My First Product Review - Maya Cycle Bike Trailer

This week I finally got myself a Maya Cycle Bike Trailer.  Ever since seeing it first hand at this year's Vancouver Bike Show back in March, I have always wanted one.  I have been looking at some bike trailers for quite some time now and when I saw this bike trailer from Maya Cycle (http://www.mayacycle.com) for the first time, I was blown away by it's ingenuity and well thought out design.  It became a 'must have' for me.

Maya Cycle Bike Trailer after assembly

Assembly was an absolute breeze!  I can't even remember assembling it, it seemed to have come out of the box fully assembled!  So, I give it an A+ for ease of assembly.  It is a minor task at best.
Quality and finish proved to be very good.  All the welds look good and strong which they'll have to be as I will be putting this trailer through a lot of kilometers.  Some minor scratches on some of the stickers on the trailer, but I would guess that is due to shipping and transporting.  However, the powder coating is well done and that is really the important part over a few measly scratched stickers.  Visibly, in my eyes, it was perfect.
And now, onto the true test...
As it is/was Bike To Work Week (month for some of us), I had the opportunity to use the trailer to go to a client's site carrying 2 laptops and my briefcase. I also squeezed in misc. items like my toolkit, spare tube and bike lock.  This would have been impossible to fit into my panniers.  I would guesstimate each bag to be approximately 10lbs, so my total carrying weight is near or above 30lbs!  The trailer is rated up to 66lbs so I was well within it's limits.

These are full sized laptop carrying bags and full size leather briefcase!

The Bag is HUGE! I was able to fit all my stuff inside with room to spare!

As you can see in the following picture, the true ingenuity of the Maya Cycle trailer, a) The legs which act as a kickstand while connected to the bike, and b) the Handles which fold out and converts the trailer into a Wheelbarrow while disconnected from the bike! Genius!

The trailer comes with two bungee straps to strap down the bag into the trailer which should be adequate for most things that the trailer can carry.  But of course, I can't keep anything 'stock' from factory!  I had to add my own slight modification and creativity..  Out comes one of my cargo nets that I had picked up from the local surplus store for like $4 bucks or something..

Used my cargo net to keep the bag and contents tight to the trailer.

The ride was a 20Km ride consisting of mostly pavement with some gravel trails.  There are some parts with poorly maintained roads and with a lot of bumps.  And yes, of course, there were hills! I hate hills.  Some parts being over 10 degree incline.. ugh.  Unfortunately, I live up a valley and I simply can not avoid them.

Dawning my Canucks flag mounted on the trailer, I set off on my bike ride to work.  The first few pedals the added weight was clearly evident.  It was as if I was pulling something that weighed 30lbs..  well, I was!  But as soon as I got moving, I could not feel the trailer at all.  The momentum of the added weight actually felt like it was pushing me along. That was quite a weird feeling.  That was, however, on flat grounds.  As soon as I hit some descents, the ride became very different.  I was moving fast! The added weight was actually making me go faster down hills.  And as soon as I needed to stop, it was very clear that I was gonna be squeezing the brake levers really really hard.  You'd better be sure to have good functioning brakes if you plan on pulling anything over 20lbs!  This, however, applies to all bike trailers and not Maya specific..  gravity just seem to always want to play a part somehow.
Once I got used to all the first-time jitters of pulling my Maya trailer it became a very tame and subdued bike ride.  The trailer was barely noticeable for the most part.  Often times I would forget that I was pulling something.  I was constantly checking over my back to make sure that it was still there and nothing had fallen off. I took it through it's paces, I rode on bumpy roads, gravel paths, grass etc. I rode on a pretend slalom, and I even did figure 8's to see how well the handling would be.  The trailer passed with flying colours!  It was awesome.  However, keep in mind that your once extremely great handling road bike is now 3 feet longer with a lot more weight.  You must be aware at all times, you must take wider turns and make sure that you don't 'jackknife' your bike and trailer combo.  Being aware is the most important thing, this way you don't run into unsuspecting problems.
Now let's talk about the dreaded hills.  They suck.  Carrying an extra 30lbs of gear going up hills is an absolute killer.  I would like to think of myself as being in 'good shape'.  I have trained myself not to use my granny gear on any of my bikes for the past year going up hills, but on this day I was forced to use it.  This was one of the hardest workouts I've ever done on a bicycle...  and as much as it sucked it felt..  amazing!  I could use the Maya trailer for training to get in better shape simply by pulling heavy cargo going up and down hills!  All these guys with their lightweight carbon fibre road bikes need to strap on a trailer and start working out for real!

