tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post5635509181139058886..comments2024-03-27T05:14:23.738-04:00Comments on Lovely Bicycle!: How a Grocery Store Won Me BackVelouriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-77657161619978825612012-07-25T11:16:33.767-04:002012-07-25T11:16:33.767-04:00Sometime can you post picture of your "shoppi...Sometime can you post picture of your "shopping cart" Brompton.... I just can't visualize it.Erin Bhttp://bikestheuniverseandeverything.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-24158029848928385732012-07-24T18:07:26.939-04:002012-07-24T18:07:26.939-04:00Now that you mention it I noticed a cyclist walkin...Now that you mention it I noticed a cyclist walking his bike through my store. I don't do that, but I have walked my bike into the bank to use the automatic teller. And I've taken my bike up moving stair elevators... which is an acquired skill and is harder than I thought it would be.<br /><br />I read a great quote from Steve Jobs where he says 'Computers are like a bicycle for your brain'. So true... walking seems medieval in comparison.<br /><br />jnjnhttp://www.johnnez.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-35691887339726251492012-07-23T23:21:06.462-04:002012-07-23T23:21:06.462-04:00The shopping bike for larger loads (and larger ais...The shopping bike for larger loads (and larger aisles): <a href="http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/11890/christophe-machet-camioncyclette-transportation-bike.html" rel="nofollow">the camioncyclette</a>dr2chasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16320828055999939449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-13715100746713719062012-07-23T18:48:22.806-04:002012-07-23T18:48:22.806-04:00Here in Cheshire, England, we are miles away from ...Here in Cheshire, England, we are miles away from having bike-friendly shopping. I blogged aboutthis recently at http://rideaday.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=49&action=edit<br />Please take a look!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-38476904155307966082012-07-23T16:16:19.122-04:002012-07-23T16:16:19.122-04:00For me the day of week and time of day I grocery s...For me the day of week and time of day I grocery shop are the important variables I control. Worries about parking lot congestion, store congestion, competing for bike racks, bike theft, motor vehicle traffic, etc., etc. are minimized if I use the two 24/7 grocery stores within a couple miles of me or the 365 6 a.m.-11 a.m. natural store nearby. That means fill-in grocery shopping early Saturday or Sunday mornings.<br /><br />I have wondered about the Burley Travoy trailer. It goes like this: couple it to an apparent beater bike, go to store, leave beater bike locked up outside, bring the Travoy inside and load the groceries into it, scan and pay and load the groceries back in. Or some variation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-58346036470067782642012-07-23T13:39:32.509-04:002012-07-23T13:39:32.509-04:00I bet I know the store you're talking about. D...I bet I know the store you're talking about. Did/does it still have carpeted aisles?Joe Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214280119083741616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-33166423176934041532012-07-23T08:48:41.185-04:002012-07-23T08:48:41.185-04:00Chicago organic groceries are dominated by the thr...Chicago organic groceries are dominated by the three big chains, Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Marinos. Neither allow bikes in store. WF and TJ have many well placed racks. Depending on which and when you visit, the WF racks are often very crowded. <br /><br />The Latino neighborhoods have their own produce stores - often local or regional chains. These do not allow bikes inside, are indifferent toward racks, and really believe in plastic bags. On the other hand, if you live in a Latino neighborhood, they are prolific, open early until very late, allowing minimal storage. <br /><br />Open air Farmer's Markets are popping up everywhere. So many walk bikes through them it is becoming something of a hazard. The Midwest drought is really having an impact on the local growers. The amount and quality of produce is down significantly at a time when demand is skyrocketing.Matthew Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10408057524387021992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-42385792053029143622012-07-23T08:32:51.629-04:002012-07-23T08:32:51.629-04:00Parking does indeed play a role! it seems like a l...Parking does indeed play a role! it seems like a lot of chain stores are going out of their way to make it impossible to lock up bikes lately. Gigantic poured-concrete columns, no racks, railings, sign or lampposts that will accommodate a standard 6' cable lock (forget using a u-lock around here, there's nothing they'll fit), make finding a decent lockup pretty difficult. <br />I've never rolled my commuter inside yet, but I'm tempted.Matt DeBlasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17666227904684289223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-46193731183860198552012-07-23T01:48:39.139-04:002012-07-23T01:48:39.139-04:00We shop for groceries by bike most of the time; I ...We shop for groceries by bike most of the time; I usually make a stop on the bike commute home. Trader Joes is about 2 miles away, including a mile of bike path. Another grocery store is even closer. Both are very convenient by bike. It's actually more convenient to shop at TJ's by bike than by car; the bike route is more direct and I don't have to bother with parking the car.