Early Biking-for-Grocery Memories

As we've been working on the house reno project, we've spent many (too many) hours in local home improvement stores. One day in particular, we were on a hunt for a couple of items that were alluding us and we managed to find ourselves out east of our city. We used to live out that direction and often found ourselves biking the roads in that area. We were amazed at how quickly things have changed in the last several years and how many new retail stores have popped up.

One of the things that popped into my mind though as we wandered through was the memory of my first rides to the grocery store on a bike while living in that area. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I recalled my first attempt at grocery shopping on a bicycle. I recall wandering through the market, grabbing items as if I had unlimited storage on my two wheels. When everything was bagged, I suddenly realized that I had no means of getting it all home in one trip. I recall telling the individual at the checkstand that I'd have to return for many of the items.

The look I received was one of great confusion. When I explained that I was on my bicycle, she nodded knowingly and said, "I have an uncle who can't drive right now because of too many DUIs." I didn't even bother to explain that my riding a bicycle was not due to the fact that I couldn't drive, but was rather a choice I'd made.

Regardless, I knew I couldn't carry all of the goods and had to make a return trip to pick up the rest of my items at a later time. I learned a lot in that trip though and from then on made a conscious effort to buy only what I knew I could carry, even if it meant making more trips in a week.

Several years later, I now have a trailer with which to pull many more items on the bicycle than I did with only a front basket, but I like using that memory when picking items up at the grocery store. I see nothing wrong with buying in bulk when the items can be stored or used over time, but when it comes to fresh items, I actually enjoy making a few trips a week to help ensure that we can have fresher produce. This time of year it seems a little more challenging to find the beautiful produce we see in spring and summer, but it's still a wonderful thing to not have food rotting on the counter or in the fridge.

Do you ever have moments that remind you of early bicycling moments? Is there anything you do differently now than you did when first riding a bike for transportation?