Lessons Learned from the Madsen Bike

Around the beginning of the year I discovered this thing called a cargo bike. I was very intrigued with concept of having a bike that I could carry all my children on and groceries.  For the next seven months I researched and researched and researched some more. I discovered there are two main types:

• The bakefiets originated in Holland (inspired by a bike from England).  It looks like a regular bike with a platform on the front and usually a large wooden box on top for carrying children or things.
• The long-tail bike looks like a regular bike but with an extension in back where people can sit or you can load large bags for filling with all sorts of things.

The other thing I quickly learned is that these bikes are vehicles and the price tags reflect that.  On the nicer end we are talking $5,000-$6,000.

I really wanted the yuba mundo to work out for our family.  It is $1,000 as a base model and then then you add the functionality you need with different parts.  It can carry up to three children, but if you have the infant seat attached it limits the size of the cargo bags you can attach.  I realized that we were already on the verge of outgrowing the mundo’s capabilities, but still considered it as an option since there were all sorts of hacks for expanding its capacities. Getting it outfitted for our family to ride would cost another $1,000.

The bakefiets style model I was most interested in was the babboe big because of its carrying capacity of up to four children.  I really liked the idea of being able to actually see the kids and talk with them face to face while we were biking.  The two main problems were price (it’s in the $3,000-$4,000 range), and bike a front cargo up hills without an e-assist.

During the summer while we were in Utah I was determined to test out a cargo bike.  I felt like I had reached the limits of my ability to learn online and it was just time to figure out what we liked.  My goal was to test out any model of a long-tail bike since that was more in our price range.  I called around and the only one that picked up the phone was the Madsen bike.

I came across the Madsen bike in my very first cargo bike search.  It is a a combination of a longtail bike and bakefiets, with a large plastic bucket attached to the back of the bike.  I entertained the idea for about thirty minutes, showed it to Andrew, and dismissed it as an option.  For seven months.

Then we went to test ride one and it was AMAZING. I realized after a few more weeks of research it solved all of my problems out of the box.  I could carry all three kids plus groceries.  I could strap Laura’s infant carseat in and she is ready to go, no fancy bike seats required.  The price tag was fixed without loads of add-ons at $2,000.

So now to the lessons learned:

Lesson One: it’s not about the money.  It’s about me prioritizing and consistently doing the right things and trusting God will take care of the rest.  I’m fully aware that the answer won’t always be yes or this is how, but it was instructive to see how seemingly huge hurdles aren’t for God.

I told Andrew in mid-July that I had decided that if we were to get a bike, the Madsen would be a perfect fit for our family.  I didn’t need to spend any more time pouring over blogs, discussing options on cargo bike facebook groups (the first time I’ve ever joined an expertise group there and it was so helpful!), or scouring websites.  Now I needed to figure out how to earn $2,000 since that obviously wasn’t coming out of our grad school stipend.

So I offered a prayer and explained where I was at and asked advice on how I could earn $2,000.  Then I started going through the mail and opened a letter from insurance with a $250 refund from years ago.  I couldn’t believe that within minutes I was down to $1,750.

Then I had the idea to look for used bikes on KSL in Utah.  I found three there that were around $1,000, taking me down to $750 and a way to get it here.  I called my brother first who knows lots about shipping and he said there wasn’t a good way for him to do it, which was absolutely true.  When we visited the Madsen warehouse they showed us how they have this really intense customized shipping process that they designed and build out of huge sheets of cardboard.

At this point inspiration hit and I contacted the company to see if they would ship a used bike to us.  Then I contacted Andrew’s parents who live 10 minutes away from the warehouse to see if they would test and pick up the used bike for us and deliver to the warehouse for shipping.  We got the green light on all of the above and a super great condition bike was available and purchased the next day, having figured out how to make the remaining $750 work.

As I was writing down this experience in my journal I had the clear impression that I am doing the things I need to be doing at this phase in my life, and directing more energies to create a lucrative side-hustle isn’t necessary at this time.  I also realized that God’s ways are not my ways, and he sees all the options.  It took an afternoon for him to help me come up with $1250.

Lesson Two: It’s good to do something that scares you, and reframing helps a lot.  Scary doesn’t mean wrong.

At least that is what I kept telling myself and Nathan.  My first rides on the bike did not go super great.   When its just me and the bike it nearly matches my body weight. When I add kids plus cargo it can reach 2.5 times my body weight.  It was like switching from driving a tiny honda civic to a SUV or van, it just handles very differently.

When we put Nathan in it he screamed and cried. Our neighbor commented after the first day, “Your son does not like the bike very much.” His fears passed after the second day when we went on a long ride in the neighborhood.

For the first month I was nervous every time we went out on the bike, which was at least a few times a week.  I prayed every time I was on that thing and trying to get off. The first time we did a grocery run I barely made it home (the bike was fully loaded and maxed out on weight) and I had to call my neighbor to help me get off the bike and get the kick stand up – my strength was completely gone.  She came and I shook, but whoa it felt GREAT!

Lesson Three: Hard things get easier.

I love that Madsen bike!  Barely making it around the block turned into biking 3+ miles at a time up (really really really long hills) and down hills to parks and friends houses.  We had a blast and I became a lot stronger.

Lesson Four:  We get to choose our family culture. If we imagine it, we can make it happen.

I call that huge orange bike my Joy Machine.  It has earned the title!! We have so much fun as a family with it.  We love talking together and observing nature as we go – we have plenty of time because it isn’t necessarily fast :)

There were plenty of reasons not to go out on a limb and do something new and different.  I’m so glad we silenced those voices in our head, did something in our fear zone, trusted and worked with God to find a way that worked within our reality and limits, and started something that we only had one chance to do with our young family.

The day it arrived was a super duper exciting big day.  We went to the fair with Mike and Jenny in the morning and shortly after we got home it arrived! Andrew built it for us and then we went on our first test ride around the parking lot. For as much as Nathan didn’t like it, Emily thought it was the best thing ever.  That girl has no fear!