Moving Across Boulder by Bike

My friend Bryan, with whom I’ve been living for the last year, is heading off on a round-the-world bike ride for an indeterminate amount of time.   So I had to find a new place to live.  The Masala Co-op had a summer sublet opening, and I jumped at it.  I used to be on the board of the Boulder Housing Coalition, which owns Masala (and Chrysalis, another co-op downtown), and I lived here for the summer of 2004, before heading to Baja to kayak that fall.  And of course… I was determined to do the move by bike.

I was a little surprised to realize I’ve never moved by bike before.  Mostly I think this is because (regardless of the mode of transportation…) I hate moving.  My last few moves have been between California and Colorado.  Doable by bike only for the ultraminimalist.  I think my last real across town move was within Pasadena in the fall of 2001, and that was done with the cargo van I ultimately ended up living in the following year.

I’d always imagined having it be a big bike-move party, where you call in any friend with a trailer or a cargo bike to move en masse on one day.  But because I was remodeling my room at Masala before moving in, this wasn’t really the way it worked.  I didn’t know exactly when I’d be ready to move, and as it turned out, I was ready for different stuff to arrive at different times, so it worked out to be easier for me to just do it all myself, one load at a time, as I was ready for things.  I was able to skip the whole “living out of boxes” experience this way too, which was nice.  When I had a place ready for my bookshelf, I brought over the shelf and my books.  When I’d finally built shelving into my closet, I brought over my clothing and outdoors gear.  Everything always had a place to live, and I don’t think I lost anything.  At least, I haven’t noticed it yet if I did.

Using your own power to move every single physical thing you own definitely makes you think about each one of those things.  Whether you really need it.  Whether it’s really worth having.  Especially when in the end, it’s all got to fit into a single room, without the luxury (or curse) of a garage or shed for overflow.  I think it’s a good filtering experience.  In the end it took a total of 7 loads on the biggest of the Bikes at Work trailers that Community Cycles has, and lets its members borrow.  I don’t think it was significantly more difficult or annoying than moving by truck or van would have been.  With low enough gears (the kind found on any mountain bike) even climbing up the hill on 9th St. was very manageable.  Certainly not fast, but in this context, who cares?  It’s a once a year thing… at most!

Bed on a BIke
As soon as I finished building the loft, I wanted to get my bed moved. Sleeping (and waking up) in a place really makes it seem much more like "home". This was the first full load, brought over in the dead of night, which was good for being able to take up the entire lane without pissing anyone off... but not so good for getting whoops and hollers and wide-eyed gawkers. There was one group of students drinking on their porch though... "Holy shit, was that a bed?"

Desk and Bookshelf on a Bike
With the painting and loft construction done, I could bring over all of the big, room filling stuff. I was happy to find that my desk and bookshelf worked together so well on the trailer. Sabrina was kind enough to help me get them into my room.

Coffee Table and Office Chair on a Bike
More bulky furniture, making the room appear furnished... despite lacking the contents of my closet. Little details like... a change of clothes! The Persian carpet did a nice job of protecting the finish on the coffee table, too.

All the Little Things
Once I got the shelving in my closet built, I could bring over all the little stuff that needed a place to live. Outdoors gear and clothing mostly. Surprisingly dense stuff, compared to the much more impressive looking furniture. There was another load like this, with books, and all the other things that go in my bookshelf and on my desk, which I didn't get a shot of, because it was raining at the time.

More clothes and housewares
Another big pile of miscellaneous goods. Some of it is housewares, which given the state of the Masala kithchen ended up in deep, inaccessible storage in the back of the storage area above my closet. For use in a future homemaking expedition... maybe.

The Final Load
Bike on Bike. Until this point, I'd just been swapping out bikes at Bryan's house whenever I needed to do a trailer run.

Two dudes, two bikes.
As I was headed out to return the empty trailer to Community Cycles anyway, I offered Tim a ride. The drivetrain on his poor steed was rusted solid, and needed some serious TLC. But without a bike, it was going to be a pain to get out to the shop in East Boulder. I know, I know. The Bikes at Work trailers aren't designed to carry people... but they're totally capable of it. And we're all grownups here... right?