Originally Posted by
David Bierbaum
I was about to add that shopping by bicycle involves a different calculus than shopping by car. By car, it's more efficient to make fewer trips and get more groceries per trip, while by bicycle it's the opposite. I go two or three times a week, to nab a load of groceries that will fill one or two of my el-cheapo M-Wave Double Daytripper panniers. If you can afford good panniers, don't get mine! But for $20, I have no complaints so far. The fun part is figuring out how to properly pack the panniers so that the cookies don't get crumbled and the bananas don't get bruised. Bringing back kitty litter is also a pain in the pannier...
Also, when the weather warms up and sunrise is early enough, I tend to put my grocery run at the end of my pre-breakfast fun/fitness 10-15 mile exercise rides. at 6 or 7 in the morning, the crowds are very light, which makes navigating the store and checkout 30 to 70% easier to do.
Edit: That speedy-cart in the post under mine looks AWESOME! So does their expensiver
Shopper Trailer. BYO Shopping cart!
I think that would be a lot more doable if I were a regular commuter and the stores were on my way, but neither is the case. I just tried my first bike commute this week, and hope to do it a couple of times per week. But the stores are not on my way. Plus I really don't want to have to deal with the stores that many times per week, and really don't have time to anyway.
I've been by bike to some stores nearby the grocery stores I frequent (Lowe's, Best Buy etc) with my kid and trailer attached, but it has always been for small stuff that I can just stash in the trailer behind the seat. And the round trip is at least 40 to 50 minutes. It's just not feasible for me to grocery shop by bike with my kid in tow.
BTW I always take my son grocery shopping, because my wife hates grocery shopping
and it gives her some time for herself after staying with the kid all week long. If I were to ever go without my son, then I might try the trailer with a big plastic crate attached to it.
*edit* yeah that shopper trailer looks nice. I could only imagine the looks I would be getting pushing that thing around a store.
I suppose some people (employees) might also think I was trying to stash stuff in it for stealing.