When I was at Veggie Bite on Milwaukee the other night (I love that place now, in case you haven’t noticed)… I saw this guy with a rickshaw charging a small fare for carting people around in this little contraption.
It reminded me of India of course, when I saw it, but then I thought quickly that this was quite possibly in our near future with gas possibly approaching >$5/gallon this summer.
In any event, I’m doing my part. Since I sold my car when I moved to Chicago, I’ve been so happy to just use a bicycle to get around. I was just telling Kevin this morning how funny it is to see people sitting in cars, looking like little prisoners in their wheeled boxes sitting in traffic, moving slower than molasses at rush hour while I jet past.
Today, I bought a new bike (I realized finally that I was too big for the bike I had used until now). It’s a beaaauuutiful vintage road bike - turquoise Trek, with a Reynolds 531 lugged frame that’s pretty light. It has very few scratches on it right now.
The only mods I’m thinking about right now: Getting a brooks saddle (I might wait until the end of the month to do this), a rack for panniers, and a set of interrupter brakes that I just learned about this week. Pure sweetness!
At first, I wasn’t thrilled about the electric blue-ish color but I’m getting used to it pretty fast, so I don’t think I’ll have it painted like I originally thought. I’d have to get it powder coated anyways and who knows how much that would set me back!
Thanks to Jonathon for finding me the sweet ride. You should definitely email him if you are ever looking for a bike in Chicago!
very cool ride, ash!
and…i LOVE veggie bite! incredible veggie burgers!
That’s so awesome that there’s more people taking advantage of the falling automobile industry in this country and turning to alternatives such as a rickshaw. I have never been to India, but I have seen it in The Philippines and in Indonesia. I hope the man owning it will yield a good percentage of travelers to get from one point to another in Milwaukee. I’m pretty big on regular bicycles themselves, but I’ve recently been introduced to the motored bicycle phenomenon that’s beginning to take over parts of the country. Imagine sitting on your Reynolds 531 with an 80cc motor sitting behind your seat? Imagine going up hills doing 20-25MPH with no effort while others are sweating it off. Sure, I understand that bicycles are a lot more feasible than hopping on one’s car, but I see no problem with adding a little motor to get you up hills and/or keep you at a constant 25-30MPH on a straight-away to get to and from work when all it costs is 1.51 USD to fill up for close to 60 MPG. Not bad, huh?