They use their tikits for around the block, and around the world
Paris, Italy, Berkeley ...-- by Eric and Jennifer Berlow
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Who needs a fancy convertible to impress your gal? Jenn was so impressed, she got a tikit too!
After miraculously recovering his stolen tikitTM with the help of the Berkeley bicycle community, Eric has been using it to the max - around the block, around town, and now, around the world. We asked him to tell us more, and he did - from somewhere in Paris!
I'M ON THE ROAD right now, taking the bike to Paris, then Chamonix, then Germany, and finally to Rome to meet Jenn for our bicycle tour in Italy. But so far, here are the funnest urban uses for the tikitTM:
1) Living in the Berkeley/Oakland, one of the biggest frustrations with the public transportation to San Francisco is that it stops at ~ midnight.
So if you want to BART/Bike to go out a night, you’re kind of stuck. You end up driving in, but spend 30 min driving in circles looking for parking. So Jenn and I have been using the tikitTM to find a creative alternative to this problem.
We pack the 2 tikits in her very small car (2 big bikes would be tough). We drive over the bridge and get off at one of the first exits and park where there is not much nightlife (i.e. lots of parking).
Pull out the bikes and paint the town red, stay out as late as we want, have fun zooming through traffic, enjoying the *process* of getting to the party/bar/club etc. Fold up the bikes, bring em in the bar – tuck them away where the coats go, or near the entry. [Rather like the tikit on Trial experiment - Ed]
Then when it’s time to go – bike to the car, fold 'em, pack 'em, hop on the bridge, and home in 15 min!
Cafe life in Paris, Berkeley ... the tikitTM will take you there.
2) I work in Yosemite and Berkeley, so I have to do a long commute.
I leave my work car on the UCM campus in Merced. Take the tikit on the Amtrak and have a pleasant 3hr ride with outlets for my laptop. I get work done instead of sitting in traffic on the 580.
The only thing that made this viable was the trailer. When I leave Berkeley to go back to Yosemite, I always have a tone of groceries, etc. for the week. So with the trailer, I packed a good week’s worth of Berkeley groceries and hopped on the train. Then the UCM campus is about 7 miles from the Amtrak, so it’s a pleasant ride with a trailer full of groceries. Then pick put the work car, and drive to Yosemite from Merced.
The challenge with this way is that I bring the trailer on with wheels and all, so it’s a bit unwieldy (and heavy with groceries) to bring on the train. Fortunately, they have a big luggage area downstairs that accommodates bikes.
3) For fun, pack my girlfriend in the trailer and take her to the dinner party.
'Nuff said! Hopefully I’ll have some more to tell soon!
