Minuteman Bike Traile with the new Burley

Saturday morning I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful couple up in New Hampshire who were selling a Burley bicycle trailer that was in excelent shape. Like new in fact. I bought it and quickly made arrangements with my wife and another trailer-towing couple to head for the Minuteman Trail to try it out. We met yesterday morning at the Bedford end. It was colder than I would have liked for my baby's first bike ride but we bundled him up and at the end, he seemed no worse for wear.

The Burley Encore trailer went together in a jiffy and was very sturdy. The nylon covering was tight and there were no rips or tears any where on the trailer. The only design flaw that I saw was that to use the flag there had to be a small opening where the cover did not fit all the way on the frame. Not a big deal unless it was raining, which it wasn't. On the trail the width took some getting used to. The weight of the trailer, and The Bruce, was noticeable but not overwhelming. Once underway it didn't really slow me down all that much.

The trail, on the other hand was a but of a disappointment. I had expected something wider and nicer from the grand-daddy of the Mass Bike tails. It was crowded, but not overly so, with walkers and joggers. There were PLENTY of recreational cyclist and families out too. The little ones trying out their first little bikes with their training wheels were adorable. We had the only two trailers that I saw. Honestly, I wish that there had been a lot less traffic out there as I was still just learning how to maneuver the Burly.

I have a pet-peeve about cycling and that is Road Bikers. Not a guy on a road bike, or even a couple of people out on road bikes together. NO, the thing that scalds my butter is when a gang of six, ten or twenty of the lycra-clad once a week cyclists with bikes that cost more than my car spew out of the suburban bike shops lots to clog the roads and (yes) sidewalks pretending to be some European TT star or whatever fantasies are being played out under those $300 lids. As obnoxious as they are on the roads, at least they are in an environment where people walking their dogs or letting their children ride little tricycles and stuff. These people with their inflated Egos and low self esteems do NOT belong coursing down the MUP at twenty miles and hour in big gangs. They didn't bother me any or I would have been in the news this morning instead of typing this but the behavior that I saw was atrocious. A few years ago I had a Harley Davidson motorcycle. I loved that bike but in the and d I couldn't STAND the Harley "people" and did not ever want the "real" motorcycling public to think of me as one of those Hayley Guys. I sold it. I smell the same smell coming off the Road Bikers as I did the Harley Guys. I love my Vintage road bikes but I'm not sure any more that I will by buying a modern one any time in the future. They come with a smell that is distasteful to me.