I meant to put more pictures up about the bike week this week, as I have now many more of them, but I just had such a good ride on the Yuba Mundo, that I rather write about that.
This day (June 2nd) was going to be busy. I wanted to get to the Amherst Farmers Market in the morning, just before a trip to Henion Bakery, then rush to some three miles to the North Amherst Community Farm, for a workshop by John Roots that he titled Edible Wild Plant Walk. Then touch on another Farmers market in North Amherst where they sell butter, hard cheese and delicious ginger cookies, and then an open house by the same farm where the workshop above was held.
I got a cold a few days earlier, and Saturday was forecasted to be a heavily rainy day. Great, I thought behind my aching forehead sinuses, as I woke up in the morning hearing the rain come down outside the window. But such an interesting workshop is not frequent, so come what may come, I decided to go ahead with the plan.
At 9 I took the Mundo out to load with mugs and a plate for the bakery and a basket for the farmers market. Marianne sat on the back platform as usual for Saturdays, to start her work at 10 am. She likes the comfort, I like the feeling of a robust bike not flexing, not even a little bit, under our weight, for this short ride. The rain kept coming down, so I donned MuckMaster boots, rain pants, and a bright yellow biking rain jacket. I have to get something better for my head than the baseball hat I found – I only wear a helmet for commuting, but don’t wear it for running shorter errands – I know, I know…
Anyway both the downtown farmers market, and Henion bakery happened smoothly and easily and with comfort – plates, basket and all remained dry, as the Go-Getter bags coming with the Mundo keep the water out very well, and they are certainly large enough for a basket. Or for Marianne, if she preferred remaining dry to looking at the world passing by. Luckily my cold was a bit better than the previous day, so the workshop also seemed manageable as I slurped some hot tea with my cheese croissant inside the bakery.
As I left the bakery, it first was cold and wet, but after 10 minutes of riding in the heavy rain, I started to be happy for it. Both because it kept many cars driving slower or off the roads all together, and also because I could blow my nose without a handkerchief, and immediately have fairly clean fingers afterward. The hat held up well protecting my eyes from the rain, and I kept marveling how the raindrops gathered up on the smooth blue paint of the Mundo.
I arrived a few minutes late to the rain gear-clad group of twenty, where John was just about to start. Because of the rain we spent a bit more time inside the open barn seeing slides of wild edible plants, but we did go out on the walk for part of the time and became/remained plenty wet just the same. Several participants and farm workers asked about the bike, as it is a pretty impressive sight – especially with all the raindrops.
After the fascinating workshop, I headed to buy my butter and cookies, and decided to jump into the hardware store, while I was up in North Amherst, getting steel angle iron pieces and other things. The bike’s bag come with a space separator so I could keep my hardware and dishes in separate compartments, an extender, so I could load all the things into the bag, the flop is large enough so it covers the goods even when quite full, the whole think keeps its shape well and it has a clamp tie so I could easily mount the six-foot long angle irons onto the back platform.
What did I learn this trip:
* Summer rains seem scarier than they are, even if it is only 50 degrees.
* The importance of a double legged kickstand: Yuba makes one (it is being shipped to me already), but the temporary kickstand I have now didn’t hold up the bike straight enough with one bag loaded, and the heavy steel pieces on the top, so fastening them to the bike was a bit more challenging in the rain.
* The Mundo, as it comes, is best to be loaded. It is too light a bike for the gearing it has, thus I quickly run out of high gears, especially on any downhill or when I am rushing to get out of the rain.
* How much I love the robustness of this bike. It just works: The fenders keep me and the bike out of the mud, the bag is spacious and remains dry even in heavy rain, even the handlebar and the grips on it feel wider and gives a feeling of full control.
