Saturday morning market ride

[emily_in_nc]

Thought some of you might enjoy reading the story and seeing the photos from our Saturday morning ride to the farmer's market through Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC. Just put it up on my blog. My DH took lots of photos (first time we've done this), and I thought they came out really good! It was a beautiful day and such a fun ride!

http://emilys7.blogspot.com/2010/09/saturday-morning-market-ride.html

Enjoy! I sure did....

[Catrin]

Great photos - the photographer did a fine job :) Those wouldn't be Arkel bags, would they?

[Crankin]

Loved your blog, Emily.
I did much less of this kind of riding this year, as opposed to the past 2 years. I think it's because it was so freakin' hot this summer, during the middle of the day, and I had no appetite for hauling veggies from the farm stands. Now that fall is here, I plan to spend a little more time doing errands by bike, on my 2 free days. The year is will go by quickly and then I will have no free time once I go back to work full time.

[emily_in_nc]

Great photos - the photographer did a fine job :) Those wouldn't be Arkel bags, would they?

Yes! They make an awesome product. We bought them for a tour in 2004. Haven't used them for touring since but have made good use of them for utilitarian rides. :)

[emily_in_nc]

Loved your blog, Emily.
I did much less of this kind of riding this year, as opposed to the past 2 years. I think it's because it was so freakin' hot this summer, during the middle of the day, and I had no appetite for hauling veggies from the farm stands. Now that fall is here, I plan to spend a little more time doing errands by bike, on my 2 free days. The year is will go by quickly and then I will have no free time once I go back to work full time.

I completely understand -- we had the hottest summer here in NC on record, and we're just now finally getting some relief, especially in the evenings. Fortunately, this is a short ride if we don't tack on extra stores and just go to the market. We'd get going around 8:30 and be home around 10 am, which was manageable. Any later would have been way too hot and miserable!

[hebe]

That looks like fun! I like your little skirt that appeared from nowhere for the shopping, very pretty. What a great way to do the Saturday shopping, far less stress than driving to the supermarket. Thank you for the link!

[OakLeaf]

Fun!

[emily_in_nc]

That looks like fun! I like your little skirt that appeared from nowhere for the shopping, very pretty. What a great way to do the Saturday shopping, far less stress than driving to the supermarket. Thank you for the link!

Thanks! That's a Terry wrapper - I really like them as they're small enough to stick in a jersey pocket, though I had my Arkel Tailrider (trunk bag), so I had it in there).

[tulip]

Great ride report! I was in CH on Friday and there was already plenty of football traffic.

Where did you buy the ice cream? I can't picture the store where you bought the ice cream--down a big hill from the Farmer's Market and back up a big hill to Weaver Street? Why not buy it at Weaver Street since you were there, or the HT behind WS, or the grocery store on the way back to Meadowmont across from Glen Lennox? Just curious.

Love the Bike Fridays.

When I was a child, Meadowmont was actually a real meadow. With cows. And a pond. And a few cedar trees. It was beautiful. I mean, it's a very nice development, no offense intended, but I'm pretty nostalgic. I do appreciate the bike paths they built, though.

[warneral]

How fun is that? Thanks for sharing!

BTW I love the little skirt you threw over your biking shorts. And I like the blue shorts. Very cute :)

[emily_in_nc]

Where did you buy the ice cream? I can't picture the store where you bought the ice cream--down a big hill from the Farmer's Market and back up a big hill to Weaver Street? Why not buy it at Weaver Street since you were there, or the HT behind WS, or the grocery store on the way back to Meadowmont across from Glen Lennox? Just curious.

Food Lion on Jones Ferry down past the Bypass interchange. Went there because it was buy one, get one free, something the other stores couldn't offer. WSM doesn't even offer Breyer's, that I'm aware of, and it wasn't on sale at Harris Teeter. We were glad to get the extra couple of miles in and the extra climb, so we deserved the ice cream! :D

[emily_in_nc]

When I was a child, Meadowmont was actually a real meadow. With cows. And a pond. And a few cedar trees. It was beautiful. I mean, it's a very nice development, no offense intended, but I'm pretty nostalgic. I do appreciate the bike paths they built, though.

Yep, I grew up in Raleigh and my mom went to UNC for her Master's, so I remember it well. Sorry to see it get developed, but I do love living here, and love the cycling-friendliness of the entire area.

