On April 10th, 2023, REANIMATOR began riding from Salt Lake City, UT to Albuquerque, NM. Riding primarily on dirt roads and carrying all equipment by bicycle, REANIMATOR facilitated free community sewing events along the way,raising awareness of cycling and sewing as tools for self sufficiency.
In addition, two individuals received a $900 stipend to develop sewing repair skills while on a bicycle tour - in the form of aSewing Repair Technician Residency.At the end of this residency, each participant had been given the skills to create mobile sewing clinics in their community, with basic knowledge and resources to start their own gear repair business or community initiative.
Burley graciously offered to sponsor a Nomad trailer to support this important and unapologetically creative project. Navigating the logistics of carrying over a hundred pounds of solar powered sewing equipment, batteries, tools, and materials across diverse terrain and weather, became significantly easier with our new two wheeled companion.
Over the course of two and a half months, we pushed this trailer to its structural limits - even rigging the hitch to another trailer in an emergency hauling situation! The trailer, affectionately named “Burley Girl,” held up without complaint. The three other trailers that we used broke multiple times throughout the tour - and somehow our unassuming, yellow backed trailer was consistently showing up rain or shine.
There was a slight learning curve with how to pack all of our equipment into the soft fabric trailer body. With the extraordinary abuse encountered on the tour, there are rips and tears where the tires rubbed up against the bulging sides, but those concerns are primarily aesthetic and not design related. Other developmental feedback would be to design the wheel assemblies so they can accommodate a readily accessible standard 20” QR wheel, instead of relying on a proprietary push button hub design. But if it works well for most end users, why change it?
We are preparing another delightful tour for next year, with applications opening September 1st 2023. If you see us with the Burley Girl in Santa Fe, NM, say hello!
XOXO,
REANIMATOR CREW
For more information about our project, head over towww.reanimator.work
Photographs by Cassandra D., Erin D., Davi C., and Echo C.
