Cargo Bike Roll Call

The third Cargo Bike Roll Call will be held in October 2012. It's a social event in Chicago for citizen cyclists who use their bike to carry stuff (anything and everything in any way you can invent). From Steven Vance of Grid Chicago. View the links page.

[cargobikerollcall]

Please update your bookmarks. This Tumblr will eventually cease to exist. 

[cargobikerollcall]

Ready for 2013 Cargo Bike Roll Call?

I've started planning the 2013 Cargo Bike Roll Call. Are you ready?

I've got applications to fill out and other organizations to talk to. The big question is, when should it happen?

What Saturday in June, or August? It'll start around 2 PM, so kids can come and go home early. 

[cargobikerollcall]

Next Cargo Bike Roll Call scheduled

The next Cargo Bike Roll Call has been scheduled for a Tuesday evening in November. I'm not broadcasting it publicly as the venue is small and the purpose is for meet-and-great and discussion (I'm calling it a "Forum"). If you would like an invite, just shoot me an email, [email protected].

[cargobikerollcall]

A folding cargo bike. This may be useful if you take Amtrak often and want to have a folding bike. From Tern. Seen at Interbike. 

Seen on Hugger Industries's Flickr. More photos.

[cargobikerollcall]

Garage sale?  Have it delivered! Cargo bikes gather in Portland, OR to deliver people's yard sale items to their homes... and give them ice cream. Portland Pedal Power with Spoketown Cargo, Splendid Cycles, and Icicle Tricycle. -From the PPP blog

[cargobikerollcall]

There are two cargo bike races this weekend! They are for registered racers, only, I believe. I will not be racing. But I will be there cheering on Brandon Gobel, racing on his Chicago Cargo Bullitt (shown above racing in Richmond, VA, in May for NACCC), as well as one-half of Larry vs. Harry, the makers of the Bullitt cargo bike. There will be other cargo bike racers. This is kind of awesome, and I'm pumped. 

Details:

Saturday, August 4, 1 PM

Sunday, August 5, 2 PM

Both races take place after main races that start at 10 AM. The races are held in the Soldier Field south parking lot. 

The event is all part of the Cycle Messenger World Championship (CMWC). Sidenote: I'm giving away 5 more promo codes to racers who can answer this riddle. 

[cargobikerollcall]

A roll call of sorts was held in Paris last weekend, the Paris Cargo Bikes Meeting. 

I'm going to try and translate this French without any assistance:

"C’était aujourd’hui le grand jour. La fête a malheureusement été contrariée par une météo pluvieuse. Mais de nombreux concurrents ont tout de même bravé les éléments, venant pour certains de Lille, Douai, Dijon, Orléans, Lyon et même de Belgique."

"Today was the big day. The party was sadly hampered by a rain storm. But many competitors still braved the elements, coming from the cities of Lille, Douai, Dijon, Orléans, Lyon, and even from Belgium."

Okay, I had to look up a few words. Here's the recap, and here's the photo gallery.

[cargobikerollcall]

Tour de Fat is location of next Cargo Bike Roll Call

Join us for the next Cargo Bike Roll Call at Tour de Fat on Saturday, July 21, 2012. We'll have a cargo and family bike contingent in the morning bike parade. 

Parade registration begins at 9 AM and Roll Call organizer Brandon Gobel will be signing people in. Then meet Ash Lottes in the parade line up at 10 AM. It's that easy. 

Tour de Fat is a bicycle and beer festival held annually in Chicago's Palmer Square Park with proceeds benefiting West Town Bikes. It's put on by New Belgium Brewing. 

[cargobikerollcall]

This photo of Pearl the cat laying next to Ash's bakfiets is the most popular picture in the Cargo Bike Roll Call photoset. I guess I'll just make it more popular. 

See all the photos.

[cargobikerollcall]

I asked my friend Calvin Brown to write a review of the Cargo Bike Roll Call last weekend (which he attended with his mother) so that I didn't end up reviewing my own event. 

Read it on Grid Chicago.

[cargobikerollcall]

Thank you to all of the sponsors of the second annual Cargo Bike Roll Call.

Thank you for supporting cargo bicycles, and bike-based businesses. They are:

ABUS - Germany-based bicycle lock manufacturer

Chicago Cargo - bicycle cargo delivery

Copenhagen Cyclery - local bike shop

Kidical Mass - monthly family bike ride

J.C. Lind Bike Co.  - local bike shop

James Freeman Law Office

New Belgium Brewing - beer

Planet Bike - Madison, WI-based bike accessories manufacturer

SRAM - Chicago-based bike components manufacturer

Sweet Cakes Bakery – local bakery providing pizza and treats

Whole Foods Market - snacks

[cargobikerollcall]

How you lighten a cargo bike: wash the dirt off. From Travis Wittwer in Portland, Oregon. 

[cargobikerollcall]

Wow. Two people will pedal De Fietsfabriek bicycles and a custom trailer to deliver a mattress to your home. Awesome. It takes just as many people to delivery a mattress by truck and costs the environment a lot less. 

Photo by Jim Dyer. The company is Eco-Mat in New York City. 

[cargobikerollcall]

Cargo Bike Roll Call official event page is now on Facebook. It's hosted by the Grid Chicago Facebook page. 

The details are as follows:

FREE

Saturday, June 9, 2012 6:00pm 2459 W Division Street, Chicago, IL

The second annual Cargo Bike Roll Call will take place Saturday, June 9, at West Town Bikes.Sponsors this year include (so far):

J.C. Lind Bike Co. 

SRAM

Planet Bike

Richard Goodrow

Lawyer Jim Freeman

Email [email protected] if you'd like to sponsor. You can donate online – add "cargo bike roll call" to the project/memo name.

[cargobikerollcall]

Kael has always been the greatest supporter of Travis's interest in cargo bikes.

Read about this on TRANSPORTland.

[cargobikerollcall]

Would you prefer that UPS delivery workers drive big trucks and block bike lanes, or ride cycle trucks to deliver packages?

[cargobikerollcall]

Looking for donors

I'd like to raise $300 for snacks and drinks, and to help pay West Town Bikes for the costs they cover for hosting the event. West Town Bikes is a rare direct-service organization in Chicago. Rare in that you can't find another group of people so dedicated to getting teens and adults on bicycles (used or new doesn't make a difference). 

If you would like to donate, please contact me directly, 312-593-4857 (text message is fine), or donate via Network For Good (designate to Cargo Bike Roll Call).

If you know of a business that may want to be involved, please send me their name and contact information. 

I will be contacting the same donors as last year.