I understand that first impressions can easily be blinded by excitement and fascination.  So this will be my one and hopefully of many reviews of the Maya Cycle Bicycle Trailer.  The true test will really come out after the honeymoon is over.  Stay tuned as I take my trailer for more and longer trips.  I will update you on any pros and cons, damage or wear that may occur and a lot more stories of my ventures with the trailer.  For now, this is a truly wonderful product and I wish Maya Cycle all the very best that their product succeeds.

*Dec. 5, 2011, Updated product review here at the bottom of the post..
The Born-Again Cyclist - My First Multi-Day Bike Trip, The Sunshine Coast

*Apr 7, 2013, Mayacycle on CBC's Dragon's Den!

*Check out the Mayacycle trailer in action on this video of my 3 day cycle tour to the Kinsol Trestle!

And just a bit of fun with the trailer on a BMX track!  LOL!

A Bike Ride to the Watershed Park

There comes a time when your work day is tough, nothing is going your way, everything seems to be miserable, when you just have to say "Screw it, I'm going riding".
Today was one of those days.
Waking up on a Friday morning with the sun shining and the birds singing.  I was hoping for a good day.  That good day turned into headache-filled morning dealing with irate clients and stupid deadlines that simply can not be achieved.  And to add to the grief, my ankle was bothering me all morning due to the previous night's bike ride.  Looking out my window there is not a cloud in the sky and it was very warm out.  The mountains were beckoning and the birds seemed to be teasing that I am stuck inside working.  I finally had enough, bad ankle and all, I dropped everything I was doing and got on my bike and rode.  Destination,  the Delta Watershed Park.

First time with a mirror.  This is a must if you do a lot of street riding.

It was a great bike ride.  This was probably one of my best 'exploration' ride that I've done.  I had no idea where I was going, I had no set route, no clue how long it was gonna take, I just went for a ride.  It was also the first time that I was able to fully test the new drop bar setup on my Cannondale.  It is now a cross/touring setup and this bike ride was the perfect test for it.  (More on the cross bike/ touring bike conversion on a later blog)

amid the trees and sunshine

Ahh Sir Alex Fraser Bridge, you were a lot steeper and longer than I had expected.

On my way to the 'watershed', despite having a GPS on my iPhone, I really did not know how to get to the Alex Fraser Bridge from the Queensborough Bridge via bicycle. I had followed this older gentleman, probably in his 50's riding his bike going in the same direction and caught up to him to ask if he knew the way.   It turns out he was also riding towards the Watershed Park.  So I had a cycling buddy to show me the way.  I must say, this gentleman schooled me all the way up the bridge.  He was in such good shape that he showed me what's up..  then I noticed the cycling jersey he was wearing, all I could see is the word 'triathlon'!  LOL, that made me feel a little better knowing I could almost keep up to a triathlete no matter how old he was.  Another thing I noticed was his beautiful 80's Eddy Merckx road bike. This thing was beautiful and I could not stop telling him this during our ride.  A bit of a mishap happened along the way.  As we were riding on a flat road with no obstacles in sight, he suddenly loses his chain. So, we end up doing bike repairs on the side of the road.  He lost a quick release link and was lucky enough to be carrying a spare.  We parted ways after the bridge as I wanted to take the gravel trails and he stayed on the roads.  This is where my bike started to shine, I had cyclocross tires on and the bike was built specifically to be able to handle rough terrain, gravel and mud as well as be a great pavement bike.  I am now fully realizing that I am riding the perfect bike for my riding style and habits... long distances on and off road.

