Charles does 90% of the laundry for Ayala, and in 2019 got really interested in doing laundry by bicycle to be more economical and eco-friendly.

The cart did not come with a way to fully enclose it – it essentially has a light windscreen, but nothing that would meaningfully keep out the elements. For the first few months, we just planned our use around the weather.

When Charles started planning his e-bike ride to Santa Barbara, to test the solar charge rig, we wanted to make sure it was waterproof to protect his gear and the charging battery. So, we made a cover with Sunbrella marine canvas.

It was a remarkably arduous process – we tried to measure and make a pattern, very confident in our abilities thanks to Project Runway – over the course of two days. But after cutting the pieces, it would not come together (thank you obtuse angles), so we had to move on to draping the fabric. That yielded surprisingly good results, and it really came together! Once we got the shape and the water-resistance down, we added some iron-on glow-in-the-dark branding.