30 Days of Biking, Day 26: Shopping

By Barb Chamberlain | Published April 26, 2014
Bike with loaded Detours bag and Po Campo bag.

On the left, my Detours bag made in Seattle. On the right, my Po Campo bag, which gets me lots of compliments because it just looks like a purse.

Today’s ride is an answer to the question, “But how do I carry stuff if I ride a bike?” It calls for two pictures: one of my stuffed bags mounted on my bike after spending several hours at Pike Place Market, one of what fit inside those bags.

These are not even particularly big bags. I could carry much larger ones, and in a few days I’ll be picking up an awesome custom rando bag and saddlebag from Swift Industries that will give me even more capacity.

I could also load more items on top of the rack, especially if I ever remembered to carry a couple of short bungee cords. The Po Campo Logan Tote shown on the right actually should buckle on top of the rack but that’s a little incompatible with the handy clamps of the Detours bag so I improvise and it works just fine.

The day of shopping the contents of two ordinary bike bags represents:

  • Breakfast at CJ’s: Leftovers from my Greek skillet
  • Sur Le Table: cookie cup baking sheet, silicon bowl/pan cover, and rubber scraper
  • So Much Yarn: Hardcover pattern book for top-down knitting (can’t wait to try this technique — no more sewing pieces together at the end!), big set of double-pointed needles I’ve been wanting to get forever because then I’ll have lots of sizes/lengths available without a special trip, one more single set of DPs because the big set starts at size 4 and I need a 3, and yarn for a tank top
A load of groceries that fit into two bike bags

Not shown: The bike lock I carry in the outer pocket of the Detours bag.

  • My Kindle to keep me company at breakfast
  • My Po Campo small wallet that can attach to the handlebars if I need more room in the Logan
  • Mee Sum: two sesame seed balls with red bean paste
  • Beecher’s: Flagship cheese
  • BLMF Used Books, my new favorite used bookstore: 3 books in the Master and Commander series for my sweetie
  • The Souk: Coriander and mint chutneys, fig jam, and two bags of Punjabi snack mix from the Middle East market (one bag for my younger daughter who’s away at college
  • In the center: The sweater and scarf I was wearing that I took off to stuff in a bag partway home because the sun shone so brightly

So now, tell me again how you can’t ride a bike because you need to carry stuff.

Day 26 in the 30 Days of Biking, 30 Words, 30 Picture series

Related Reading

30 Days of Biking

Your Turn

  • What kind of bags do you use and what do you like about them?
  • What’s the biggest item you ever carried on your bike without using a trailer?

 

 

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