Christmas Tree Bike vs 17% Hill

What, you thought just because we moved from Amsterdam to a Mediterranean island that we’d stop our decade long Christmas tree-by-bike tradition? Nope, not a chance!

After all, one of the most important things I packed up in the moving truck was our Urban Arrow cargo bike. Albeit, as you’ll see, it’s had a bit of a hard time handling the 17% grades found on our daily routes here - even more so when you add a Christmas tree and three kids to the mix. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves...

First up, is actually finding a Christmas tree on Mallorca. We don’t live in Palma (the main city), but about 25-30 minutes away by car (or about 35 mins by fast-moving e-bike…at least downhill). And this time of year, a lot of the island near us shuts down as tourism evaporates (not just small restaurants & hotels, but massive chains like McDonalds and Starbucks close for the winter). Point being I was worried that even finding a Christmas tree would require an extensive trek pushing me well beyond the battery of the Urban Arrow.

Thankfully, as luck would have it, a Christmas Market popped up at a nearish skate park. It’s only a 15-20 minute bike journey away, so well within the range of a full cargo bike bidirectional journey. Thus, with our mission profile clearly outlined, we loaded up the cargo bike with all three girls (aged 5/7/8), and set out.

#christmastree #cargobike #bike