Why It Came to Be

To understand why this cargo bike takes the shape it does, it is important to examine the influences that shaped its creation. It may only be a bike, it may only be a means to haul a load using muscle power, but its unique layout exists as it does in part because of its pleasant profile and also to its rigidity and brute strength. These two qualities contribute to the final design, to be sure, but the design has its origins in Adolf Hitler's defense of the Fatherland in 1945.

As the allied armies swept into Germany, it soon became apparent that the German army was the most mobile fighting force ever. They could send forces to meet a threat that did not exist just yesterday. Much of that success lay with the Autobahn. Everyone from General Eisenhower to Private Benjamin was impressed with this ribbon of concrete that stretched out in all directions. The significance of this roadway was not lost on those schooled in the art of killing. The modern commuter war had arrived.

Some years later, a war hero who found himself at the head of the executive branch of government in the USA was chatting with his buddies during a round of golf. War stories, mildly off color jokes and even a few lies comprised the banter accompanying the foursome around the course. Life was good. It was in this spirit, while sitting in the shade of a magnolia tree and sipping a mint julep, that one of the war heroes says to the other "wouldn't it be something if we had a road system like those krauts had? We could move armies, missiles, atom bombs, tanks, some of those new jet planes and anything else we wanted to with no problems at all.” [Ed note: kraut, as used here, is part of the 1950s vernacular and refers to persons of the German persuasion. It is no longer considered acceptable]. The golf buddies all agreed what a wonderful idea it is to build a highway system and in 1956, congress, there being no leadership at the time, said sure, go for it, whatever.

What it authorized is well documented and well known. What is even more striking is what it did not authorize.

Congress did not authorize millions of miles of bike boulevards and people movers, preferring to move automobiles rather than people. Congress did not spawn new industries dedicated to building intercity high speed trains and mag lev vehicles. Instead it rolled over and played dead as the oil and rubber companies bought out interurban rail lines just to shut them down. It gave the green light to the burning of millions and billions of tons of oil and gasoline. We were directed to the all you can eat buffet of extraction and exploitation.

Growing up in east central Missouri, within spitting distance of one of the new interstate highways just being built, was a boy living the idyllic life similar to the one described by Mark Twain. He lived on a small farm, complete with creeks, a wooded area and most importantly, a small lake. This lake was the source of amusement for countless wilderness adventures. A skating rink in the winter, a fishing hole the rest of the year. Abundant wildlife, including turtles, waterfowl, bright and colorful fishes and countless other species shared this small piece of aquatic heaven. The place was a beautiful, living thing. Until the highway opened.

When the cars and trucks began rolling down the highway, a rainbow-like sheen descended upon the lake. Curious it was. It took less than a year for the brightly colored sun perch to disappear, apparently suffocated. Bluegill lasted a bit longer but soon, they too were gone, sacrificed to the automotive Gods. The waterfowl left and didn't return. The turtles sought other digs. After the cars came, the lake became home to frogs and tadpoles and little else. It had become a toxic waste site.

The death of this beautiful little pond is the reason the bicycle that is the subject of this exercise came to be. Being a witness to the environment disaster that played out in east central Missouri, the boy growing up downwind of the freeway vowed that he would never participate in this automotive madness. A laudable goal, to be sure, but anyone who has lived car free in the USA realizes just how difficult our poor planning and lack of leadership has made it for those living without the automobile. There exist entire communities with no provisions made to accommodate pedestrians much less bicyclers. These obstacles notwithstanding, living car free presents challenges other than those thrown up by our own lack of planning. The biggest challenge is how to transport a load reliably, with authority and with a great deal of control and safety. This bike does all those things.