Grocery Shopping on a Bicycle

I’ve been doing a lot of athletic cycling recently since the Ride Robins partnership with the Rusty Chains cycling club began earlier in August. But I also use my bicycle to get to work and get our groceries from time to time. Especially now that the hot summer weather is showing some signs of relenting and making way for autumn.

Basically, riding my bike just plain makes me happy and I try to do it every chance I get. What better way to get some quality bicycling time in than to use my bike to replace my short 1 to 4 mile trips to the grocery store in the car?

Finding a safe route to the grocery store in the Robins region is an exercise left to the reader. One of the things Ride Robins would like to do in the near future is put together a map of streets that are possible to ride on currently, before the Robins region actually builds out proper cycling infrastructure.

Fortunately, I live in the core of Warner Robins near Fountain Park, so I’ve got a lot of shopping that’s incredibly accessible to me by bicycle. Some stores that I frequent nearby:

• The Walmart Neighborhood Market on Houston Road.
• The Walmart Supercenter on Watson Boulevard.
• Target on Watson Boulevard.
• ALDI on Watson Boulevard.
• Food Depot on Watson Boulevard.
• More restaurants than you can shake a stick at.

Unfortunately, none of the stores I frequent have bike racks or other facilities for intrepid cyclists who care to do their shopping by bicycle. That’s quite alright— they’ve got plenty of stationary objects right up front that I and many other cyclists and moped riders seem to be using to lock up our bikes. Signposts, benches, fences, and the columns of awnings all do double duty as ad hoc bicycle racks!

I did briefly speak with a manager on duty at Target about bicycle parking, since they’ve been keen on improving their parking lot for pedestrian safety. The manager shared that they actually have quite a few associates who come to work on bicycle and that the person to speak with about bicycle racks would be their property manager.

It’d be rad to see these grocery stores, retailers, and restaurants start to make facilities available for we eager shoppers on two wheels, but there’s nothing stopping us from buying groceries on our bikes right now!

If the idea of getting groceries on your bicycle or e-bike has piqued your interest, I do have a recommendation: install a nice rear rack and get some removable panniers or a milk crate so that you can carry a lot in one trip. A backpack works in a pinch but I sure wouldn’t want to load a week’s worth of groceries on my back like a sherpa on Everest.

Believe it or not, I’ve even seen a few cyclists around town with cargo trailers attached to their bikes— I’m inclined to imagine them hauling lumber or their new TV from Best Buy!

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you out there doing your own shopping on a bike when that beautiful fall weather finally comes ’round and stays!

This article was featured in the Houston Home Journal:
https://hhjonline.com/grocery-shopping-on-a-bicycle/