Friday, April 02, 2004
Never Post Angry
Caveat: As a general rule I try not to post when angry, bored or, as has been the case recently, when I am sad. Last week we had to put down our dog, Kala. She has been with me since I was 19 and I can’t express the level of sadness I have experienced since she passed. However, now that a week has gone by I can again see the forest for the trees and at least for short periods of time I can focus on lighter topics.
Bike racks and the double hitch system:
Where to put all of our toys is becoming a common theme. In our attempt to mount bicycles to our camper we bought a fancy Yakima hitch-mounted, swiveling, bike rack. The idea being that it can mount in the rear hitch, and because it swivels open, we can still get into the camper. This plan was just fine until we figured out that we will need a cargo carrier, or rear “porch”, to haul our generator and extra fuel. No big deal we’ll just install a front hitch and put the bikes up there, simple enough right? No of course it cannot be that simple. Last weekend we assembled the bike rack, it is HUGE. Were we to mount it onto the front of the truck we would be able to haul our bikes, yes, but seeing the road, not so much.
What to do, what to do??? This is when the epiphany came to me. The double hitch. Now I am assuming that I am not the first person to ever come up with this idea but it made me feel pretty smart at the time. We are going to have a second hitch receiver welded below the existing one, in the lower hitch we will install the porch, the upper one will hold the rack. The lower hitch will not be used for towing and will only have to support about 150lbs. Yes folks we will look like the Yuppie Clampets headin’ for B-e-v-e-r-l-y, but we are embracing this fact and if mobile trailer trash is what we are meant to be, then so be it.
Bike racks and the double hitch system:
Where to put all of our toys is becoming a common theme. In our attempt to mount bicycles to our camper we bought a fancy Yakima hitch-mounted, swiveling, bike rack. The idea being that it can mount in the rear hitch, and because it swivels open, we can still get into the camper. This plan was just fine until we figured out that we will need a cargo carrier, or rear “porch”, to haul our generator and extra fuel. No big deal we’ll just install a front hitch and put the bikes up there, simple enough right? No of course it cannot be that simple. Last weekend we assembled the bike rack, it is HUGE. Were we to mount it onto the front of the truck we would be able to haul our bikes, yes, but seeing the road, not so much.
What to do, what to do??? This is when the epiphany came to me. The double hitch. Now I am assuming that I am not the first person to ever come up with this idea but it made me feel pretty smart at the time. We are going to have a second hitch receiver welded below the existing one, in the lower hitch we will install the porch, the upper one will hold the rack. The lower hitch will not be used for towing and will only have to support about 150lbs. Yes folks we will look like the Yuppie Clampets headin’ for B-e-v-e-r-l-y, but we are embracing this fact and if mobile trailer trash is what we are meant to be, then so be it.
Travel Log of Two Thirty-One Year Old RVers.