The Watershed Park had a great mix of gravel trails and wooden paths that ran alongside a creek and hwy 91 in Delta.  I would highly recommend off-road tires through these gravel roads as they are quite rough in some areas.  A mountain bike would be ideal if you are not travelling long distances on pavement to get to the park.  It was quite a relaxing ride if you don't mind the rough gravel.  Despite the little mishap of riding over dog crap with my front wheel and having the crap flick up to my face, I still enjoyed the ride.  But PLease all you dog owners out there, pick up after your dogs!!
On my way back I had the confidence in riding on the highway, Hwy 91 to be exact, something I had never done before.  This is a very heavily used highway with extremely high speeds.  It was a fear of mine for a long time.  Surprisingly, it was actually a very relaxing ride.  The cars and the big semi trucks were speeding beside me but the shoulder of the hwy was so big that the cars did not bother me one bit.  This is another first for me in cycling and I am glad that I did it. It's a good experience for the plans that I have in the future.

The above picture is the route I had taken and was tracked using the Everytrail app on my iPhone.  The full gps tracking can be seen here  Delta Watershed Park Trip on Everytrail . Here you will see the total distance, speed, elevation and time of the whole ride.  Click on 'slideshow' at the bottom of the map to see all the geo-tagged pictures I took during this trip.  This is a wonderful app and I use it constantly on most of my long rides.
On a last note, on my way home I passed by a small Bike Shop near my neighbourhood.  I only stopped in to ask a question whether they sold Brooks saddles (unfortunately they don't) when the shop owner had quite the interest in my bike.  He knew how old the bike was and he even knew the shifters I used (more on the shifters on a later blog).  He even asked if he could lift the bike to see how heavy or light it was.  The bike definitely no longer looked even remotely close to it's original beginnings and he called me on it.  I told him about the build and that I was trying to build the 'perfect' bike for me...  The best feeling was when he just smiled and said I did a great job. He loved my bike!  This coming from someone who has seen it all and sells thousands and thousands of dollars worth of bikes.  And he seemed genuinely sincere about it.  He was truly a bicycle fan.  This made my day, knowing that what you worked on to suit your own riding style is appreciated by someone more knowledgeable and more experienced than you.  I had a great day.

Now to ice up my once again swelling ankle.  ugh.  Oh well, it was worth it!

Ankle Injury Progress and Update

It has been 6 weeks since I injured my ankle while skiing.  In that time I have been doing the usual rehab exercises for badly sprained ankles.  In my stubbornness I did not go see a doctor to have it checked out.  I have been here before, I knew what to do, they can't tell me more than I already know blah, blah blah..

Well,..  after 6 weeks, the ankle did not seem to be getting any better.  Every night the ankle would be swollen and I am forced to keep icing it.  I am still unable to run or make strong motions.  The ankle feels really weak and it seemed as if any wrong move I make I would easily re-injure it.  This has concerned me. So, sucking it up, I forced myself into a walk-in clinic to have it assessed.  All I wanted was to have it x-rayed just to make sure I haven't broken anything.  The good thing is if it is indeed broken, I have been doing the right things treating it as if it was a broken bone, wearing an ankle brace etc.. (except for riding my bike,  but shush, no one needs to know that).

Good news!  Nothing's broken!  Not-so-good news, there's ligament damage.  Oh well, that explains it.  I could treat this as devastating news as it would limit most of my cycling plans for the summer, the long planned trips, the bike rides up mountains etc.  but I will look at it on a positive note; I have no torn ligaments!  Woohoo!  Torn ligaments could easily take up to 6 months to heal, whereas my minor ligament damage can only take a small amount of time.  They say it could take between 6 weeks to 6 months to heal and I am already on my 6th week; nothing's torn, so I am hoping it won't be much longer.  My job is to make sure it heals fully before I start pushing myself and go on strenuous and long rides.  Maybe that 70k bike ride a few weeks ago was not such a good idea?