<br /><br />At the local stores I almost always bring the bike inside and park it out of the way, up front near the registers. The grocery stores always have good security camera coverage of the entrance/exit. The bike just leans up against the bags of charcoal or boxes of whatever. One eccentric local used to park his high-wheeler inside like that. The shop wasn't so enthusiastic about that.<br /><br />At TJ's I used to push the bike through the isles like a shopping cart, with a basket on top of the porteur rack. Same thing with the Rando bike; basket sits on top of the Berthoud bag. The clerks would say something like "cool bike" but one of the managers at the TJ's gave me grief about it a couple of times, so now I just park it up front by the registers.<br /><br />With the Brompton, I simply fold it and put it under a shopping cart. It's easy enough to wheel around that way. So far no one has ever complained.<br /><br />Sometimes I do push the limits, but am always happy to back off if asked. Once I walked my mixte into the hosiery department at Nordstrom during the holiday shopping season. I leaned it up against the register like it was no big deal. And it was no big deal. I made my purchases and was out in 10 or 15 minutes without a raised eyebrow. Another time I wanted to purchase an adapter at the Apple Store in Bordeaux. It's one of the new flagship stores in France, in a beautiful building. I was paranoid about leaving the bike locked up outside with a flimsy cable lock. So the bike came inside with me. I figured it would only take a few minutes. Of course, the part I needed was only sold upstairs. So up I went, carrying the bike. An associate came over to inform me about how the manager said I'd have to take the bike outside. I said OK, but could I buy an adapter first? She was nice about it and we closed the deal in two minutes. Out I went with the bike; mission accomplished.<br /><br />The Brompton is the best. It folds in seconds and with the cover over it no one would guess it's a bicycle. I rode it to the museum one evening and left it behind the front desk with the receptionist. No questions asked. At closing time she and the security guard were amazed; hey, it's a bike!<br /><br />Plastic shopping bags are banned in these parts. Sometimes I'll take a paper bag; it's easy to ride the hoods with the bag balanced on top of the Berthoud handlebar bag.<br /><br />The 650b mixte porteur is for the heavy loads. It can carry a case of wine and then some more..<br /><br />-tAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-36796522958137761312012-07-22T23:58:13.986-04:002012-07-22T23:58:13.986-04:00I drink it straight, but I generally like sour thi...I drink it straight, but I generally like sour things. I snack on lemons too.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-36965998669427309682012-07-22T23:55:38.030-04:002012-07-22T23:55:38.030-04:00it's the irony of 2012! we never got the perso...it's the irony of 2012! we never got the personal hovercrafts we were promised back in the '50's, but people sure are tired of eating "plastic food" and the capitalists are finally wising up!Garthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-36431612899709363702012-07-22T23:26:20.595-04:002012-07-22T23:26:20.595-04:00Do you use that cranberry juice for mixing or drin...Do you use that cranberry juice for mixing or drink it straight?Gracenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-23594134078033606922012-07-22T22:59:36.767-04:002012-07-22T22:59:36.767-04:00Yep! It certainly does play a role. I avoid going ...Yep! It certainly does play a role. I avoid going to the 'mall' like the plague as the bike parking is bad and miles away from the entrance (quiet enough to leave thieves to get on with their business). But then, to be fair I would avoid shopping centres anyway. <br /><br />My local independent grocery store lets me lock my bike on a pole 10 feet from the checkout and the lovely staff keep an eye on it whilst I'm in the store. They have good quality fruit and veg (but only a small selection) and I tend to get my staples there. <br /><br />Actually, the main effect of my shopping by bike is that I go to a greater variety of places than I would by car. I'm not 'green' particularly, but, I wouldn't leave a car park and then drive 5km further because I prefer the dates or avocado at another store. On the bike my shopping can resemble a bit of a scavenger hunt. Organic veg here, bulk pet food there, fresh mangoes at another place and then over to a little place that sells the freshest, local asparagus at rock bottom prices whilst in season. I'm on the bike anyway, the sun is shining and it takes very little time to whip round my local options (I am very spoilt and very grateful).<br /><br />That's why I'm always a little taken aback when people assume that I must find grocery shopping limiting on a bike. I actually think my larder is improved because of it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15636177626451867375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-12624661707590964252012-07-22T22:52:26.576-04:002012-07-22T22:52:26.576-04:00I wonder if Home Depot would let me roll in the Bi...I wonder if Home Depot would let me roll in the Big Dummy as a lumber rack.dr2chasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16320828055999939449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-8855403923846051302012-07-22T22:25:17.112-04:002012-07-22T22:25:17.112-04:00I have on old Maruishi with a small front rack and...I have on old Maruishi with a small front rack and a large Wald basket zip tied to it. Ride it at least a couple of times a day to the grocery store about a half mile away. Never tried to bring it in, just lock it up to the railings outside and carry a plastic basket.Mattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-85226020969497515342012-07-22T21:40:06.588-04:002012-07-22T21:40:06.588-04:00I forgot to add that, when my daughter, now 11, wa...I forgot to add that, when my daughter, now 11, was 2 to 5 or so, I'd walk to the nearest Albertson's while she rode, first her coaster, pneumatic tricycle with parent override steering (via a pop-in rear handle), then her 16" wheel bike with training wheels. We'd cruise the aisles, she riding and me walking. I did get one or two dirty looks from other patrons for that, but they were more than matched by the "oh, how cute!" looks and remarks. Odd that no one has complained, even via a look askance, about my full size bikes in the aisles.