ChiWhoBike #49

A man stands smiling with a covered box trike in front of a mosaic wall and sculptures. He's wearing blue jeans, white and grey sneakers, and an orange puffer jacket over a blue sweater, and has short brown hair, a tight cropped brown and white beard, and light skin. His bike is a Bunch trike with a big brown front cargo box, and a black and clear rain cover on the front.

This is my bike, it’s a Bunch 3.0. I got it last summer, have just over 500 miles on it, and it’s basically our minivan. I use it for everything from taking kids around the neighborhood to activities, going to the beach, going to Costco, and going grocery shopping. So you can really load it up with a ton of really whatever you have, whether it’s people, or friends, or things you’re buying at Costco.

Not having to deal with parking is probably the best thing about biking. You can really just pull up, there’s bike racks everywhere when we’re going to the beach. We don’t have to pay for parking or wait for parking spots. And then also it’s great exercise. Being outside, feeling the wind and the sunshine as opposed to being in a car, it makes it much easier to get around and much more enjoyable. Also I think when you’re in a car, you’re insulated, right? You’re in a vehicle, there’s windows. I feel like we have a lot more organic interactions with people in the neighborhood when we’re biking by. People will wave, other bikers will ring their bells. You’re having fun interactions, the kids are waving. When you’re in a car they might be looking out the window, but there’s not that interpersonal experience that I think makes living in the city much richer.

For winter or wet riding, one of the cool things about this is it’s a tricycle, right? So it has the stability that a normal bike doesn’t. And so even if the roads have some snow or some ice or some slush, I’m not worried about falling over because it’s got three wheels, so it’s more stable. And everyone who’s in here, they’re fine because they’ve got this great waterproof windproof cover. For me, if I’m doing the biking, I’m just putting on ski pants and a ski jacket if it’s snowing, and rain pants and a rain jacket if it’s raining.

A closer shot of the same man smiling with his trike.
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