I’ve had a quiet little dream for about 4 years or more. I noticed these things sometime ago called XTRACYCLES. They were a cool attachment that you plugged into the back of your bike (remounted your back wheel into), and this suddenly allowed someone to carry a person on the back, extra packs, construction material, surfboards, dogs…up to 200 pounds of it. They refer to it on their site as a SUB: sport utility bike. Low carbon footprint. High functionality. Inexpensive compared to a new “used” car. No insurance. No guilt. No gas. I daydreamed about it for a number of years…and just tabled it, as some of us do with little dreams.

Sometime passed. Deb and I purchased a used EBike (a steel framed, cool Hybrid Electric Assist bike from the early 2000’s– Lee Iacocca’s prescient company, which, sadly folded with the dotcom bombs of 2000-1, I believe).

Sometimes, in the morning, I just don’t have the gumption to pedal to work, so this was a compromise between my legs and the need for something to help get around the South Hills of Eugene. Well…the EBike did it for us. When we need extra “juice”, it scoots up hills like “Hawkins”, “City View” and (fill-in-the-blank) with ease. You still have to pedal, but just barely.

…then, in between jobs, I just figured it out. Let’s combine the 2. A sustainable-vehicle-Frankensteinian vision. How? Do it myself? No time. I got too much wood to chop, too little time at home. I should be spending that with Eli and Deb anyway. Deb and I talked and we visioned: Deb doing grocery runs all summer long…picking Eli up on the back from school…the inexpensive nature of an SUB. The sustainability. The Sexiness of it. Cycle in the City. So we went for it.
That’s where “Revolution Cycles” came in.

A number of months ago, I noticed Rev’ carries Surly bikes (steel framed “old-skool” bike which also make use of Xtracycles).
I talked to Shane, Revoulution Cycles’s CEO, and the odyssey for them began. You see, the Ebike and Xtracycle never knew each other…so it took some thought by Shane and his talented team to marry these two concepts together. They gave me a good price. They worked hard. And this was the outcome: a beautiful marriage of cycle, engine, electricity and sustainability. (They’ll have pictures on their blog in the future–I’ll post links later).

Let me tell you–it’s a little heavy (due to the monster 36 volt battery). But it’s stable. And Eli loves the ride on the back, as does Debbie also, as do I. And it will get Deb out of the car this Summer, and REALLY on the road. It was the right choice.

So, you can’t always get what you want…but on this dream, I did. Thank you Lee I. Thank you Ross Evans. Thank you Shane. My dream has come true. I need the “long hauler” attachment still. Then,maybe I’ll serve tubs of Cherry Amaretto Coconut Bliss off the back of it. Or maybe I can strap on a cornelius keg of Mike’s home-brewed Nut Brown Ale for an impromptu tasting party at Monroe park. Or add an outlet/small inverter/speakers to the battery, play some tunes and “blow a 50 amp fuse” (hey, Shane, got any shop time open? Maybe we need to talk soon…more mods to come).

Summer’s almost here, and the time is right. If you see me cruising by, do say hello.