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Cyclist rubbishes social media outrage at video of him carrying Christmas tree and kids by cargo bike

"If a motorist failed to see a 6ft man carrying a 7ft Christmas tree in broad daylight on a 20mph cycleway it would indeed be the driver's fault..."...

A London cyclist has shut down criticism from some of the 40,000 people who have viewed a video of him transporting his Christmas tree home by bike, after the post attracted comments from some who suggested the trip put his kids in danger, despite them in fact being safely sat on the cargo bike's two kids' seats while the tree was strapped securely to a footplate.

Perhaps the public's cargo bike education could do with some work, (reading road.cc Simon's first-hand account of borrowing a cargo bike to carry a chest of draws across London might be a good place to start), Rich from Hoxton in east London, pointing out the legally converted electric Yuba Mundo V2 longtail cargo bike can more than handle a short trip carrying two children, an adult and a Christmas tree.

"They have a good footplate which can hold the weight nicely and it can strap on very securely leaving the two kids seats still clear," he explained to road.cc. "We use the bike for everything — school runs, days out, ferrying kids, carrying heavy things."

The video has caused some outraged commenting online, numerous responses to Rich's post accusing him of putting his kids in danger, one reply calling the Christmas tree-carrying "irresponsible" and another "absolutely ridiculous".

However, Rich responded to the critics: "The absolute state of the triggered loons in the replies to my Tree By Bike. My 5mph cargo bike ride on a cycleway is not putting my kids in danger! Your driving at above 30mph in a 20 zone is putting my kids in danger.

"If a motorist failed to see a six-foot man on a large bike carrying a seven-foot Christmas tree and two kids in broad daylight on a 20mph designated cycleway it would indeed be the driver's fault. Is the problem that the tree doesn't have fairly lights?!"

> "But tradespeople can't carry their stuff around by bike" – oh yes they can! How cargo bikes are changing the way people work

"We are obviously very mindful and fearful of road safety and the only thing that stops us using it more is lack of safety on certain roads/routes which means not all local journeys are currently possible this way with the kids," he explained further to road.cc. "But with a carrier bike and enough safe streets/routes there is no need for the average family to drive a car here."

Rich and his kids picked up the tree from Essex Road and pedalled it home for "probably only 3/4 of a mile". "We get a tree every year by bike (usually from Columbia Road Flower Market) because we don't have a car and it's hard work carrying by hand. Plus the kids love it," he added.

Thankfully, most seemed to understand the workings of a cargo bike, and its shocking ability to carry more than one person and a heavy load, one initially sceptical reply saying: "At first glance I thought 'that looks dodgy'. But when I thought about it, what makes it potentially dangerous would be cars whizzing about around them. I did far worse when I was a kid. The kids have helmets now and they are safely seated."

"Comments on here… Some people genuinely fear bikes. I can't see what worst possible outcome could be. They're going 5mph," another added.

Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.

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15 comments

Avatar
a1white | 9 months ago
2 likes

I got my, albeit much smaller, potted Christmas tree home last weekend, from my local B&Q on my Croix-de-fer in in my volumous Ortlieb pannier bags together with a big bag of potting compost, on the other side, to re-pot it when I get home (so hopefully it will survive until next year). Was a heavy load, but once you're moving it's fine.

Avatar
ubercurmudgeon | 9 months ago
3 likes

What is more dangerous: taking your kids on a cargo bike or driving a two-tonne SUV with a bonnet so high that you cannot see your kids when they're standing in front of it? If you have to ask, you better hope your kids are receiving better physics lessons in their school than you did in yours.

Avatar
Teapot-Dave | 9 months ago
9 likes

What else is a cargo-bike for? I expect that the children were really excited at bringing the Christmas-Tree home like that.

 

 

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Cocovelo | 9 months ago
2 likes

What's a chest of draws?

Avatar
brooksby replied to Cocovelo | 9 months ago
7 likes
Cocovelo wrote:

What's a chest of draws?

It's a special cabinet wherein one may keep one's pencils and pens.  As any fule kno.  3

Avatar
andystow replied to Cocovelo | 9 months ago
9 likes
Cocovelo wrote:

What's a chest of draws?

It's a chester drawers.

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Runtilyoudrop replied to Cocovelo | 9 months ago
7 likes

It's where you have a lot of tattoos on your chest.

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Rapha Nadal | 9 months ago
6 likes

The tree isn't wearing a helmet nor high viz. Bet it doesn't pay road tax either.

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Rome73 | 9 months ago
11 likes

When my daughter started school we used an Urban Arrow. After school we would sometimes go to the park with all the other kids and parents. The queue of kids who wanted a go in the Urban Arrow was always enormous. Kids love cargo bikes. 

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the little onion replied to Rome73 | 9 months ago
1 like

I do regret that circumstances meant that I never used a cargo bike to transport the kids. I'm just in the limbo zone between them being too big for a cargo bike, yet too small to share a tandem.

 

Avatar
Steve K replied to the little onion | 9 months ago
1 like
the little onion wrote:

I do regret that circumstances meant that I never used a cargo bike to transport the kids. I'm just in the limbo zone between them being too big for a cargo bike, yet too small to share a tandem.

 

How big are they?  I regularly transport my 10 and 12 year old (one at a time) by cargo bike.

Avatar
sheridan replied to the little onion | 9 months ago
3 likes
the little onion wrote:

I do regret that circumstances meant that I never used a cargo bike to transport the kids. I'm just in the limbo zone between them being too big for a cargo bike, yet too small to share a tandem.

Give it a few years (well, decades) and you'll be old enough that you'll need them to carry you around using a cargo bike.

 

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IanMK | 9 months ago
14 likes

What fabulous Christmas memory for those kids. Love it.

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Boopop | 9 months ago
8 likes

Twitter is trash, glad I don't go on it as much as I used to.

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a1white replied to Boopop | 9 months ago
1 like

totally. I left jsut after it became X. it was pretty toxic before Elon, now those kind of posts are actively promoted.

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