This little side project actually started out some years before, beginning with a minor crash. Actually, it was a roll over, where Andy leaned with the turn instead of against it, entering the library packing lot a bit too quickly. Strapped in and secure, the boy was totally fine, but came out mad as hell I scared him so badly. Upon returning home, noticed a crack in the upper frame, so just didn’t seem right hauling Andy around, not being properly protected any longer.

The wheels and main trailer frame sat in the garage dusty for years, until our future vacation plans potentially included bicycles. We were to ride a nice long paved trail on down the Pacific Coast, so I wanted a more convenient way for hauling all of our provisions. Finally, time had come to repurpose that old bike trailer!

With threaded steel rods extending both up and down, constructed remaining structure using stiff wooden dowels slipped inside flexible PVC pipe. Essentially did just a bit of “glue and screw” until the basic frame was together.

From there, took an old canvas tent that was also stuffed into a corner of the garage, measured and cut it to size as a rough box shape, leaving plenty extra for the seams. Seriously abused Heather’s nice electric sewing machine when stitching up the sides and cover, but everything held together until I was done. With a flashing tail light attached for safety, hooked it up to the old GT Avalanche, and that old bicycle trailer was ready to roll again!

Overall, this homemade cargo trailer performed extremely well for the intended purpose, although our family ride down the coast turned out to be a lot shorter that I expected. With all the additional trouble bringing this bulky trailer along on vacation, it ended up seeming to offer us rather dubious practical value, at best.

Still for me, a fun little side project. Who really knows, maybe it will get more use in the future, someday…

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.

– H.G. Wells