unposted comments from the last week

I may have mentioned that we have hawks living in our neighborhood. I am not sure whether they are Cooper's Hawks or Sharp-shinned hawks, but I think they are Cooper's Hawks. I hear them calling regularly. Friday morning, while toying around in the garage with a new-to-us toy (more on that in a moment), I heard one very close by. I backed out of the garage and looked up, and there were two in the tree at the other end of the garage. Sadly, I didn't have a camera in hand--one had some freshly-caught food in its talon, and flew off to savor it after watching me for a moment to see whether I was a threat.

Saturday morning, on the way to work, Jenn spotted one on a fence right by our intended route in time for me to stop the bike and enjoy watching it for a moment before it flew away. Again, sadly, no camera in hand--these are pretty raptors.

The new-to-us toy is a Burley Lite trailer that Jenn found during one of her thrift-store jaunts. She called me on Thursday to verify whether I'd want her to buy it. The price was excellent, so I agreed. Digging around on the Burley site, I found the owner's manual for the thing, suggesting that it is at latest a 1998 model. The copyright date on the manual is 1992, suggesting the model was built for at least a few years in the 1990s.

It differs from my existing trailer in several ways: the frame is similar in construction, as it's aluminum tubing. This one has hoops that guard the wheels, though. The wheels are larger (406 ETRTO), and built more like regular bicycle wheels (steel spokes, alloy rims), with quick-release hubs, compared to the 16" plastic wheels on my Safety-1st brand trailer. The hitch attaches to the chain stay and seat stay, unlike the existing trailer that only "grabs" the chain stay.

We've not decided how we are going to use the trailer. We are considering keeping it as a second cargo buggy, and have thought about adding a wood floor supported by the frame to protect the nylon pack-cloth floor already there. The wood floor would have the additional benefit of being able to support Cisco should we take him for a ride.



Jenn is certain that Cisco would enjoy going for a bike ride with us. I figure he'd enjoy it more if he got to sit/lay down on a more solid floor than the existing one, and if I make a plywood floor for the trailer, I'll add a layer of closed-cell foam so that his claws don't slide around so much.

Of course, another option is to sell one or the other trailer, and keep the one we like best. Both trailers are rated at a hundred pounds carrying capacity, but the larger wheels on the Burley should make that one easier to pull. I can pull the Safety 1st one with my Vanguard, as it only connects to the chain stay--the Burley attaches to both the chain stay and the seat stay, and the Vanguard already has its kickstand mounted there. I know I can pull the Burley with my Raleigh, and that Jenn can pull the Safety 1st with her Peugeot. We haven't tried the Burley hitch on her bike yet--I'm sure that "connectivity" will be a factor in our decision.

I'll have to get some pictures of this thing and post them soon.