Vision

Today was the first day I first made manifest the “company car” I had in mind when I bought the Hunqapiller. This morning, after coffee, I hooked up the Haulin’ Colin to the hitch I finally installed last night and carried a full load of stuff to Goodwill: three bags of old clothes, a couple boxes of knick-knacks and stuffed animals, an old lawn chair, and a bunch of picture frames. I’m sure it would have been all bittersweet had I had to have driven, what with donating these fondly-remembered aspects of my daughter’s younger childhood, but, as it was, pulling the load along via human power, I had nothing but a good time.

The bike performed just as I imagined it would under heavy weight; built for comfort rather than speed, it can poke along in my stump-pulling low gear at just over walking rate up any hill, secure on my 2.25”-wide tires that I’ll remain upright even moving so slowly.

After dropping off the stuff, I pedaled around town a bit, stopping for a couple of Guinesses and some football at my favorite Sunday morning watering hole. I locked up next to a brand-new Mercedes Benz, and although, of course, I wouldn’t trade the opportunity for any bike ride for any automobile drive, I had to admit that our two rigs looked like kindred spirits in terms of quality, durability, and style.

I thus remain confident that there will come a day when the market for Haulin’ Colin trailers (perhaps combined with Rivendell bicycles) will be as robust as the current market for fancy automobiles. It will take, no doubt, a major change in available resources to get people’s tastes to change, but I believe it will happen quite quickly when it does.

The time will arrive when many more people will consider a day like mine today a really good time; trailers may not sell hotcakes then, but like luxury cars would be just fine.