannier rack and seat post, the trolley and its surfboard happily towed along behind the bike. It even managed to swivel for U-turns!
Finally, I’ve found a way to transport my surfboard to the beach, without taking my car. And it wasn’t an off-the-shelf solution. Everything I needed was sitting in our garage – designed for another purpose but able to be adapted and repurposed. Everything I needed, I already had! I just had to change how I thought about those things. I had to adapt.
And it seems to me, that throughout this experiment, the more I adapt, the easier things become. And exciting and surprising and satisfying.
So this morning, on the final day of the fourth season in my year long bicycle experiment, I experienced one of the gems of my year. I was able to take my surfboard to the beach by bicycle and enjoy surfing some waves.
Bring on summer! 🙂 🚲🏄
Inspired by the pink scooter with its homemade trailer to create….
This!
Inventive weaving of a Thule surfboard strap onto the pannier rack.
This is the final post in a 5-story challenge about how my year-long cycling experiment has changed me. The first post looked at saving money. The second post considered my well-being, the third was a light-hearted recollection and the fourth pondered being weather wise.
Thanks to Gary from PedalWORKS who suggested this 5-story challenge. It’s been a wonderful way to finish my four seasons of cycling.
a bike for all seasons 