Interest in shopping by bike

Doki

"Dervin" <Dervin@Dervin.Dervin> wrote in message
news:HPU6k.33269$P83.24288@newsfe20.ams2...
> On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:36:09 +0100, Brian G wrote:
>
>> At the supermarket this morning I was approached by three separate
>> drivers who asked serious and sensible questions about the
>> practicalities of doing the weekly or twice weekly shop with a bicycle
>> and trailer. This has never happened before. Interestingly, each one
>> mentioned the rising cost of petrol as the reason for the enquiries.
>
> How easy is it? I only own a road bike so I could only buy what I could
> comfortably fit in a bag. What kind of bike do you ride to go shopping?

I used to use my rucksack. IIRC it expands out to 28 litres or so - it's an
EBC one.

John Kane

On Jun 20, 6:36*am, Brian G <j...@ardo-howe.co.uk> wrote:
> At the supermarket this morning I was approached by three separate
> drivers who asked serious and sensible questions about the
> practicalities of doing the weekly or twice weekly shop with a bicycle
> and trailer. *This has never happened before. *Interestingly, each one
> mentioned the rising cost of petrol as the reason for the enquiries.
>
> So it seems that while neither improving physical fitness nor concern
> for environmental matters has prompted them to consider leaving the car
> in the driveway, a good kick in the wallet is doing the trick.

I have not had that happen here in Canada but CBC Radio had a short
spot about more people looking into buying trailors for shopping and
moving goods.

John Kane Kingston ON Canada

John Kane

On Jun 20, 4:56*pm, Dervin <Der...@Dervin.Dervin> wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:36:09 +0100, Brian G wrote:
> > At the supermarket this morning I was approached by three separate
> > drivers who asked serious and sensible questions about the
> > practicalities of doing the weekly or twice weekly shop with a bicycle
> > and trailer. *This has never happened before. *Interestingly, each one
> > mentioned the rising cost of petrol as the reason for the enquiries.
>
> How easy is it? I only own a road bike so I could only buy what I could
> comfortably fit in a bag. What kind of bike do you ride to go shopping?

With a rear rack and a decent set of pannier you can probably carry
about 20-30 lb fairly comfortably. Unless the road bike is for real
high performance work it is pretty easy to get a rack fitted.

When shopping bulk is usually the problem. However if you're commuting
by bike it is often much easier to stop and shop a bit more often than
if you were driving a car or taking transit.


John Kane Kingston ON Canada

Danny Colyer

On 21/06/2008 17:07, John Kane wrote:
>> So it seems that while neither improving physical fitness nor concern
>> for environmental matters has prompted them to consider leaving the car
>> in the driveway, a good kick in the wallet is doing the trick.
>
> I have not had that happen here in Canada ...

Yebbut from what I've read North Americans are still only paying about
half of what British motorists pay for petrol, so even with less
efficient cars the kick in the wallet isn't quite so hard.

--
Danny Colyer <http://www.redpedals.co.uk>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"The plural of anecdote is not data" - Frank Kotsonis

JB

My local Waitrose now offers a free loan of a Bike Hod
(www.bikehod.com) to customers to get their shopping home. It can be
returned up to 3 days later, and they have more than one.

Ekul Namsob

Dervin <Dervin@Dervin.Dervin> wrote:

> On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:36:09 +0100, Brian G wrote:
>
> > At the supermarket this morning I was approached by three separate
> > drivers who asked serious and sensible questions about the
> > practicalities of doing the weekly or twice weekly shop with a bicycle
> > and trailer. This has never happened before. Interestingly, each one
> > mentioned the rising cost of petrol as the reason for the enquiries.
>
> How easy is it? I only own a road bike so I could only buy what I could
> comfortably fit in a bag. What kind of bike do you ride to go shopping?

Most of the time, I ride my road bike to go shopping and take my 23
litre Bagaboo messenger bag [1]. I can fairly easily get a few days
shopping in there. It helps that I get most of my fruit and veg
delivered by an organic grocer.

In the past, I've used my large Karrimor rucsack for greater quantities
of shopping but decent panniers make life a lot more comfortable.

Cheers,
Luke

[1] <http://www.flickr.com/photos/16373547@N07/2583793932/>

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

Ekul Namsob

JB <none@invalid.com> wrote:

> My local Waitrose now offers a free loan of a Bike Hod
> (www.bikehod.com) to customers to get their shopping home. It can be
> returned up to 3 days later, and they have more than one.

Sadly, my local Waitrose is 18 miles away in Southport. I was astonished
recently to discover that there is no cycle parking at all at my local
Co-op: I couldn't even find a suitable lamppost.

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>

JNugent

Ekul Namsob wrote:
> JB <none@invalid.com> wrote:
>
>> My local Waitrose now offers a free loan of a Bike Hod
>> (www.bikehod.com) to customers to get their shopping home. It can be
>> returned up to 3 days later, and they have more than one.
>
> Sadly, my local Waitrose is 18 miles away in Southport. I was astonished
> recently to discover that there is no cycle parking at all at my local
> Co-op: I couldn't even find a suitable lamppost.

Haven't they got toilets inside the building?

David Hansen

On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:45:20 +0100 someone who may be
notmyaddress.1.ekulnamsob@wronghead.com (Ekul Namsob) wrote this:-

>Sadly, my local Waitrose is 18 miles away in Southport. I was astonished
>recently to discover that there is no cycle parking at all at my local
>Co-op: I couldn't even find a suitable lamppost.

