Don’t bike to the grocery store? Oregonian says you’re a sinner
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on April 7th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
(Photo © J. Maus)
In yet another sign of biking’s ascent into the mainstream, not biking was on a list of “distinctly Oregon sins” published by the Oregonian on Saturday.
In an article that appeared on the front page of the O’s Living section, reporter Nancy Haught decided to follow the Vatican’s lead and add a few new sins to the official list of Seven Deadly Sins.
Along with “drinking instant coffee” and “refusing to sort your recyclables” was a bike-related sin that caught my eye. According to Haught, in Oregon, “Not commuting to work, shuttling kids, schlepping groceries or transporting furniture on a bike” is a sin.
Fittingly, the the article came out the same day as the Oregon Bike Summit.
Read the full article here.
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April 7th, 2008 14:57
I walk to the grocery store. Does that mean I'm a sinner?
April 7th, 2008 15:07
No Richard, walking is old-school holy. Like going to a latin mass ;-)
April 7th, 2008 15:08
walking is the new fixed gear
April 7th, 2008 15:10
fixed walking?
Is that when you tie your shoelaces together and hop?
April 7th, 2008 15:15
Where is "Pedestrian Critical Mass" or "Foot Jousting" where is the "Walk Culture" in town?
April 7th, 2008 15:18
fixed walking died with fix-push skateboarding. it's so last year...
April 7th, 2008 15:18
"Is that when you tie your shoelaces together and hop?"
the concept of fixed gear drive train would be analogous to walking, your legs are always moving. the escalator the equivelent of the modern freewheel cog.
April 7th, 2008 15:22
Very nice article by Nancy over there at the 'O.' Where's "not ride public transportation"?!
April 7th, 2008 15:24
The real sin is reading the Oregonian.
April 7th, 2008 15:35
I can't remember the last time I actually drove to the grocery store. It seems so easy to do it by bike once you get used to it. However, in conversations with other Portland bikers, most would say that is one place they do not regularly bike to, is the grocery store. They can't figure out how to carry 30 or 40 pounds of groceries home on your bike - especially if you're buying for a family. Where is the Oregonian getting their info from?
April 7th, 2008 15:47
^^ One day I forgot I had 35lbs of cat litter on my back rack and stood up to pedal hard across the street, next thing I knew I heard the wonderful sound of plastic being dragged across pavement. Since then, I've ceased using bungee cords and use some P-Cord w/a trucker's hitch to secure heavy loads. I, however, completely understand that with breakables it becomes much harder when you're feeding a family.
Living in an apartment I can't easily keep a bike trailer at my place so the one thing I can't do by bike (or haven't figured out how to) is take back my 4 large garbage bags of bottles to Freddies . . . maybe I should just drink less beer? or take them back more often . . .
April 7th, 2008 15:52
I never feel more out-of-step with my fellow Portlanders than when going to the grocery store, and not because my shoelaces are untied or tied together. Despite the fact that the Trader Joe's I shop at is located directly across the street from a transit center, the vast majority of people drive there and the parking lot is almost always full or nearly so. (In fact, I was told by a member of the staff that the key reason the store moved to its new, larger location a few blocks from the old location wasn't so much for the extra floor space but for the much larger parking lot.) The staff there, and every other store in my neighborhood, seem to presume implicitly that I've arrived by car, leading sometimes to questions like "Would you like a bag?" when I'm buying less than a bag-full of items. Then there are those too-large paper bags -- they might be more environmentally friendly than plastic, but try lugging one stuffed full of groceries 8 blocks in the rain. It's touch-and-go whether the bag will hold up. I try to bring my own bag, but often I'm just stopping in to pick up a few things on my way home from the MAX station and I don't have it with me.
Grocery shopping here is one of the times I'm most keenly aware that I have left NYC, where the implicit assumption is that you did not do something so silly and unnecessary as drive to the supermarket, and your groceries are packed accordingly, or where you can pay a small fee to have your groceries delivered, which most of the stores do by bicycle.
