Price of soil - $1.57/40# bag

March 28, 2012

Planning ahead is not necessarily one of my strong suits, but then again neither is extravagant spending. So you can imagine my nonplussedness when I arrived at the hardware store with a hankerin' for topsoil, but without any bungee cords! So I found a stout, yet inexpensive nylon twine and made a purchase!

Sometimes the sprightly yet swift handling of the modern USian bicycle can be disconcertingly invigorating to a staid personality such as mine. That is why I felt quite comfortable tying a 40-pound bag of topsoil

on the trusty, 21-year-old Blackburn Mtn Rack

and riding up and down a few hills to return to my homestead.

I was actually very pleased with the handling of the Old Bastard while transporting this earthy burden. Old B was sedate and smooth. Just like my digestive system. Plenty of momentum, which actually even seemed to help on the uphills!? I may have to find a 40-pound pet of some sort to cart around in a pet basket of some sort. I made it home without popping a spoke or a tyre, and I had 2 to3 credit cards' thickness worth of brake pad leftover! I was impressed with myself.

Although the Old B is heavy by US standards (about 2 stones with no accessories), I am pretty sure he's right around the world average. Let me check on that. Yep, took a worldwide survey and 2 stones and 5 cobbles is the world average.  Here is a summary of bicycle-slimming trends.  Also, although the Blackburn Mtn Rack held the load admirably (beyond its rated load capacity of approximately 2 stone), many foreign bicycles have been known to transport up to 3 family members to and from school on a daily basis. I should mention that the Mtn rack makes a pretty decent rear fender and also may have prevented some wheel damage in a slight rack-bender that I experienced with a car back in my younger years.  What we USians lack in slenderliness, we USian bicyclists attempt to make up for in our concern with bicycle hardware weightliness. Having said all that, I am pretty sure that Old B is heavier than 4 fat rabbits I have seen out cavorting happily with the bosomy robins tweeting contentedly about their way. So maybe if I can't find a 40 pound kangaroo to cart around I should just go with 4 fat rabbits. After seeing many fat rabbits on my bicycling experiences I began singing a song to myself, called "Fat Rabbit," which is based on the Foreigner tune "Hot Blooded." I was amused, as I am just as easily amused with myself as I am impressed with myself.

As it is now very warm out, I've been engaged in a moderate amount of bicycle-related activities. I put on a pair of new spokes! Just in time for some topsoil hauling. Whooo-yeah!

As many of my animal friends can appreciate, spring is a time of sowing seeds and hoping that they come into contact with a fertile substrate. To that end, I planted some grass seed and some salad greens last weekend. I neglected to check the status of my topsoil supply (yeah, I know, rookie mistake). So I threw down some topsoil, raked and watered and then kicked back with a glass of The Three Philosophers Belgian beer/ale mix. Delightful!  Now if I can just tempt a 40-lb. kanga and/or 4 fat rabbits into my passenger crate I'll be blessed with smooth riding for the foreseeable future.  Hippity-hoppity!