PedalingAstronomer
New member
- Feb 2, 2025
- 1
- 4
I’m Gary, and I’ve traveled on a cargo bike since 2014, including through each of the lower-48 U.S. states. She’s a non-e, long-tail, first-generation Surly Big Dummy (brand and unfortunate model name, not her demeanor or aptitude), whom I know more simply as The Big.
Vision loss ended my driving career, so pedaling and walking are now my primary means of mobile independence. Others are safe when I pedal her 10mph, not so much if I were driving anything faster. A decade later, I regret ever resorting to automobiles. Once I experienced the more human pace of a bicycle as an adult, a revelation to which I was oblivious as a child … well, I wish I’d been more observant way back when.
By the way, is it weird to anthropomorphize a bicycle? I never felt that for any of the many automobiles I drove in earlier decades, but bikes feel more personal. More animate. Right?
When loaded for travel, The Big outweighs me by ~20 pounds, given that her peculiar payload includes astronomy gear. I’m now 70-something, and we’ve struggled a bit in recent years. I often have to push rather than pedal her up too-long grades. I admire modern e-assist cargo bikes — really, I do — but after so many miles and years together, it feels disloyal to think of retiring the ever-faithful Big.
So, I haven’t.
But I am researching bolt-on e-assist options for upgrading her.
Maybe next year.
Anyway, that’s us. If you’d like to learn more, our website is PedalingAstronomer.com.
Clear skies!
PS: Here’a a photo of The Big in astro-lab mode, with her little solar telescope aligned to the Sun. And yes, the scope and mount go back into a rear pannier before we travel on.
Vision loss ended my driving career, so pedaling and walking are now my primary means of mobile independence. Others are safe when I pedal her 10mph, not so much if I were driving anything faster. A decade later, I regret ever resorting to automobiles. Once I experienced the more human pace of a bicycle as an adult, a revelation to which I was oblivious as a child … well, I wish I’d been more observant way back when.
By the way, is it weird to anthropomorphize a bicycle? I never felt that for any of the many automobiles I drove in earlier decades, but bikes feel more personal. More animate. Right?
When loaded for travel, The Big outweighs me by ~20 pounds, given that her peculiar payload includes astronomy gear. I’m now 70-something, and we’ve struggled a bit in recent years. I often have to push rather than pedal her up too-long grades. I admire modern e-assist cargo bikes — really, I do — but after so many miles and years together, it feels disloyal to think of retiring the ever-faithful Big.
So, I haven’t.
But I am researching bolt-on e-assist options for upgrading her.
Maybe next year.
Anyway, that’s us. If you’d like to learn more, our website is PedalingAstronomer.com.
Clear skies!
PS: Here’a a photo of The Big in astro-lab mode, with her little solar telescope aligned to the Sun. And yes, the scope and mount go back into a rear pannier before we travel on.
