I finally stopped making excuses for being a lazy asshole, sold my 15 year old car for $2k, and then used the proceeds to get a (very slightly) used cargo bike, which cost almost exactly as much as I got for my car! It's a Big Dummy from Surly, which is an Xtracycle-compatible long tail design. It came with the Free Radical panniers, which seem to have a practically unlimited ability to swallow cargo, and a rear seat pad and stoker bars so my wife can ride on the back comfortably too, which is really fun.
Now, picking up a biking habit in Tucson in the middle of summer is not the most ideal, but I am totally addicted already. This thing is a freakin' truck of a bike. I've been using it to go to Costco (1.5 mi away), Trader Joe's (2.5 mi), the local bakery (2 mi), laundry (0.5 miles), local coffee house/cafe (3 mi) and for a bunch of other sudry errands in my corner of town (we've still got our old beater Tacoma for longer/further trips or when we need to haul more weight/bulk than I can pull). I've been riding at least a little every day, and I can feel it getting easier and more fun by the week. Really looking forward to cooler weather though!
Now, these bikes weigh a good 55 lbs with nothing in the bags. The first time I got on it, I thought "damn, that's a heavy bike!" But through the magic of hedonic adaptation and increased fitness, it now feels reasonably light and nimble when I'm not carrying a load, and still very handle-able even with an extra 180 lbs of wife, laundry, tools and other junk in the trunk. It's got 27 gears and a nice low bottom chainring so hills are manageable--if unpleasant--even with a pretty good load, just have to slow down to 3-4 mph sometimes to make it! We've had it loaded right up to the 400 lb weight limit with rider, passenger and cargo a couple of times on flatter ground and there's no trouble there either.
I had an older Trek 520 touring bike that was languishing in our house for years as well, which I wasn't using because it didn't fit me very well and I kept putting off making the handlebar adjustments, etc. that I had been meaning to do (yep, more face punch-worthy laziness!) But now I don't need it, so my wife has inherited it. We put some flat bars on it and she is getting comfortable riding again as well, which she hasn't done much of since she was a kid. So we're both benefitting! Hopefully soon she'll feel competent enough to go out with me on bigger streets and for longer rides, which will be really fun.
So I'm feeling a lot more badass than I was a few months ago! It's really satisfying to power your own transport, even aside from the gas/maintenance/insurance I'm saving and the health benefits. Best of all, this is going to be our "local trips" vehicle on the cross-country travels we're planning for the next couple of years (some of you may remember that we're the ones trying to build our own mini-RV to live in; that's still a work in progress...). Plus I'm sharpening my bike mechanic skills. Just within the past few weeks I've taught myself to adjust disc brakes and road cantilevers; set up and install new handlebars; diagnose and fix a loose steerer tube; and run new brake cable housings. I might learn how to build wheels too, since we're planning to put a NuVinci CVP shifter on the Trek pretty soon and I can save 50-100 bucks on bike mechanic labor if I do it myself.
I'm slowly, slowly, pulling my life into line with my values and priorities--not to mention the Way of the 'Stache--and every little step feels like a victory. Also, I highly recommend the Big Dummy to anyone looking for a great all-around bike with serious hauling capacity. I love love love it!
