I recently bought a BOB bike trailer, with the goal of schlepping my hockey gear to and from the ice rink via bicycle. After the assembly of the trailer and a couple of tweaks to the bike, it all came together this past week. I had a game Thursday at 9:15pm (well past dark, of course). Packed all the hockey gear in the BOB waterproof bag, use plenty of bungee cords to strap it and the hockey stick down safely, and lit up the whole rig with three flashing lights, in addition to my handlebar mounted light and a headlamp. Oh, and I put pieces of reflective tape on the bike's wheels as well as on the frame of the trailer.
The bike ride to the rink is only 1.5 miles (one way), but I found that it's a good way to get the legs moving and the body warmed up before a hockey game. Also, I loved the feeling of badassness and self-sufficiency when hauling the gear by pedaling.
The weekend, I was in a tournament, which meant two trips to the rink on Saturday, and another this morning. (Then after all the hockey, I dumped the hockey gear at home, took a much needed shower, and headed to work--on my bike, of course!)
One of the best parts was biking past my parked car about 10 times this weekend!!
Oh, I did the math (using 50 cents per mile), and it looks like it will take around 260 trips to the rink before the BOB trailer has paid for itself!! Yikes. But I will make that many trips during this season and next season. Plus, I hope to use the trailer in other ways as well.
