My new wheels!

 

The universe might be testing my assertion of how much can be not quite ideal about a bike set up and still be faster than walking. No, no, my snazzy new wheels don't count as a bicycle, more of a quad, but fetching them home definitely put a drag on my ride, literally. Yesterday, I planned to meet my friend Adele when they collected their CSA share from Hadley at Astarte Farm, which I affectionately, truly, I love that place, refer to as Canadian Butt Pastry Farm, and if your mind decifers why, my condolences, eh!

Delayed by a phone call, Adele asked to push back our meeting a half hour. Sure, I'll just wander a little bit more going there, like taking the rad, old dirt section of Moody Bridge Road past the Silvio O. Conte nature area, which is even more rad than the average dirt road because gates block motor vehicles from using it. I flat out love any short cut connection that only bikes and pedestrians can use. Extra bonus when, just past the nature trails, I'm treated to a gorgeous view of billowy clouds over fields of three foot tall grass gone to seed.

This picture is nice.

In person, it was even nicer.

From the field, the road dips down into a hollow, and in that hollow, hark, there was, at the end of a driveway, a cart with a free sign. But no, not just any cart, which has been vaguely in my mind as something that would be at times even handier around the house than my wheelbarrow, but a rugged, balloon tired bomber with mesh steel body and drop down sides. I'm no cart connoisseur, but in my amateur estimation, this one definitely qualied as cool.

They caught my eye with "Free"

But a smiley face sealed the deal!

Bikes don't have trunks (more lessons in British automotive nomenclature: trunk=boot, which is nearly as cute as bonnet), although the bulk of that cart would've needed a station wagon at least, but the open-air bicycle can be surprisingly good at moving bulky items that wouldn't cram into the ubiquitous box on wheels. Extrapolating on the technique that fetched my handtruck home, I bungied the handle to the back of my rack and continued the last couple miles to meeting Adele.

Who needs well engineered trailer mounts?

People with empty trailers don't!

"Needs a tire" I did give the cart a roll back and forth in the drive before I committed to lashing, and it seemed ok, so hopefully I don't deserve a lashing for missing that the left front tire was half off the rim, and yes, the other front was flat as well. I did say rugged, and part of that characteristic was heavy duty tires whose uninflated sidewalls supported the weight of the empty cart. It did protest with a few not entirely happy noises, but it towed the two miles ok, and I still arrived a minute or so before Adele to be giving inflation a try when they arrived.

Adele expressed no shock. Years ago, I'd met them at a trailhead with the muck sink, that now serves in my laundry closet, hanging over the sides of my rear rack after a bountiful ride to meeting for our hike. Yup, things find me, like the kiddy toy truck we found mountain biking at Sawmill. That one did stay in the woods, but some memories are definitely keepers. Credit to Adele for this photo and saving me having to search for it on my old phone.

The new cart fits me better than this,

at least size wise,

although this is rather fitting.

Blueberries successfully eaten at Astarte, I followed Adele back to Northampton, and taking advantage of my unplanned Monday schedule, camped in on the floor of their front room, but before any of that, I stashed the cart in the woods off the Norwattuck Trail within a mile of the farm. It does pull impressively well, even with half the tires iffy, but I had zero inclination to drag it any further than need or want be.

I hope it slept well. I did, and this morning it was still nestled in the weeds waiting for me. Both front tires were once again flat, so pump, pump, pump, I even briefly made an brief, unsuccessful attempt at fully mounting the left bead, and we were on our way, rolling up the railtrail with only minimal creaks and squeaks of protest. It pulled ok, but was still a drag, yet I'm a firm believer that different speeds have their respective graces, so in addition to really appreciating when the uphill to Amherst swapped for a downhill to Belchertown, the longer trip also afforded me an excellent reason to stop and use the trailside picnic table I'd always passed to enjoy a cauliflower spread and dandelion sandwich. Yay, there's salad everywhere now!

We did make it home and were even still dry when we arrived. It was a slower ride home than usual, taking about twice the time, including nosh, but take that universe, it was much, much faster than the time I walked an even slighly more direct route home from Northampton. Bikes, with or without rad carts, are cool!