I was looking at a thread in the general biking area and saw a picture of a fellow's bike that had only one pannier. (on the rear) Doesn't that make the bike unbalanced?

What if you have a pair of panniers and you're hauling groceries with them, and one side has all the canned goods and the other has a loaf of bread? I assume you would want to balance the load as much as practical, but how much does it affect riding if it's not possible?

Thanks in advance,

J White