Carry a Load on Your Bike! 06/14/10

On the way home from work today, I met Mr. Dottie for a bulk food run. We were fresh out of the huge jar of fancy olives! We usually don’t grocery shop by bike because we live a block from a nice store, but we will go out of our way for a great deal on peanut butter: that’s where Costco comes in.

Bulk Grocery Run

The magnitude of this trip did not come close to our last haul with the bakfiets. Since we don’t own a bakfiets, most of our trips involve a basket, panniers and a few select bulk products. Our acquisitions today included 24 bottles of Two Brothers local craft brew (on Greg’s back rack), 4 lbs of organic strawberries, 6 lbs of yogurt, 4 lbs of raw nuts, 3 lbs of chicken sausage and 2 lbs of hummus. Yummy!

Beer Rack

The bikes handled the loads perfectly. A good test ride for the bike-camping trip we’re going on with Melissa and Chanh this weekend!

This is going down as a Summer Games, Part II Learning Experience: Carry a load on your bike.

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  • http://bobbinandsprocket.blogspot.com/ Amy

    Nice! Good thing you live somewhere flat. I would NEVER be able to get that load up my street.

  • http://bikinginheels-cycler.blogspot.com/ cycler

    Six pounds of yogurt and 2 pounds of hummus. Wow!
    I don’t think it would be possible to for us to eat 6 pounds of yogurt before it turned…

  • http://www.portlandize.com dave

    mmm, fancy olives…

    if you’re interested, we just posted a recipe for strawberry freezer jam… http://givetothewheat.blogspot.com.

    it’s surprising how normal and easy shopping by bike can get. l don’t even think about it anymore, it’s a given.

    • neighbourtease

      lovely food blog, Dave.

      • http://www.portlandize.com Dave

        Thanks! We love making food, it’s one of the most common ways we spend our free time :)

        • neighbourtease

          My little family is similarly inclined. :)

  • dukiebiddle

    I spy a bike chain and tube converted into a saddle lock. Smart. *thumbs up*

  • Scott

    You guys are champs. Where are you going bike camping?

    • http://letsgorideabike.com Dottie

      A forest preserve in the ‘burbs. Nothing too adventurous, just some place easy to get to with a combo of bike and metra train. :)

  • http://honkingintraffic.wordpress.com/ Jeremy

    Going on bike camping trip? I approve! I was just out for 2 weeks on the bike in western mountains of NC, and can attest to the joys and challenges and joys of meeting the challenges of bike touring. Where you going?

    • http://letsgorideabike.com Dottie

      Congrats on your wedding, tandem and tandem honeymoon! That’s awesome :)

  • http://www.portlandize.com Dave

    There are few better uses for a rear rack on a bicycle than carrying a case of beer.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/poetas/3446083531/

    • http://letsgorideabike.com Dottie

      Nice!

  • Jenny

    Dottie, what kind of panniers is it you have on Betty?

    • http://letsgorideabike.com Dottie

      The panniers are Appalachian or something like that. I bought them from my local bike shop for my Jamis when I first started commuting. I used one side for work materials and the other side for clothes. I stopped using them after a while because they are such a pain to haul around and have no should strap. Using a basket and bag is so much easier for me. But they hold a lot for stuff like grocery trips, although they would not be my first choice for that purpose.

  • Andrew Duthie

    Have you considered getting (or building) a simple trailer for doing big grocery runs? I’ve not pulled one myself yet, but they certainly seem like a decent solution for the occasional big-hauling trip. (Until you can afford a cargo bike, anyway!)

    • http://letsgorideabike.com Dottie

      Greg was looking into something like that, but we haven’t decided yet. It would make sense, although I’d rather hold out for a bakfiets :)

  • http://letsgorideabike.com/blog/2010/06/carry-a-load-on-your-bike/#comments Alison

    What type of helmet do you have? I love the color.

    • http://letsgorideabike.com Dottie

      Thanks! My helmet is a Nutcase.