bringing home groceries on your bike?

[maverick]

hi folks!

i finished up with work early today, and decided to go grocery shopping on my bike!

it worked out pretty well – i have an open pannier that is like a shopping basket (the ’round town pannier from rei), and it held most everything i picked up. i essentially packed the pannier as i shopped, making sure everything would fit. however, i didn’t factor in the space for my lock that was on the bike, which ends up in this pannier. so i carried a reusable grocery bag on the right handlebar / clutched in my right hand.

my question is about carrying more delicate items – peaches, berries, and mushrooms, for example – that are prone to getting bruised from all of the turbulence going over cracks, potholes, and other road imperfections. how can i carry these more delicate items so that they make it home safely?

i face a similar challenge going to work. i carry a lot of fresh fruit that i consume over the course of the day, and a ripe whole peach arrives looking less than pretty. i can cut fruit and put it in glassware containers going to work, but i can’t do that coming home from the grocery store.

i’d appreciate any suggestions you may have.

thanks!

Topic

[baiskeli]

Delicate items might not bounce as much in a backpack.

[maverick]

@baiskeli 63430 wrote:

Delicate items might not bounce as much in a backpack.

Thanks! I try using panniers rather than a backpack on my bike because it causes less fatigue and keeps me cooler, but I will try that!

[StopMeansStop]

Two panniers and careful packing work for me.

[Riley Casey]

Two panniers have worked for me for many years with the soft stuff on top. I also have a nylon jacket and shopping bag that can make a nice, cushy pad between the lower and upper packs when needs be. One pretty crucial part of grocery shopping by bike is getting used to the idea that it isn’t going to be a weekly trip with all the supplies filling up the back of the old mini van. I hit the grocery almost every other day picking up just a few items at a time. It harks back to the pre-automobile days of shopping but at least the Whole Foods in Silver Spring is far more pleasant and accessible than the Giant.

[eminva]

@maverick 63432 wrote:

Thanks! I try using panniers rather than a backpack on my bike because it causes less fatigue and keeps me cooler, but I will try that!

I understand the problem, but I put the lightweight and delicate stuff in the backpack (or usually messenger bag, in my case), so it is not too heavy and fatigue causing. Delicate produce, eggs and any bread products go in the messenger bag. But really, I’ve never had a problem (except when I forgot to zip my son’s backpack and a pedestrian had to tell us that toilet paper rolls were falling out).

It also encourages me to shop near home so I’m not lugging it any further than necessary.

Liz

[Dickie]

+1 for everything eminva suggested. I often stop in Clarendon on my way home to buy groceries for a few nights. I only wear a backpack but it works fine as long as I plan well. I bring a fold-up soft bag into the store that I know matches the volume of my back-pack. That way I can leave the store with the groceries in said bag and repack my lock before carefully packing the backpack. This has worked well so far, even with delicate items…. it only gets complicated if I am also hitting the liquor store as well

[Justin Antos]

I love this thread. I too pack fragile stuff on the bottom, and then pack clothes around the precious cargo like berries, tomatoes, peaches.

I’ve been using a pair of these panniers from Detours for a year now, and the soft shells work wonders. They can also expand upwards in a pinch, which is crucial for when you get excited and buy too much big yummy stuff. (Canteloupes and bottles of Sauvignon Blanc are my current downfalls. Soon it will be apples.)

Also, wine fits perfectly in water bottle cages

Bungee cords are also helpful in a pinch for bulky, less fragile stuff like ears of corn, 6-pack of beer, dog food, etc.

[jrenaut]

This is particularly relevant for me tomorrow – we just got the list of things in our CSA share:

• Clapp’s Favorite pears
• Sugar Cube cantaloupe
• Canary melon
• Green/yellow beans
• red slicing tomatoes
• spaghetti squash
• mystery item

And I have no panniers. i might have to take the Metro.

[dasgeh]

@jrenaut 63489 wrote:

This is particularly relevant for me tomorrow – we just got the list of things in our CSA share:

• Clapp’s Favorite pears
• Sugar Cube cantaloupe
• Canary melon
• Green/yellow beans
• red slicing tomatoes
• spaghetti squash
• mystery item

And I have no panniers. i might have to take the Metro.

No metro needed. Just make sure the tomatoes and pears (and maybe mystery item) are on top in a backpack. You should be fine.

Oh, and that looks yummy. Which CSA, if I may ask?

[jrenaut]

@dasgeh 63496 wrote:

No metro needed. Just make sure the tomatoes and pears (and maybe mystery item) are on top in a backpack. You should be fine.

Oh, and that looks yummy. Which CSA, if I may ask?

Orchard Country Produce. This is our third year with them.

And I’m not so much worried about things being squished as weight and backpack space. I have to carry my work laptop, too.

[nikki_d]

I do most of my grocery shopping at the Penn Quarter farmers market on Thursdays (the grocery store gives me hives so luckily the BF takes that as his chore since he does not like my choices in paper products and typically use two Ortlieb roll top panniers. They hold A LOT. For the “big” days (when I have to pick up my two cases of yogurt or 25 pounds of fruit) I use my Burley Travoy. I also do a CSA in Adams Morgan and can tell you that eggs are not nearly as fragile as you think… I have not managed to break any yet!

Now, if I could just bike to my CSA in Upper Marlboro. Alas, PG has way too far to come with the roads and the general behavior of their drivers before I will try that trip. I have creatively driven it many times in an attempt to find a way to do it but not even I am that crazy.

[Author]

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