Errand bike thread....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I feel left out!- I work at home so I have no commute to talk about!

But I love using my bike for practical trips, and am fixing up my second bike as a grocery/errand bike, should get it finished setting up this weekend.

Since errand and shopping bikes don't seem to fit in any other forum here...would it be ok for me to keep a "working bike" errand/grocery trips thread going in the commuter bike section here? I'm happy to delete this though if anyone thinks it should go somewhere else....

[malkin]

I'm all for it!

[pardes]

I LOVE the idea!

Saturday night I had the bike so loaded down with groceries that I could barely pedal over 3 miles an hour! I've never loaded it that heavy before and never will again!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Did you have to go up any hills with it loaded like that, or was the 3mph on level ground?

[pardes]

Believe it or not that was on LEVEL ground. I computed it out later and I had well over 75 pounds of stuff stuffed in the panniers and an additional bag all on the back rack. The Trek complained bitterly. We creaked slowly to the bus stop and then I had to hitch the bags onto the bus with me and then back off the bus and back onto the bike in the dark. Never again. I am promising the Trek that I will shop more often OR use the workhorse winter bike next time.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Now that is just sick.

If you had my hill on the way home though you'd never get away with that load.

I always wonder why couldn't I live at the BOTTOM of the hill. My steep little last hill is always the last thing on my bike rides, taunting me at the end when I'm tired. When I walk to town and have a big breakfast, I have to haul my belly full of French toast up that hill. Now that I'm going to try to buy groceries with my bike, it'll taunt me again....like why couldn't I go up the hill on the way TO the store, with my empty panniers?....and then zoom down the hill home with my goods loaded up?

Well it'll build more leg muscles, I guess.

[Geonz]

Get the work horse out :-)

[Biciclista]

i like being on a hill!

[Blue_Wildflower]

I have my first "errand" run tomorrow. I am riding to our local farmer's market tomorrow morning. Should be about a 7 - 8 mile ride. Do a little shopping. Have breakfast, then bike back home.

I am looking forward to testing out my bike basket (its a Trek basket that slides onto the bike rack). I do not plan on getting a lot, just a "whole foods bag" full of produce.

[pardes]

I do not plan on getting a lot, just a "whole foods bag" full of produce.

Yeah, yeah, I remember saying that too and then 75 lbs later....

I must say that the two yams that I bought were just delightful and worth the trudge/drudge home. I popped one into the microwave for 6 minutes (it was very fat) then slathered it with butter, added lima beans on the side and it was a grand dinner.

Let me know what you draggged home in your basket!

[Blue_Wildflower]

Yeah, yeah, I remember saying that too and then 75 lbs later....

I must say that the two yams that I bought were just delightful and worth the trudge/drudge home. I popped one into the microwave for 6 minutes (it was very fat) then slathered it with butter, added lima beans on the side and it was a grand dinner.

Let me know what you draggged home in your basket!

LOL. I will let you know.

I will have to limit my load to my basket. My bf has a road (a.k.a his mistress) and mountain bike. Pigs will fly before he puts a rack, basket or panniers on either bike. He has offered to ride my girl bike if I buy too much. lol.

I am looking forward to buying some sweet potatoes and apples. I love our local farmer's market.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Blue, I too look forward to your first farmer's market trip report. I know just how excited you are...I am going through the same thing now myself!

Though I have done plenty of errands to town by foot and by bike over the past several years (we live 1/2 mile from town, 1 mile from supermarket), I am now making a very determined effort to do even more errands and shopping by bike and leaving the car at home even more often than before.
I work at home so it's not like I can pick up stuff on the way home from work in my car. If I need to buy something or do PO or bank, I'm leaving from home to do it as a dedicated trip.

Today I thoroughly enjoyed doing a whole slew of little errands on my bike all around town at midday....I mailed a package at the PostOffice, went to pay my dentist, did bank deposit, hardware store purchase, and stopped for a grilled cheese sandwich as my reward. All on an otherwise uninspiring dark cloudy day.
Now I know why my husband is forever hopping on his bike to "take a quick spin to the bank/PO/etc"....doing errands by bike is addictive!

[malkin]

My best, most fun bike errand ever was after work a few weeks ago, Brewer rode up to meet me, and we rode together down to the 'out-of-network' hospital to pick up my old mammogram film. I tucked it in my messenger bag and we rode home.

It was a pretty lame excuse for an afternoon ride together, but it seemed so PURPOSEFUL.

[Zen]

Every time I read this thread title I see "Errant Bike Thread"

[salsabike]

That is EXACTLY what I think every time I see this thread title. Then I go off into a little thought haze on what might make a bike "errant"...I usually have to shake my head to snap out of it.