Errand bike thread....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I figured out a cool way to combine two different activities today.

Usually I either ride into town and do errands on my bike, OR I walk into town (1/2 mile to get there), have breakfast at Ralph's Pretty Good Cafe, do a 4-5 mile fitness walk looping all around the town's streets, then walk back home.

This morning it struck me that I didn't really have to keep the two different things quite so separate. It was an obvious idea really, but when you are used to doing things a certain way oout of habit sometimes obvious things don't occur to you right away.

So this morning it was pretty cold- about 20F when I started out and 25 when i got home.
I rode my 'Grocer-Ramb' down the hill into town and locked it in front of Ralph's and had a nice breakfast and hot latte. Then I took my usual brisk 4 mile walk all around the town streets and around the schools, etc. (I left my helmet at Ralph's and donned a wool hat that I brought along).
When I got back from my walk I went to the health food store across the street and got about one bag of groceries: chocolate bars, tea, calcium & magnesium supplements, 2 bags chips, eggs, coffee filters, granola bars, jam, deodorant. I think the groceries only weighed about 8-10 pounds total. I loaded my bike up and pedaled back home up the hill. The good thing was that after my walk my leg muscles were warmed up so I didn't have to go up the hill 'cold'.
The smaller load of groceries made this trip up the hill a relative piece of cake compared to my first 20 pound haul of a couple days ago.

I really like this particular activity/errand combination. I go for a fitness walk at least once a week anyway, so now I can make my walks more practical and combine two 'trips to town' into one. Leaving my bike locked on Main Street is very safe and I almost always start and finish my fitness walks from Main street anyway.

I had good clothes on today and didn't get cold at all.

[xeney]

Good for you, Lisa!

My errands are about to become more limited because my husband got a job (yay!) and is going back to work full time on December 8. He's buying me a baby seat for the pink mixte so I can run short errands on the bike with my daughter along (our Chariot trailer is tons of fun for longer rides but not really practical for errands), but I won't be heading out to work in coffee houses anymore.

For today, though, I am about to head out to do just that, and I am also taking a load of clothes to the Salvation Army. On my bike. For some reason it never occurred to me to do that even though I collect the clothes in paper grocery bags (perfect for my wire baskets) and the SA is right on my street, about 15 blocks away ... perfect bike errand! Instead I always wait until I have a ton of clothes and it requires a car trip, and in the meantime the old clothes are clutter. Dumb!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Xeney- congrats to your DH on his new job!!! No small feat getting a job these days.

Get someone to take picture of you and your daughter strapped up and ready to go on your pink mixte- we want to see!
Anyone who bikes with a small child on their bike has my awe and admiration.

Yes, isn't it funny how new ways just don't occur to us when we are used to doing them by a certain familiar means?
I am finding I really need to shake the cobwebs out of my knoggin concerning car vs. bike uses. Most people (including myself these days) don't realize how much a bike can really do if you plan carefully. I am learning about that more each week and having many "AHA!" moments.

(Of course it goes without saying that some people just plain live too far from everything to make bicycle use very practical. I'm certainly grateful I'm not in that situation.)

[xeney]

Yesterday's errands were almost six miles, which is much further than I usually ride for errands. (I love my neighborhood.) The Salvation Army trip was perfect -- there was a long line of cars but I zoomed to the front to drop off my stuff. I will be doing that from now on.

[Groundhog]

I love the ease of errands by bike. I do commute part-way by bike (to the bus freeway stop) but it's only 2 miles each way so it feels wimpy. In the summer, though, I'll ride 5 to a different bus stop and a hill on the way home.

Anyway, my favorite is to bike to my girlfriend's house for our Saturday morning walk.

Second favorite is to ride to Trader Joe's and back, which follows my bus commute route but is about 4 miles each way. I have the Detours Toucan pannier, which is lovely. And a short favorite is to the local grocery store/hardware store in our neighborhood.