Urg, I've been (and will continue to be) busy lately, so the blogging is slowing down, even as the riding is picking up. That, and I'm trying to spend less time in front of the computer. I wanted to check in, though, and post about the first real grocery run on the Columbia. I packed a picnic into the rear baskets a couple of weeks ago, but this was the first genuine trip to the grocery store. Smooth as silk, no worries at all.My typical grocery day involves two stores, and the car. This is a weekly trip. Today, I did the first store in the car, which is kind of necessary (okay, well, at least very convenient), and the second on the bike. Even though it's not much, it feels great to have eliminated at least part of the driving. And now you know what brand of toilet paper we buy. Too much information? Nah.
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We use a kid's trailer to haul the kids to school, and it works great for runs to the grocery store (with a family of 5 we have WAY more groceries than would fit on a standard rack setup). Many errands that would typically need a car can be handled with the trailer. Worth checking out, you can accessorize with actual children later!
ReplyDeleteIts only to be exopected that as the weather gets better, blogging is substituted by biking. So it should thats the very influence to blog. The plus side is you get lots more to write about.
ReplyDeleteYou bike always looks more stylish with a load than mine.
ReplyDeleteI've been busy with grocery runs as well. We rode to the OB Coop and picked up groceries and mason jars for canning.
I know what you mean, Thom!
ReplyDeleteI tried to do the whole grocery thing with my DL-1 shortly after putting on the baskets. I did pretty well, except I apparently didn't tighten one of the nuts on the front basket support strut... and it came out. That's where the milk was. I didn't lose anything, but I had to redistribute the load halfway home. I made it intact though. Now I generally only carry a lot on the bike from the grocery store at the end of our street.
I had a set of bike baskets on my Schwinn Collegiate 35 years ago that I used for delivering newspapers. Those baskets don't look that big but they can hold an awful lot, if you can get away with squeezing stuff together. Probably don't want to do that with bread or eggs or potato chips.
ReplyDelete@ Big Oak: Very true! I'll be using the smaller front basket for the delicate items like eggs, etc.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh....how I miss living close/in town!!! I really hope to move back to a (none specific) town in the next year or two,just for all the utility biking opportunities. Sometimes living out "in the sticks" is cool (very low crime rate,reasonable housing rates,the quiet...),but it stinks for cycling (at least in these sticks).
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you're out riding the bikes we read so much about :)
Steve
Hey Tom:
ReplyDeletehttp://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/bik/1179616098.html
Has your name written all over it!
You're such an enabler. I don't know if I'd pay $75 for that, though.
ReplyDelete