Your Stories: Moving House by e-bike
From Bob Johnstone
I've long been an enthusiastic bicycle user, appreciating both the benefits to my health and to the environment that come from cycling, rather than driving.
When I heard that Green Hive had an impressive cargo bike and trailer, I looked forward to trying it out. This summer, when my partner and I found ourselves moving house by just a mile, it seemed a great opportunity to put this equipment to the test.
The trailer will carry 150kg when pulled behind a bicycle. I knew from a previous house move that the contents of our house (and garden) weigh about 3000kg, so we would need to do at least 20 trips, but probably not more than 30.
The trailer proved very easy to load, with its large, flat load-bed and the stability of its three wheels. Travelling by bicycle, we could take a direct route across town and avoid the dreaded A96 traffic.
Ironically, the only difficult section of the route was on the National Cycle Network route 1, where metal barriers obstructed the path and forced me to cycle across the grass.
In the end, we found that we could move all of our things using the bicycle trailer. It took 28 trips, spread over a week, so it was a more gradual process than if we had hired a van. It was good fun though and avoided the stress of driving a potentially lethal vehicle.
We're very grateful to Green Hive for making the bike and trailer available to us - they are a great resource for Nairn. I encourage anyone else who is thinking of making use of them not to hesitate. Nairn is so easy to get around by bike and there isn't much that you can't move using that trailer.