You can carry lots of ordinary things on bikes. But you can also bring various peculiar, large, alive, awkwardly shaped or delicate objects. Here is a short list of some of the things I have managed to fit on on my bike, as an encouragement to not see bikes as a limitation but as a possibility. Think of this as a ‘dispatch from bike culture’. Also, most of these items have been since I put a rack on my bike, which has been an enormous improvement to my life, and I would heartily recommend. Even if you want your bike to look sleek, once you have the rack (and hopefully panniers) you will not regret it.

• native plants you got for free from a community initiative (pannier)
• kayaks (custom trailer)
• chairs (on my arms – don’t try this, it got stuck in my handlebars and I fell off)
• A0 sheets of paper sewing patterns (sticking out the side, clipped to the top of the rack; poking out of backpack while weaving through traffic)
• relatedly, sewing machines (tramping pack)
• also relatedly, fabric cut out to be a pattern but not sewn together yet so it can avail of the community overlocker. (tote back worn with one strap over each shoulder, the lazy person with too many tote bags backpack)
• tramping packs filled with tramping equipment
• multiple musical instruments at the same time (on back and in pannier)
• 10 kg of rice (pannier)
• bike wheels (on my back strapped on with a cardigan I was wearing)
• bike frames (don’t try this)
• wine bottles (bottle holder)
• cacti (bottle holder)
• Dogs (trailer/backpack)
• Grandmothers (trailer)
• 20 kg of shopping from pak’n’save (pannier)
• foraged loquats (pannier)
• tent (strapped to top of rack, somewhat precarious)
• Veges from the co-op (in two bags on each side of the handlebar…. also a bad idea)
• baguette (clipped to the rack, bad idea because a dog in the park took a bite out of the end)