I’ve just realized that Americans are obsessed with cargo bikes because they buy a lot of stuff. In my three years in Germany, I never once needed to transport something that wouldn’t fit on my city bike. But I also went to the store every day - it was a 60 second detour and easy to do. Here in LA I’ve prioritized living within 3 mins walk of a grocery store, but the shopping experience is still quite slow.
North Americans how often do you go food shopping?
@loshmi I live alone and work from home on the edge of the populated center of my #Vermont town in a rural area. The markets are approximately 1.5 km, 2.5 km, and 6 km from my home. I go grocery shopping at least once a week, often 3-4 times in a week, because my #ebike makes it easy to do so. I have been car-free for over 2 years, I ride my ebike year-round, and I also supplement my food shopping with Amazon Prime for things I can't buy locally.
@gcvsa@loshmi I live in Victoria BC, I have a grocery store about a minute walk away, too close to be worth biking to, but I often prefer other stores over that one. A larger one is less than 5 minutes by bike and then others I go to are 20 minutes by bike. My folding bike doesn't have room for large paniers so I use a trailer that detaches into a hand cart. I go grocery shopping 2-3 times a week.
I didn't have a photo of my bike with groceries, so here it is with gardening supplies.
I do grocery shopping once a week. I used to shop more often but the prices of the grocery most convenient to my commute is insane, typically 30% -50% higher than the place a mile north but out of the way in my neighborhood.
When my family traveled to Germany this summer, it was shocking how inexpensive groceries were - even in city centers. No wonder you can shop daily.
Granny->bike cart:
Saw this one on the Mo’ U Know this am
@atthenius@Iragersh@smithkm@gcvsa Yes, because the economy isn’t so neoliberalized, prices in Europe tend to not differ much from store to store. Also the quality of the food is much higher.
I didn’t consider how different the prices can be in different locations, but that’s a very valid point! Some commodities in Whole Foods cost double what they cost in Target, for example.
@Iragersh@loshmi Attaching a regular hand cart to a bike probably wouldn't work too well. Small hard wheels wouldn't handled the bumps at the higher speed and the frame would be a lot less robust to handle the increased stress and wear.
@Iragersh@smithkm average speed on my regular bike coming back from work is 15mph. 🤷🏼♂️ I think many people bike fairly fast, doubly so when they have an ebike.
@floating@Fuzzbizz In Germany they used the trailer or the front mount seat. Once the kids are too big for those, they are old enough to walk/take transit with parents/on their own. (I REALIZE THIS IS ILLEGAL IN THE US).
@eastbaynian@floating@Fuzzbizz I believe it’s illegal in many us/canadian jurisdictions to leave children under 13 unsupervised to walk to school/activities/take transit. they can take your kids away.
@loshmi think of it as baby steps away from cars, plus we have to exist in a car-oriented economy/infrastructure. Our avid motorists also actively resist making streets safe for children, so parents end up with chauffeur duty for somewhat larger-than-child-seat kids.
@loshmi The main shopping trip once per week, with auxiliary trips as needed. There's a grocery store about a mile away. Neither my partner nor I can drive cars.
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