Driving a Rickshaw

"Do you have, like, really strong calves? I bet you have strong calves. Your going to get soo many girls!" (I can only hope)

- Drunk college girl riding back to the dorms 

Driving a rickshaw is quite an interesting and enjoyable experience, not to mention profitable. In other cultures it's seen as nearly rock bottom for unskilled manual labor. In Oxford, it's seen as a novelty and a convenient mode of transportation. 

When I first got the idea of driving one, I was afraid it would ruin cycling for me. I thought I'd be too tired to do regular fun rides. But, after the first month of driving, I've realized I was afraid for nothing. My mind wants them to be the same, but they're far from it. A bicycle (specifically a racing bike) is light and agile. It accelerates well and leans into the corners. A rickshaw is big, cumbersome, slow, and heavy. The only similarities are the open air and pedalling. 

The rickshaws I drive have an electric assist in the front wheel that helps to maintain momentum. At first I wanted to think that I was contributing the majority of the propelling force. But after some experimenting and having two batteries die on me, I've realized that, at best, I contribute 10 - 15% with the other 85 - 90% being electric or gravity. In a flat city, I might be able to get by without electric power, but in the hills of Oxford, it's an absolute necessity. I can barely pedal an empty cab up hills; there's no way I could haul people up these hills. 

Some people are sadistic though, "Let's see if this scrawny kid can pedal 1000lbs of fat redneck up University Ave!"

Two of them ended up pushing, and I got paid $20 for less than 10 minutes of work. Fortunately those are few and far between. I might just say no next time though.

For the most part, it's as easy or as hard as I want to make it. However, I have noticed an increase in power on my mountain bike. If Oxford was flat, I'd look into investing in my own cab and truly working for myself. A smoother drive train would be nice. I'm not sure I want to invest in the necessary electric components though. I do plan on swapping in my own saddle and maybe pedals too.

I'll be chronicling some of my experiences and observations of driving a rickshaw so stay tuned!

Strava

I have to admit, I'm liking my new phone more and more. It's quite convenient to do so much with one device - tracking ride data, playing music, taking pictures, etc. Strava is probably the app I've been most excited about, to see how I stack up against other riders. I also found it to be quite motivating.

With the storm of the year looming just hours away, I set off to find empty trails - a good time to test the Strava waters. I didn't target any specific segments, just rode the normal training loop at semi-race-pace. I did fairly well considering the trails are covered in leaves and pine straw. Towards the end of the ride, I tried riding over a fallen tree a little too fast. I got the front wheel over fine, but the rear popped up too high and sent me over the bars. The landing knocked the wind out of me but no cuts or bruises.

Looking at the individual segments, it turns out that the guy with the most KOMS (King of the Mountain) doesn't even live here any more. Hopefully, we can get the trails cleaned up in another month or two to get some faster times.

New Tech

Retrogrouch - noun
1. One who is skeptical of technological developments until their usefulness and reliability have been proven.
2. One who insists on minimalist equipment that may be user-serviced.
(seemingly coined by the cycling community, just search the term with Google)

In a culture that ties self worth with always having the latest and greatest technology, it's fun to be different and use old technology even after it's been deemed obsolete. Most people seem to upgrade phones as often as possible, but for me this raises the question: how long can a phone last?

In my case study of one, the answer is about five years. Even with such impressive specs as the Motorola Quantico, the rubber buttons on the side started to dry rot and fall off. It seems self destruction is imminent. This has me finally looking for a smart phone; even though, I'll lose part of my retrogrouch identity.

While I've never gotten caught up in phone tech, bike technology is a different story. My old bike may be a rigid single speed, but it has plenty of (what was) new technology: 29er wheels, tubeless tires, carbon fiber fork, disk brakes, etc. Those were new at the time, but as anyone in the sport knows, the bike industry has been booming for the last 10 years or so.

With carbon frames, hydraulic disk brakes, fine tuned suspension, and every realistic wheel size covered, what else is left? There's a definite risk of stagnation coming over the next few years. But who knows, maybe we'll see 3d printed, complex nano structured frames and/or suspension components that weigh 1/2lbs. Or lightweight, continuously variable, internally geared hubs. Or maybe someone will finally develop a comfortable saddle.

It'll be interesting to see where the industry goes from here. In the meantime keep riding whatever's fun.