Cosmoline - I braved the suburban streets around southern NH today and did a shopping trip today. My wife and I are far from being car-free (yet) but we are trying to drive a lot less and ride a lot more.
I hooked my kid trailer to my Schwinn Sierra comfort bike and rode to the larger grocery store. Round trip, the ride is about 16 miles. It was quite pleasant, especially with the beautiful weather that we had today (60's, sunny, low humidity). I like using the bike trailer to haul groceries. Motorists seem to be more cautious when they see me riding with the trailer. They assume that I'm hauling my kids, but today I was hauling groceries.
Here are some low res pics of the setup
Bike & Trailer...
Trailer contents
Notice the black and tan soft cooler in the front. I brought the cooler and some ice packs along to store the meats, dairy, and ice cream during the ride home.
It was a lot of fun taking this trip. Going by bike has the added benefit that it makes me think twice about impulsive purchases. Before I put anything in the shopping cart, I thought about how much it weighed and how bulky it was. I only bought the things we really needed today.
I was a little conservative today and didn't buy too much food. I guesstimate that I had maybe 40 or 50 pounds of stuff. I had to buy some canned foods (tomatos) and meats (we're having a mother's day meal for my wife's family tomorrow) and these items were the heaviest components of the load.
Normally when I tow the trailer, I have about 76 pounds of kid in the back (48 lbs + 28lbs) so pulling the groceries wasn't too hard to do. Next time I go, I'm going to buy a little more and see how that goes.
The soft cooler worked well for me. When I got home the ice cream, frozen fruits, and other items were still nice and cold.
Higher res versions of the setup can be found at the following links,
http://home.comcast.net/~cynergyou/shopping1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~cynergyou/shopping2.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~cynergyou/shopping3.jpg
The next thing I gotta do is figure out how to pack up my over/under shotgun and equipment bag to ride over to the skeet range to shoot a few rounds of skeet! Cosmoline, any tips on riding to the range? How do you transport your long arm safely?