More than I could chew

So I finally bit off more than I could chew with the xtracycle. At least I didn't choke.

Yesterday I had grand plans to go buy a pair of half wine barrels to use for flowers and herbs in the front and back yard. I found someone selling some on craigslist who was only 25 blocks or so away from us and figured I could just strap one to each side of the xtracycle. My plans got a little more complicated when Jula literally begged me to let her go with me. She was so excited about going and I figured that her 30 extra pounds wouldn't matter that much.

I when I finally made it out to the sellers house and picked up one of the barrels I quickly realized that I was in for more than I bargained for. Not only were the barrels a bit heavier than I had anticipated but they were much larger than I had imagined. The FreeLoader bags wouldnt actually wrap around them at all and I only had one compression strap with me to compliment my pile of bungee cords. My first thought was that I was worried that it would be a bit dangerous to have Jula on the back, especially if one of them fell off or something dramatic. To complicate things further I only have one WideLoader for the xtracycle so only one of the barrels would actually be well supported. If I had two WideLoaders and Jula wasn't with me I probably would have been more adventurous and given it a go.

In the end it was really meant to be. These barrels were going to be $30 each and my mother told me later that she can get them for $10 each so it all worked out well. Additionally the route that I took across the Sunset district was quite hilly and I got a pretty good workout and enjoyed a few pretty nice downhill runs so the trip wasn't a total failure. :)