Thanksgiving shopping - by bicycle
 

Whew, man! I did it. I did ALL the Thanksgiving shopping in ONE trip by bicycle today.

I hauled 80 pounds (36.3 kg) - yes, I weighed it. 65 pounds (29.5 kg) of it were on my back in an enormous North Face backpack. The rest was in a basket on my rear carrier.

I dunno, but that sure seemed like a lot of stuff to carry. I had a 20 lb (9 kg) turkey, two dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice, cans and cans and cans of stuff, 10 pounds (4.5b kg) of potatoes, 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of onions, and all kinds of other stuff.

It probably wouldn't have been so bad if I had a Bob trailer or a big honkin' carrier to put it on, but having most of it in a backpack made it tough going.

There is the challenge, folks. Anybody else done any big time shopping by bicycle?

I do ninety percent of my shopping by bike, though I have adopted the european style of shopping and I shop daily or every other day. I used to do my weekly shopping on my bike with only a backpack it was heavy at best and anything that I couldn't fit in my pack I had to carry on my handle bars. What fun thta was, that is when I adopted the daily trips to the store. Of course I live alone and do not have a family to feed so that does make it easier. I am shopping for thanksgiving this week so I will have to let you know how it goes!

Wow! :eek: That's an impressive haul.

And I thought hauling 20lbs on my back to/from work was good going; I've got a lot of catching up to do! :)

It was a miserable haul ( for me at least ). I wouldn't recommend 65 pounds on your back for bicycling. If I could have used the waist belt and walked it might have been better.

To my great fortune, the store where I shopped was at a higher elevation, so I coasted most of the way home - about four miles.

Try to haul yourself and the extra weight in 6" of semi heavy snow......with very slippery spots in the roads. :D

I never use a backpack on a bike, but I have packed a lot of stuff in 4 panniers. My heaviest payload in panniers was about 30 kg (70 lb), which handles just OK on my new touring bike, but which doesn't handle that well on my older one.

I since got a 2-wheel child trailer for the youngest kid, and I use it quite a lot for grocery shopping. Once a month, I do a large grocery of non-perishable items and bring back 30-35 kg, and my largest payload was 65 kg (145 lb). I also shop 2-3 times a week for perishable items at a fruit store, at a bakery and at a small grocery store.


BTW, one advantage of grocery shopping by bike is that I bring the trailer inside the kitchen.

Regards,

145 lbs! That is incredible! How does the bike handle with that much weight in a trailer? Is it possible to go uphill with that kind of load?

i have a BOB that i use sometimes for shopping (since i've been in Europe i just use panniers or a backpack or even walk since it's not far)... but in the US i often had the trailer and backpack full with milk and drinks and lots of weight - i think my heaviest was probably around 100lbs... but routinely 60-80lbs

riding with so much is more work, but it's really not that hard although it always took a while to get everything loaded and stabilized and the normal shoppers on the way to their cars looked at me really funny.

i have also done the heavy backpack thing and it works but isn't so comfortable -- i also transported myself with my snowboard and all my equipment in/on my backpack across town a few times to meet people for ski trips...

congrats on the job well done!

Not long ago I hauled additional shelves, doors and drawers for my bookshelf from Ikea. The boxes weren't that heavy, but they turned out to be shaped in such a way I could not fit them in my panniers. So I bungeed whatever I could on my rear rack and then fastened the most awkwardly sized ones on various parts of the frame, outside panniers etc. Wherever I could, basically.

I did receive my share of funny looks from other shoppers. The ride home was appr. 10kms, some fresh snow and icy occasionally, but I had my (then brand new) studded tyres on so it was ok. I took it very slow, as all that load made the bike somewhat wobbly. All my hard labouring did not go unnoticed, as that trip is about the only one when I've ever got honks and thumb-ups from motorists around here.

They rent vans, and provide transport services for a small fee (requires you to be at home when they deliver). I asked them by e-mail if they have considered renting basic trailers for bikes. We'll see if they bother to answer.

--J