Cargo Tales, Pt. 10: The Morton Bros

During February, we offered families from five different schools around Wellington the opportunity to take the Yuba Spicy Curry bike home for an extended test ride, to give the cargo lifestyle a go.

We thought it would be fun to share some of the stories that we received from the families who took part. We hope that these may inspire some of you who have been considering making the jump to two wheels to come in and take a bike home for an extended test ride of your own.

Last but not least, we have the story of 'The Morton Bros', where we find out how this family managed to get on with their four boys.

In 250 words or less tell us the most important ways riding a cargobike made a positive difference to your family.

Thank you so much for this trial. There were so many positives for our whanau. I am the proud Mumma to 4 boys. They all eagerly awaited the arrival of the bike.... and there were strong discussions about who would get the first turn! Being in the fresh air cruising around our neighbourhood was definitely a positive. Being active is a goal for our family.... as a Mumma I am time poor.... I need to keep fit to keep up with my tamariki😀 I could ride my push bike.... but the thought of tackling Awa road hill makes he think twice about taking the bike. However the Spicy was so easy whipping up and down the hill multiple times a day!! Taking the bike helped me with keeping active and feeling alive and refreshed.... I never wanted to get back in the car again. Another joy was seeing the pleasure on my youngest son’s face and hearing his squeals of delight. He adores his older brothers and finally he could participate in family bike rides. Fingers crossed one day he will be able to ride a bike of his own. Eli (5) would constantly sign bike during our trial and then pick which of his brothers could sit on the back with him and who was riding their own bike. Eli was born with Down syndrome. His friend Kirsten has an electric box bike.... he is always demanding a ride on her bike home from playcentre or kindy. The excitement on his face when he saw we had a cargo bike at home was priceless.... sadly he is still signing “bike” and “gone” with a very sad face. For me taking the bike to work was a godsend.... door to door... no stress looking for parks and when work finished jump on😀

Tell us a fun story from your time riding the cargobike.

Eli and I rode the bike to Playcentre. He was busy waving to everyone as we cruised into Playcentre. He proudly pointed to the beast and signed “bike” to point out the cargo to his mates. Suddenly there was an infestation of tamariki all trying to get on the bike.... how many children can you fit on one Spicy Curry you ask? And who sits where? Eli was VERY concerned that his mates did not have helmets on.... so he ordered them all off the bike... marched them inside and enabled they put on all the play hard hats, polices hats and bowler hats!!!! For the rest of our Playcentre session the kids used the Spicy as a “fire engine”, “boat”, “helicopter” “bus” and of course “bike”🤣 Thanks team x

What surprised you the most about riding the cargobike?

The thing that surprised me most was how easy it was.... the kids were super keen to ride on the bike so they would quickly find their helmets and jump on the bike (no nagging, zero battles). We could fit so much on the bike. It was super easy whipping around our neighbourhood. Then the ride back up the hill was sweet.... crank it up to turbo, tell the kids to hold on and pedal away👍 When I ride the bike in my own I could have the electrics off and pedal away.... get to work quicker than driving in the car... having done some exercise on the way. And for-to-door commute, no parking hassles, no getting kids out of the car and worrying about the car park 😀 I am struggling driving the car!

In your childrens own words, how do they describe riding the cargobike.

Eli (5) “Mumma Mumma” signs ‘helmet’, ‘bike’. Riding with a massive smile on his face and a whoohoo.

Finn (9) “Mum this bike is so cool I love riding on it with you and Eli. To be honest I was scared at first... then I trusted you. And now I never e we want to take the car again! This ibike is sooooo cool”

Mitch (11) rings me when I’m out in the bike with his 2 younger brothers “Hi Mum can you please come home soon I really want to have a turn in the bike” and “this Spicy is do much faster than the other one we tried, it is a breeze getting up Awa road”

Lucas (14) “Hey Mum if we buy this bike can I borrow it to go out with my mates? We could pop down the warf do a manu then hit town😀”

Any further comments or feedback regarding the trial?

Thank you so much it was amazing to try out this bike over a few days. I even convinced my husband to ride the kids to the beach and use it to pop to the supermarket. I resolute hope you do more trials so other families can trial the bike and learn the joy that we have experienced. We are keen to reduce our carbon footprint.... being a large family that is harder... however investing in a Spicy curry cargo bike and selling a car would make a huge etc our footprint ❤️

 

Thanks for your story Morton Bros!

If you liked this post then make sure to have a look on our blog using the filter 'Family Rides' because we have a bunch of other stories on there from the Family Cargo Bike Trial we held this year.