Double Bass Bicycle trailer + bass = OK!

[boylebass]

Alas, for some of us it is just impractical.

One of my main gigs is 35 miles away and I get off at midnight. I can average 17 mph on my road bike for hours, but the thought of riding 2 hours home on busy roads in the dark scares the s^%t out of me. In the summer I would have to leave for the job at least 3 hours early and ride in the Oklahoma heat (we hit 114 twice last summer) or cold. For last weekend's run (5 Nutcrackers in 4 days) my commute time would have been 30 hours.

In situations where it would be practical, I'm all for it. I'm a bike geek from waaaay back and at one point owned 7 bikes including a custom-framed titanium mountain bike and a tandem. (We hit 10,000 miles in less than 2 years)

This kind of reminds me of an old tuning fork thread. The argument was that you could tune 'better' with a fork. That's fine. Try to tune at 845PM in a noisy club before your 9PM set and tell me how much better it is. For now, for me, I'm tossing my bass in the back of my 40+mpg hybrid.

All that grouching aside, I wish I could ride to some of my gigs.

 

[robobass]

Alas, for some of us it is just impractical.

All that grouching aside, I wish I could ride to some of my gigs.

You can only do so much. Once I was doing a show in Staten Island. I thought I'd be smart and avoid the BQE traffic and Verrazano toll by biking to and from the ferry (they allow bikes). My stuff was there already, so I didn't need to transport anything. Just as I get on the Brooklyn bridge another bike slams me, destroys the front wheel, and sprains my left wrist and right knee (the knee still acts up sometimes after fifteen years). So I had to limp home and drive to the gig anyway, and play in excruciating pain for the rest of the run.

Best laid plans...

 

[Matt Ides]

I thought it might be time for an update. I have been using the trailer for the last 2 years on a regular basis. It has worked out great and also gotten me a few gigs. Everybody wants to talk about it for sure when you roll up. It has really worked out for anything within the 1-12 mile range.