Errand bike thread....

[Torrilin]

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.

[KathiCville]

Just back from my inaugural grocery run (ride?) by bike! The distance to the store is just a little over a mile one way, and part of the route is a dedicated bike lane--perfect! (Except for one little section covered with broken glass.) I went mid-afternoon when traffic is low. I didn't buy a lot---probably 20 lbs total---but I sure could feel it on the way home! Even so, what a grrrrreat feeling! Thanks for the inspiration, ladies!

Yesterday I braved frigid temps in the morning to bike 2 miles to an all-day seminar at the university. The parking lot attendant broke into a smile when he saw me coming. "Now THAT's the way to do it!" he said. "No parking hassles!"

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey you guys, that's GREAT going!!!

Here is a blog I like that often has entries concerning using our bikes for errands or for hauling stuff around (including kids):
http://carfreedays.com/
It's always got wonderful practical information about 'working bikes'. Some of the past entries are neat to browse through.

Kathi- yes when I had 20 lbs of groceries on my 35 lb bike, I sure could feel it handle differently too. I noticed it the most when getting up my steep hill at the end of my grocery run. On the flats the extra weight wasn't as noticable- I was slower though, and the bike wanted to tip over more easily when stopped- something to watch for.
20 lbs of goods was definitely my limit for now, since it makes for a 55 pound total of food and bike, and my hill is pretty steep. Not going to weigh my own butt, not going to go there.

Since right before Thanksgiving it seems like everything has been conspiring against me to keep me off my bike. It's been VERY cold (like teens and 20's), or else snow/sleet falling, or else high winds like yesterday and today (causing major power outages here), or else I needed large amounts of heavy food, or else I had a work deadline that made the extra time involved undo-able that day, or else.....well you get the picture. I think it's been mostly the unusual cold and sleet though. Decembers are usually in the 30-40's, not the 20's. I am not happy about it.
DH was brave and did an errand by bike today- but he's pretty tough, and fast on his bike. Plus he didn't have to haul anything home.

Now we need a ton more of cat sand, so I'll have to take the car again and might as well load up on other heavy things while I'm at it.

I love to read about everyone else's biking errands though- keep it coming!