Yarra Boulevard - proposed 'cycling road'

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:01:25 +1000
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
to be an area where travel routes were short enough that bicycles were
more attractive than cars, seems they are so short people who live
there walk. Or they are going shopping and don't think they can do
that on a bicycle.

It can be difficult to do the weekly shopping for a family on a bicycle,
I guess.

One of my fantasies is a trailer that converts to a shopping trolley.
Rde to the shops, unhook trailer, do the shopping, hook back up, ride
home.

There are trailers that can do that sort of thing, but they are mostly
expensive.

Another fantasy is a shopping centre with an undercover bike rack in a
really convenient location, with a set of lockers by the racks of the
"put a $2 coin in here, and get it back when you open the locker
again" kind for helmets and lights and so on, and a shop in the centre
that hires out trailer/trolleys. Hire one on your credit card, $10 a
week.... or buy for $150.

The shop guy says "take it home with the shopping in it, then send one
of the kids back with it, if you get it back to me before the close of
business, the rent's $5."

Zebee

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:01:25 +1000
Geoff Lock glock@home wrote:
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
to be an area where travel routes were short enough that bicycles were
more attractive than cars, seems they are so short people who live
there walk. Or they are going shopping and don't think they can do
that on a bicycle.
It can be difficult to do the weekly shopping for a family on a bicycle,
I guess.

One of my fantasies is a trailer that converts to a shopping trolley.
Rde to the shops, unhook trailer, do the shopping, hook back up, ride
home.

There are trailers that can do that sort of thing, but they are mostly
expensive.

Yeah, bike trailers would work for the weekly shopping. Convertable
trailers would probably be expensive due the higher grade of wheels used
plus the sturdiness of construction required. Bear in mind that a
shopping trolley needs to be light, say, 2-3kilos max and building
sturdiness into a ladened 2-3 kilo device to survive towing by a bicycle
can involve fancy materials and methods.

Another fantasy is a shopping centre with an undercover bike rack in a
really convenient location, with a set of lockers by the racks of the
"put a $2 coin in here, and get it back when you open the locker
again" kind for helmets and lights and so on, and a shop in the centre
that hires out trailer/trolleys. Hire one on your credit card, $10 a
week.... or buy for $150.

The shop guy says "take it home with the shopping in it, then send one
of the kids back with it, if you get it back to me before the close of
business, the rent's $5."

Heheheh, and if one had an unruly child or difficult spouse, one could
get rid of him/her at the same time as the trailer

"Zebee Johnstone" wrote in message
...

One of my fantasies is a trailer that converts to a shopping trolley.
Rde to the shops, unhook trailer, do the shopping, hook back up, ride
home.

There are trailers that can do that sort of thing, but they are mostly
expensive.

Another fantasy is a shopping centre with an undercover bike rack in a
really convenient location, with a set of lockers by the racks of the
"put a $2 coin in here, and get it back when you open the locker
again" kind for helmets and lights and so on, and a shop in the centre
that hires out trailer/trolleys. Hire one on your credit card, $10 a
week.... or buy for $150.

The shop guy says "take it home with the shopping in it, then send one
of the kids back with it, if you get it back to me before the close of
business, the rent's $5."

Zebee

Zebee, if you haven't been there already, this is the place for your
inventive mind

http://nudges.org/

On Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:28:56 +0000, Zebee Johnstone wrote:

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:01:25 +1000 Geoff Lock
glock@home wrote:
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
to be an area where travel routes were short enough that bicycles were
more attractive than cars, seems they are so short people who live
there walk. Or they are going shopping and don't think they can do
that on a bicycle.

It can be difficult to do the weekly shopping for a family on a
bicycle, I guess.

One of my fantasies is a trailer that converts to a shopping trolley.
Rde to the shops, unhook trailer, do the shopping, hook back up, ride
home.

Do able. The only problem to solve is the transition between
"shopping trolley " and trailer. If you explained more clearly exactly
what you wanted, it can be discussed.

Basically some form of three wheels. Think take basket off existing
shopping trolley and add a couple of bicycle wheels 3/4 to front. The
third wheel could be a smaller wiggler that may or may not have contact
with the road when a bicycle trailer.

Simplest attachment would be a rear rack arrangement with a coupling pin
that you drop ring on handle over nd clamp,/screw a locking nut/?

The pause for thought part is some simple mechanism to raise shopping
basket to height of normal shopping trolley when shopping, but lowers it
to low height when trailer for stability.

In article ,
Hamish Moffatt wrote:

The surface needs improving though.

I suspect it's somewhat deliberately not glass-smooth, to save those
drivers who get a little enthusiastic on it when near bends... But as
someone who lived a hundred metres off it for most of the past year, it
is a pain climbing hills when the roughness kills any speed you might
generate.

Note also that there is (almost) no street lighting along it -- very
few cyclists would have sufficient lighting to safely do 40 kph
(requires almost no pedalling to do that, on some sections) down rough
hills in near-total darkness!

--
David J Richardson --
http://davidj.richardson.name/ - Dr Who articles/interviews/reviews
http://www.boomerang.org.au/ - Boomerang Association of Australia