In my local Co-op bikes go inside and are left just inside the door
by the post office display. There are outside lamp posts and
railings too.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

graham_johnston@lycos.com

On 20 Jun, 21:56, Dervin <Der...@Dervin.Dervin> wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:36:09 +0100, Brian G wrote:
> > At the supermarket this morning I was approached by three separate
> > drivers who asked serious and sensible questions about the
> > practicalities of doing the weekly or twice weekly shop with a bicycle
> > and trailer. This has never happened before. Interestingly, each one
> > mentioned the rising cost of petrol as the reason for the enquiries.
>
> How easy is it? I only own a road bike so I could only buy what I could
> comfortably fit in a bag. What kind of bike do you ride to go shopping?

It's amazing how much stuff you can fit in just a well packed
rucksack. I only use a road bike and have never had to worry about
trailers or panniers to get my twice weekly shop home(only shopping
for myself though).

As an aside, I have managed to transport an entire flat pack 6 ft high
shelf unit on the road bike - gaffer taped it to the frame and set of
at a slightly bandy legged cadence.

John Kane

On Jun 21, 3:14*pm, Danny Colyer <danny_col...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On 21/06/2008 17:07, John Kane wrote:
>
> >> So it seems that while neither improving physical fitness nor concern
> >> for environmental matters has prompted them to consider leaving the car
> >> in the driveway, a good kick in the wallet is doing the trick.
>
> > I have not had that happen here in Canada ...
>
> Yebbut from what I've read North Americans are still only paying about
> half of what British motorists pay for petrol, so even with less
> efficient cars the kick in the wallet isn't quite so hard.

Yes and no. A quick look at a local price website suggests motorists
are paying about CDN$1.35 / l or roughy GBP0.68 but the shock is
still there. Going from something like CND0.89 to CDN1.35 is a
distinct shock for people. If one had not budgeted for something in
the range of a 50% increase it can be a very nasty shock.

From what I have seen of the UK and France, urban sprawl is much worse
here and so median travel distances are likely to be higher[1]. Also
outside of a few large urban areas our infastructure is a lot less
dense so a lot of trips are going to be longer distance. Trips to do
special shopping , see medical specialists etc are likely to be longer
here for a significant part of the Canadian population.

Also we probably have a lot more large SUV's and larger cars. A few
people may be catching on to the idea that it does not take a Ford 250
to pick up a dozen eggs and a litre of milk.

So, just guessing, I think that people in Canada may be paying
something closer to what people in the UK pay than you think but for
more mileage and bigger vehicles.

John Kane Kingston ON Canada


1. This does not necessarily apply to commuting since a surprising
number of Canadian commuters have quite short commutes.
http://ca.geocities.com/jrkrideau/cycling/commute.png

Paul Weaver

On 20 Jun, 17:16, bornfree <justyouan...@xemaps.com> wrote:
> On 20 Jun, 12:55, Nat <nata...@fyne.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On 20 Jun, 11:54, "PoB" <P...@lackof.org> wrote:
>
> > > "Brian G" <j...@ardo-howe.co.uk> wrote in message
>
> > >news:6c1fgrF3f12ouU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> > > | So it seems that while neither improving physical fitness nor concern
> > > | for environmental matters has prompted them to consider leaving the car
> > > | in the driveway, a good kick in the wallet is doing the trick.
> > > |
> > > I've been saying round work for the last month or so that the roads were
> > > quieter on my commute.
>
> > > Ah well, 'bout time
>
> > > pOB
>
> > There are visibly more cyclists on my commute now. The new people
> > don't say hello or smile yet, but I'm sure they will.
> > Sadly though, I have noticed drivers getting a bit more aggressive
> > towards cyclists. Not sure if it is because there are more of us to
> > annoy them or they resent our lack of need to buy petrol more. Maybe
> > I'm just going through a bad patch and just happen to have a few more
> > cars cutting it close and pulling out in front.
>
> Drivers in Central London (West) surprised and impressed me over the
> past 8 months with their consideration to cyclists.

The one who headbutted me didn't, but on the whole I dont have a
problem with car drivers. Bus drivers, on the other hand...

Mark

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:54:19 +0100, Colin McKenzie
<news@proof-read.co.uk> wrote:

>Dervin wrote:
>> How easy is it? I only own a road bike so I could only buy what I could
>> comfortably fit in a bag. What kind of bike do you ride to go shopping?
>
>Depends on a lot of factors. For a serious monthly shop, you probably
>need a trailer - but you can wheel that into the shop instead of a
>trolley. A couple of times I've wheeled my bike into a supermarket
>because there was nowhere to lock it outside, and no-one stopped me.
>
>Rucksacks and courier bags work fine if you aren't going far. For me
>the best compromise is a strong rack and panniers - if I'm not buying
>much I leave one pannier off.

We struggle to get our weekly food shopping in a large car! However I
do live in a large household.

>Shopping by bike encourages you to shop locally and more often, both
>of which are generally Good Things.

Agreed. If we've forgotten anything, I nip to the closer shops on the
bike.


--
(\__/) M.
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Mark

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:14:55 +0100, Danny Colyer
<danny_colyer@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On 21/06/2008 17:07, John Kane wrote:
>>> So it seems that while neither improving physical fitness nor concern
>>> for environmental matters has prompted them to consider leaving the car
>>> in the driveway, a good kick in the wallet is doing the trick.
>>
>> I have not had that happen here in Canada ...
>
>Yebbut from what I've read North Americans are still only paying about
>half of what British motorists pay for petrol, so even with less
>efficient cars the kick in the wallet isn't quite so hard.

In absolute terms they are paying a lot less but they have suffered a
larger percentage increase.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
See http://improve-usenet.org