Did you know you can get attention from the store manager of a supermarket when you attach a GoPro camera to your shopping cart?
I stalked my neighbor Lisa as she rode down to Nob Hill Foods for her Thanksgiving feast shopping. Lisa and her husband Neal own and operate NTS Works, so she uses her 2×4 electric assist cargo bike for her shopping.
I’m the guy on the skinny tired road bike you’ll see occasionally riding alongside in this video. On level ground we rode at what I consider a normal, relaxed pace, but going uphill I had to work to keep up with the loaded cargo bike. I’m huffing and puffing when Lisa tells me, “I’m only in low power mode. Should I turn this down some more?”
Why would anyone ride a bike for grocery shopping? For the couple of the days prior to the American Thanksgiving holiday, the parking lots are a chaotic mess. Bikes allow the savvy shopper to shimmy past everybody waiting with their blinker on as they wait for a parking space to open up.
Carrying capacity can be an issue, and cargo bikes are a solution to that. I don’t personally have a cargo bike, so I grocery shop with the Burley Travoy bike trailer.
I find that a pair of Ortlieb panniers are all I need for normal grocery shopping. When I have to get big bags of cat food, I use an old Burley trailer.
Pretty neat way to do groceries. Could be a solution during holiday shopping madness.
My sister in a suburb of Memphis said her neighbor tried to drive to the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving, couldn’t find a parking spot so she drove home. Clearly, all she needed was the NTS Works bike.