<br /><br />I expect that southwesterners (I am in ABQ, NM, metro area circa 750K) are far less uptight about such things, and in general, than inhabitants of crowded NE urban areas.Bertin753https://www.blogger.com/profile/02860648732848589740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-43985931870151248952012-07-22T21:33:35.275-04:002012-07-22T21:33:35.275-04:00I've been wheeling full sized bikes of various...I've been wheeling full sized bikes of various sorts -- even my Ken Rogers trike, when I still owned it -- through two of our local Albertson's for years. The only thing that gets comments (apart from "hellos" from the staffs and once a manager's eager inquiry about the trike) is warnings that my headlights are on -- they are dynamo powered and are on all the time. I've not tried Costco, but with the large packages they sell it is probably easier, anyway, to lock the bike outside at the rack. At the nearby organic-discount-gourmet-independent grocery, Sunflower, the aisles are too narrow and crowded, so I leave a lock permanently attached to the rack outside. I rarely go to Target or WalHell unless I am taking my mother in the car.<br /><br />For a while I had a dedicated Worksman tricycle grocery shopper which I left outside: one premise with that vehicle was that it was cheap enough that its loss would not be a great one. I did have a "frame lock" mounted on the fork, though.<br /><br />FWIW, the most convenient shopping bike setup I owned, of many, was an old Motobecane Grand Record fixie with large, Dutch-style panniers and a rear dropout mount stand. I could leave the stand down as I wheeled the bike through the aisles and park ad hoc it as needed mid-aisle. I found that this Greenfield held the loaded bike up -- even with grossly asymmetrically loaded panniers -- better than any bb-area-mount single or double leg stand (I used Plestcher and Velo Orange's -- neither kept the bike from falling over under heavy, asymmetrical loads).Bertin753https://www.blogger.com/profile/02860648732848589740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-30690873238111998952012-07-22T21:25:00.940-04:002012-07-22T21:25:00.940-04:00Hmm so maybe it's Star Market policy.
With W...Hmm so maybe it's Star Market policy. <br /><br />With Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, you really do have to pick strategic times to shop there if you hope to find bike parking, even in the winter.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-35352386154136739002012-07-22T21:22:23.764-04:002012-07-22T21:22:23.764-04:00I've considered it, but don't want to push...I've considered it, but don't want to push my luck!Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-27359406304093888182012-07-22T21:20:16.870-04:002012-07-22T21:20:16.870-04:00Oh yes, she is doing well.Oh yes, she is doing well.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-41136483566690782922012-07-22T20:55:26.395-04:002012-07-22T20:55:26.395-04:00Hey I told you that's what I consider...this i...Hey I told you that's what I consider...this is a joke. <br /><br />Must be new ownership; people don't just pull their heads out so rapidly, en general. <br /><br />Nice to see you using reuseables now. <br /><br />Arguing about plastic? What. The. Hell. Those things strangulate little birds and microparticulate into a vast raft in the Pacific the size of Tejas.Ground Round Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09103163385322185034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-48352621259752635452012-07-22T20:03:30.640-04:002012-07-22T20:03:30.640-04:00I roll my bike into Home Depot all the time withou...I roll my bike into Home Depot all the time without a problem, but I haven't tried at Costco. If anyone has, I'd love to know how they were greeted.ampyalihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04149048751388393415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-59179931485416915622012-07-22T20:03:03.235-04:002012-07-22T20:03:03.235-04:00Nearest grocery store is 1.5 miles away, next clos...Nearest grocery store is 1.5 miles away, next closest grocery store (same chain) is 7 miles away. Nearest Trader Joes?... over 45 miles away. The access to the closest stores really isn't cyclist friendly and there aren't any bike racks, but you do what you have to do.<br /><br />Aaron2whls3spdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16954543886269776858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-88839454721935234822012-07-22T19:44:49.052-04:002012-07-22T19:44:49.052-04:00Ha, I think I know the store, it's our backup,...Ha, I think I know the store, it's our backup, but I haven't been in at least six month. Please tell me the checkout clerk "L" is still there.somervillainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13903377050982678550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-50623112889357533612012-07-22T19:27:10.397-04:002012-07-22T19:27:10.397-04:00Have you tried bringing in a full sized bike with ...Have you tried bringing in a full sized bike with a basket attached?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com