Tumbleweedland: July 2013

Cassie, our little whippet mix, has been riding in a front basket on our tandem for over a year now. She has accumulated over 1,500 miles by now (I'm a nerd and keep track of stuff like that). Oden joined our household back in February and has done a wonderful job of stabilizing our rescued, traumatized little dog. After attending the Southwest Tandem Rally where a couple pulled their 75-pound dog in a child's trailer we got the idea and wanted Oden to join in on our fun cycling adventures.

Child's trailer has soft, cloth floor
with a 'seat'.

Perusing internet shopping site, actual 'dog' trailer ranged $200 plus. The better ones were closer to $400. Being trapped in a budget, this was not the course we could take. So we set out and found a used child's bicycle trailer for $50 with the intent of converting it to a usable 'dog' trailer leaning to the design of the better trailers we saw on the internet.

Taking Oden out before the conversion showed us that he really was going to enjoy the excursions. We cut off all the original materials and began with the skeleton. Now, those who don't know me, let me give you some background. I've never sewed anything with a pattern. I really wouldn't know where to begin. But about four years ago, Charley and I purchased a 1972 pop-up camping trailer and completely redid it. By this I mean, we did the same thing. We stripped the trailer down to it's skeleton. While Charley reconfigured the bed, waterproofed the roof, I sewed a completely new canvas for the trailer: screened windows, clear, vinyl roll down, zippered windows, etc. I did not use the original for a pattern because I did not like the configuration. For a look-see follow this link. I just had an idea and followed it.

So began this creation using re-purposed materials: a huge duffel bag (so large that if you filled it, you couldn't move it) and straps we save. Here are pictures of the results. We took the Oden out yesterday for our first (successful) test ride: