Quote Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl View Post
So if I can stick to getting the really heavy large items like detergent and cat sand once a month by car, then I hope to be able to do the regular food runs twice a week by bike.
If you're using a liquid detergent, it *might* be worth swapping to a powder one. They work a bit differently, but one small box of powder lasts the two of us most of a year... and is a lot easier to carry on a bike.

I do special runs for bags of rice, 25lbs at a time. One bag just fits inside my backpack, and then I can ride my bike home. It's not very comfortable, but it works well enough for the 1 mile ride home. The same trick might work if you buy cat sand in bags. If you buy it in buckets, it gets harder... for that I'd want a trailer.

I've never used grocery panniers, only regular touring panniers... the lower center of gravity really helps. The more errands you do with weight, the easier it gets. I've practiced with a heavily loaded single pannier, and my bike doesn't handle much differently. Same with just weight in my front basket. Earlier this fall, I finally broke 55 lbs on a grocery run, and was unspeakably proud of myself . Most trips these days are around 10-15lbs, because it's more fun to stick with just my basket.