From Sightline's awesome round-up of cargo bike photos, comes this picture of Patrick Barber practicing for the impending arrival of his and his partner's first child by riding his covered wagon to church.
Barber is the elder of the Northwest community of the little-known Christiana Order Danish Amish. Like their more prominent German-Swiss cousins in Pennsylvania, the Christiana Amish are excellent stewards of the land; eschew motorized transport; wear unusually well-made, utilitarian clothing; and speak in an esoteric dialect that is nearly incomprehensible to outsiders.
Which you can get a sample of on Barber's flickr stream, because Christiana Amish love photographs.
Correction: I am informed that Barber is not Amish, just from Portland, and Christiana is a brand of awesome family bikes from Denmark, not a religion. Though from this vantage point, it's hard to tell the difference. Carry on!
Actual Correction: longtime DT reader Alison points out that I not only typed, I mistyped. The
bikes are Christiania, as in the semi-autonomous commune within Copenhagen. For my pretend cluelessness and my real cluenessness, I clearly deserve to walk the plank.
Cargo Bikes | human-powered pickup trucks (and minivans) [sightline.org via mathowie]
Taking the Christiania to church (008) [flickr]
Christiania Bikes: 30 Years of Experience [christianiabikes.com]
Hi there,
I wrote a rather lengthy love letter/review of our trike on my blog, Vélocouture, if you want to know more about it.
http://velocouture.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/our-christiania-trike/
You'll be relieved to know that I have grown in my moustache, and also that our trike will soon sport a fancy Bugatti cover, which will, God willing, bring all comparisons to a covered wagon to a screeching halt.
Cheers
Patrick