In an image reminiscent of a picture from Hans Kemps’ wonderful book Bikes of Burden, full of photos of the frankly insane loads that some in South East Asia carry on their motorcycles, a cyclist in Cambridge amazed onlookers and brought traffic to a halt as he pedalled past with a fridge – and not a small fridge, at that – balanced on his rear rack.
One driver, John Hicks from Sawston, who was travelling with his two daughters, stopped and managed to take a picture of the intrepid cyclist, who was also caught on video.
“It was all very exciting,” said Mr Hicks. “Other cars stopped too. We just couldn’t believe it. It was the most bizarre sight.
“I don’t know how he managed to balance the fridge on the bike,” he continued.
“It caused no end of laughs. It just looked so strange. We heard he was heading to Linton which is a pretty long cycle, especially if you’re carrying a fridge on the back of a bike.”
Cambridge News, which reported the story, is trying to find out the identity of the cyclist and their newsdesk can be contacted on 01223 434439.
21 thoughts on “Cambridgeshire cyclist keeps cool as he balances fridge on back of bike (+ video)”
Oh dear, that really does
Oh dear, that really does nothing to help our cause. 🙁
Wonder how long before the story appears in the Daily Fail and it accuses us all of doing the same thing.
Must say though that he had a fair amount of speed on which obviously helped with the balance. 😀
you wouldn’t want to be hit
you wouldn’t want to be hit by a cross wind with that on the back :O
When I lived in Nigeria I
When I lived in Nigeria I used to see things like this on a regular basis. I’ve a photo somewhere of a bloke pedalling along with a tree balanced on his head. I remember seeing one bloke riding his moped with one hand while using the other to reach back and steady the heavy pillar drill he had balanced on the carrier.
Quote:I’ve a photo somewhere
I would very much like to see that picture…
The traffic on the Cambridge
The traffic on the Cambridge to Linton road (A1307) is awful. I avoid it even when cycling without a fridge.
Actually, having more weight higher up makes a bike less wobbly. High wheel “ordinary” bicycles are more stable than low slung recumbents.
I’m very familiar with
I’m very familiar with “fridge suck” when critical small parts are dropped and go missing while working on a bike but I’ve never seen a whole bike sucked under the fridge in this way before 🙂
I’m not sure what loads I’ve
I’m not sure what loads I’ve been photographed with – at least 3 settees, a fridge, 2 single mattresses in 1 load, single and double mattresses, single beds, 2 flatpack wardrobes, 4.2m lengths of timber, biggest was 5.1m. 6 x 6ft Christmas trees one year bike with train Inverness-Derby-London.
Weighed in on Dover ferry weighbridge 180Kg and have been over 250Kg
Must get a proper cargo bike……
My best has to be the
My best has to be the espresso machine and grinder! (A serious, commercial, 1-group machine, weighing around 30kg).
It was in my trailer though, not on the rack. I may be mad but I’m not that mad.
I don’t much fancy the overtaking in that 6 second video, either!
In Nigeria we actually moved
In Nigeria we actually moved house by bicycle come to think of it. I also have a photo of that somewhere. Basically we put the kitchen table upside down on top of my mate’s bicycle and tied it on. Then we loaded all our stuff on, living room suite, kitchen stuff, kerosene stove and so on. We had four people holding each leg of the table for stability and another steering the bicycle using the bars – had to go backwards as it was easiest. It only took two runs to move everything in the entire house including the beds (and they had heavy hardwood frames) and mattresses.
I saw a bloke in Cairo
I saw a bloke in Cairo cycling the wrong direction on a 3 lane highway with a set of stepladders on his head.
I’ll see if I can find it
I’ll see if I can find it Dave – while the traffic levels thru the village where I lived were pretty low it’s worth remembering that the road was extremely potholed and didn’t have an asphalt surface for the first year I was there. The locals had some pretty amazing riding skills.
The issue of stability is to do with inertia – same reason why sailing vessels with all that rigging can be so stable actually.
A trick worth trying – if you’re standing on the train/bus/tube with heavy shopping in your hand try not holding on as the train/bus/tube brakes for a stop. The trick is to let the heavy bags swing freely in your arms. Their inertia will push you in the other direction, in the other direction from the usual forces exerted that you’d expect caused by the braking motion. It seems strange but the heavy bags will actually make you more stable rather than less in other words.
I did see a bloke cycling up
I did see a bloke cycling up the hard shoulder of the M23 a few years ago with large bags swinging from his handlebars. he was just crossing the M25 bridge at the time – couldn’t believe it and this is one of the busiest junctions on the M23 – but I was by myself in the car and couldn’t call the cops on my mobile.
Look out for a real cool
Look out for a real cool competitor at the olympics.
ppf. How fantastic to see
ppf. How fantastic to see that live! You do see a lot of that in rural europe. I saw a man with a telegraph pole on his vespa in a village near Salerno in Italy. The heaviest thing I took on my trailer was a whole mini engine & g/box unit to the scrap yard many years ago.The largest was…..an upright fridge freezer! That was hard enough! have to admire the balls of the guy carrying one on a cycle rack! I wonder if we could trawl the net for more video’s?
I notice the wobble right at
I notice the wobble right at the end of the clip: the overtaking car has the whole road width but chooses not to pull right out properly to the RH lane 🙁
It was Ricardo Ricco- he’s
It was Ricardo Ricco- he’s learned his lesson and now makes sure his blood bags are stored at the correct temperature.
He must be on his way to the
He must be on his way to the Madison Ice Bike show at Milton Keynes!
The best I’ve managed was four Morris Minor suspension uprights in one pannier bag. It was very difficult to avoid cycling in circles. But I did it! :B
surprisingly, most of the
surprisingly, most of the comments in the daily mail were positive or humorous. Those that were critical were heavily red-arrowed. Maybe times are changing?
londonplayer
This guy is the ideal cyclist for many motorists. He evokes conscious feelings of either pity or amusement, rather than subconscious feelings of guilt or physical inadequacy.
@zoxed – You’re not wrong –
@zoxed – You’re not wrong – that Silver Bora looks pretty close… Normally when I’m carrying something bulky and unusual, people give me acres of room. Almost as if I’m carrying a bomb…
Perhaps the dude is using it as some sort of insurance.. “Drive into me and you’ll know about it”!
I know this man, He lives In
I know this man, He lives In Haverhill About an hour on the bus drive, He likes to collect uneeded things 😀