There are a lot of nice things about living in a small town. The air is fresher, the stars are brighter, and the streets are quieter. Unfortunately, living in this quiet town also means that I have to drive over twenty miles if I want to take in a movie, go to a concert, or buy organic groceries (the kind we can’t grow in our own organic garden, of course).
I’ve felt guilty about all this driving for some time now, but the guilt has grown quite a bit in the past year or two (the price of gasoline doesn’t help either). So far, the guilt has not actually prevented me from driving if I have no other alternative, but it has caused me to seek out alternatives. My bike, for example.
Since I moved back here a year ago, I’ve biked around town a lot. The side streets are safe, and we’re fortunate to have some very nice nature trails that run alongside Koshkonong Creek. Biking is also one of the best ways for me to exercise my rambunctious dog. She loves to run. I don’t.
So, while my bike was a great way to transport myself, it was fairly useless if I wanted to carry anything that didn’t fit inside the little basket that clips onto the handlebars. We tend to have a lot of outgoing packages, so this is a daily issue. I decided to do a little research. I found out that Burley, the company that makes the tow-behind trailers to haul small children, also makes a flatbed trailer with a 100 pound capacity. Problem solved! I no longer have to take the car if I have more than a few packages. The larger and heavier boxes make me work a bit harder, but I like the fact that I’m burning calories instead of fossil fuels.