[Bike Writer]

Nice blog Emily and a great journal of your ride. I love to take pictures riding and I visit our Farmer's Market every Saturday and fill my basket to the brim with goodies. However it's only a few blocks from home so it's not much of a ride. I usually go back home, unload then head out for my Saturday morning ride.

A pictoral is a great way to bring the story to life. Today on a ride I came across a rasher of wild turkeys scurrying across the road. Photos can be found here, or I've attached them to this post.

http://pedaltohealth.blogspot.com/

[tulip]

Buy one, get one free changes everything. I stillwould have gotten some closer to home, but you did good! I just hope it was fudge swirl ;)

[Jo-n-NY]

loved the pics and the report. You are living what I hope my future will be :)

[7rider]

Okay. I'm curious about the freezer bag, as that's one thing (okay...one of many - that fact that I'm lazy is another!) that keeps me from biking to the store during the summer. I worry that milk/eggs/ice cream/etc. would be warm by the time I got home. Do you carry a "blue ice" with the bag? Does it just keep the cool stuff cool? Does it scrunch up into your pannier without breaking/cracking/ruining the insulation? I've seen some insulated bags, and wondered how they would fare in a bike pannier.

[Tri Girl]

Great blog, Emily!! I loved reading about your adventure!! :D

PS- we are BIG UNC fans (even have a wall in our game room painted Carolina blue with the logo in the middle). I loved seeing pictures from the area.

[emily_in_nc]

Nice blog Emily and a great journal of your ride. I love to take pictures riding and I visit our Farmer's Market every Saturday and fill my basket to the brim with goodies. However it's only a few blocks from home so it's not much of a ride. I usually go back home, unload then head out for my Saturday morning ride.

A pictoral is a great way to bring the story to life. Today on a ride I came across a rasher of wild turkeys scurrying across the road. Photos can be found here, or I've attached them to this post.

http://pedaltohealth.blogspot.com/

Great photos, and I love your basket! Thanks for sharing... :) I will have to check out your blog.

[emily_in_nc]

Okay. I'm curious about the freezer bag, as that's one thing (okay...one of many - that fact that I'm lazy is another!) that keeps me from biking to the store during the summer. I worry that milk/eggs/ice cream/etc. would be warm by the time I got home. Do you carry a "blue ice" with the bag? Does it just keep the cool stuff cool? Does it scrunch up into your pannier without breaking/cracking/ruining the insulation? I've seen some insulated bags, and wondered how they would fare in a bike pannier.

We actually rarely buy frozen or even cold stuff on these rides because I worry too, but DH had tried this bag to bring stuff home from the grocery when we lived out in the boonies and had a much longer drive and was convinced it actually worked. We didn't add a blue ice thing, but you certainly could (especially in hotter weather). The bag claims to keep cold stuff cold for 3 hours, which I seriously doubt, but I think it would work for an hour, which was about the length of our ride back (including the stop at the food co-op for sustenance!)

There's no real insulation; it's just a special thick mylar type material, so it seemed to fare well in the pannier without getting too scrunched up. My Mom found it somewhere -- probably Target or Wal-mart, as that's where she does a lot of her shopping.

One other point -- it was sunny but only in the 70s when we did this ride. I don't think I'd chance it in the 90+ temps of mid-summer here.

[emily_in_nc]

Buy one, get one free changes everything. I stillwould have gotten some closer to home, but you did good! I just hope it was fudge swirl ;)

No fudge swirl -- chocolate chocolate chip and some kind of moose tracks caramel. Both yummy! Just had some tonight after a sweaty mtb ride after work. Earned it! :D

[Trek420]

Here's my hand for scale with Asian sweet corn. Picked and steamed right off the field the woman at the booth showed me you just peal the leaves back and eat. Delicious.

[Trek420]

And here's Bradley loaded up and ready to head home :)

[malkin]

Sweet!

Now I'm thinking ice cream!

[emily_in_nc]

And here's Bradley loaded up and ready to head home :)

Love the flowers! That's one thing we haven't been able to buy due to close-top panniers and not wanting them to get smushed. It just looks so pretty with flowers popping out the top of an open pannier or bike basket!

This weekend's market haul: kale, peppers, chiles, tomatoes, basil (last of the season, probably), zucchinis, red oak leaf lettuce. Been cooking up a storm -- yum!