From Beuel to the Nordstadt Bonn man moves with a caravan of freight bicycles

Bonn · A caravan of freight bicycles was the means of transport in a house move from Beuel to the northern part of Bonn on the weekend. In one go, the 20 cyclists transported his entire household through the city.

A caravan of bicycles loaded with an entire household pushed its way through Bonn on Sunday. The twenty or so bikes were cycled for miles from Beuel to the Nordstadt, carrying numerous packing cases and furniture, including washing machines and refrigerators. Maurice from Bonn has moved, and this time he didn't want to move by car or even by a moving company. "I wanted to book a van first and noticed how expensive it is," he says. For years, he has been transporting everything on his freight bike in everyday life anyway. Although the idea was just a joke at first, the decision was also for environmental reasons: "I think it's funny, but also terrible, what people get into their cars for," he says.

About three weeks ago, Maurice posted his project on the Facebook page of the Critical Mass Community, a movement that regularly draws attention to the concerns of cycling with large bicycle tours. Many helpers with load bikes responded. He already knew some of them, but also strangers contacted him. All helpers thought the idea was a good one and wanted to participate. "I got a lot of positive feedback", Maurice says.

When all the load bikes had gathered in front of Maurice's door in Beuel, the caravan mission started: The 20 helpers loaded boxes, furniture and potted plants onto the many bikes, some with more of Maurice's household, others with less. "The largest parts, of course, had to be put on the largest wheels. If you start with the small things, you have a problem," says Maurice.

2.5 metre sofa on the load wheel

His two and a half metre wide sofa found its place in a load trailer of the Bonn load wheel rental company "Bolle", which also carried some load wheels. The same goes for the "VeloWerft" cargo bike project. After everything had been stowed on the bicycles, the moving caravan set off: from Beuel across the Kennedy Bridge to the northern part of Bonn - and didn't go unnoticed: "Of course something like this causes irritation, and people sometimes honk their horns. But most of them reacted with amusement, enthusiastically or maybe helplessly," says the Bonn native.

After two kilometres there was the first breakdown: One of the load bikes had a flat tire. But after it was quickly mended by a riding bike technician, the move continued. The cyclists transported Maurice's household over Bonn's streets for about eight kilometres. After three quarters of an hour his belongings arrived at the new address, without losses and in one go. No more annoying driving back and forth by car was necessary. "The fact that we were able to do this in one go surprised me," says Maurice. For unloading, the group formed a chain to take everything from the bicycles to the new home. Maurice thanked all with pizza and beer in the new garden.He would also do the next move with freight bicycles again, as long as he didn't add much more household items. "This was a huge organisational effort, but it was definitely much more fun than a normal move," Maurice says.

(Original text: Jana Fahl, Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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