Arborecycle: a simple dream

I was thinking about ideas for this post whilst driving home from LA. The land of automobiles, stripmalls, and movies stars served as the backdrop for the photographs of my woodworking products as my sister the photographer lives down there. So about a week ago, I hopped in my truck with my goods and model and headed south. As for my model for this shoot, I chose my beautiful English Roadster.

I started riding this vintage Raleigh Sport given to me by my friend Max a couple years ago. The bicycle is so beautiful. It is a black lugged steel frame (that feels more like cast iron) with stylized gold lettering. The chainring has heron cutouts radiating from the cranks. It is a ladies frame and I have had less secure men feel the need to point that out to me but I truly love the fact that the step-through frames allow you to mount the bicycle without having to throw your leg over the seat and loaded rack. I began thinking about how to carry stuff whilst riding this bicycle. I have shoulder and back problems so I have been trying to ween myself from using the messenger bag and backpack too much, especially for large grocery trips. It appeared that my two options were; pannier or basket. I set out on an epic search through thrifts stores and antique fairs to find a box or basket that would do the bicycle justice and after months of the searching high and low, I found nothing... My options seemed to be plastic milk crates, janky wine boxes, or steel baskets made in china.

So late one night in my woodshop, like a mad scientist, I stayed up most of the night creating a prototype of my ideal container utilizing scraps left over from my construction job. The first incarnation had mediocre wood, a plywood base, poor joinery and bolts sticking up through the bottom of the box. But it worked! From that point on, I was completely hooked on the idea of carrying things in a wooden box on my bicycle. I started carrying type writers, sewing machines, gallon plants from nurseries, groceries, and books.

The milling of re-claimed wood came naturally as I had a lot of practice during construction. But no matter how much experience I had, it was still time consuming and running into inconspicuous old nails, rocks, and tenacious lead paint slowed things down substantially.

Over time, through a lot of trial and error, I was able to come up with a box that didn't weigh too much but would not fall apart in your hands. The redwood held up great to rain. I racked my brain for many hours in order to figure out a universal rack mounting system that did not require welding to make, or tools to install. I experimented with planing / sanding the surface of the wood and finishing with different oils as well.

Yeah so it's a wooden box i know (yippie)... but I am proud of the fact that it is a water/rot resistant, light weight, durable, hand crafted, bicycle specific box. I first started making them for myself. Then my friends started wanting them. When people started chasing after me on my bicycle to ask where I got the box, I knew I had to start making more. That was about a year ago... Now I devote a large part of my waking life to shopping for old wood and making crafts in my shop. It has been a giant leap of faith quitting my job and starting my own cottage industry but I have found so much satisfaction from realizing my dream of making useful things by hand and selling them to people who really appreciate the work.

You can find my work @:

- http://www.etsy.com/shop/Arborecycle
- Manifesto Bicycles in Oakland
- Temescal Farmer's Market 1st & 3rd Sunday of the Month