Portland has a long way to go.
April 7th, 2008 15:59
Hmm. I've long since concluded that this sort of thing doesn't do cyclists any favors at all, whatever the intentions may be. Any kind of self-righteousness or appearance of "special favors" towards one group of road users over another can only result in harming the minority that is receiving those apparent "favors."
April 7th, 2008 16:09
Yikes, it's a JOKE. Quit taking it so seriously. Did anybody actually read the list?
April 7th, 2008 16:40
It would be ridiculous for me to drive to the grocery store (if I had a car, that is) since I live three blocks from Whole Oats, Wild Foods, whatever it is, and Freddy's is just down the street, too. Although when I get a Zipcar for other errands or whatever, I do load up on groceries. It is nice to get more than just a back pack or small basket's worth of things in one trip. otherwise I'm at the store nearly every day, which always leads to more unnecessary impulse buys.
April 7th, 2008 16:56
Let's hear it for NYC and its car traffic which forces the issue, resulting in congestion pricing and bike deliveries for groceries. Car drivers have it too easy here in the wide open, sprawling West.
April 7th, 2008 17:41
I knew some force pushed me to convert my cross bike to a single gear.. LOL
April 7th, 2008 19:19
Citizen Gregg:
I concur.
April 7th, 2008 19:22
After 20+ years of living and riding in NYC, the idea of 30+lbs of groceries to carry on a bike would rarely occur. Apartments are so small and citizens tend to eat out often. I can say from experience, that most NYC refrigerators are only filled with a 6-pack, bottled water and some left over Chinese food take out. My standard bike (6 were stolen) was a 1-speed cruiser with a big front basket and a 40lb chain. If you needed more gear you were going too fast.
Now, I ride a 3-speed cruiser, with the same big basket. I can get 4 bags in basket. Can only suggest to all to buy the 4-pack of toilet paper instead of the 12-pack.
April 7th, 2008 21:13
I have recently built up an Extracycle which allows me to buy a solid carload full of groceries and have it be a fun outing versus a dreaded chore. We're really starting to see dust and leaves pile up on the car these days.
April 7th, 2008 21:14
Well I always bike to the grocery, but I think I once wore Adidas onto the Nike campus. Therefore I'm goin ta Hell.
April 7th, 2008 21:58
@11 - Russell, I feel your pain. The Kogswell list had a very in-depth examination of this serious challenge facing our nation and decided to have a contest somewhat similar to but mostly unlike the X prize (the X prize did not involve beer.)
The results are posted here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/641642@N25/pool/
Summary - the outlook is excellent for a new generation of brew-carrying bicycles...
April 8th, 2008 00:40
I drive my Hummer one block to the grocery store to buy a jar of peanut butter. It usually takes me 45 minutes to find a parking spot, and I leave the motor running.
I mean, how could I not? What if it didn't start again?
April 8th, 2008 07:02
I ride on errands in Vancouver--I'm an apostate over here; "Thou shalt drive thy giant 4x4 with little chrome fish on the ass end that proclaims my idiocy to do even the most trivial journey."
April 8th, 2008 07:56
Maybe change zoning laws to force grocery stores to build smaller stores and encourage them to locate in more neighborhoods so its easier to get there by bike for the common person. Maybe force minimarkets (Schlitz and a candy bar anyone?) to stock an array of actual food. The New Seasons parking lots just get more and more crowded...
April 8th, 2008 08:15
I'd like to see more bike parking space at grocery stores. Most of my weekly food shopping happens on the weekend, along with everyone else. Parking a bike is a hassle enough, but the trailer makes it really hard. I've taken to parking a few blocks away and locking to a pole.
April 8th, 2008 08:20
I lived in Manhattan for 8 years and didn’t have a bike or car. Public transit is so available there any other vehicle is an inconvenience. Grocery shopping trips were accomplished with an old fashion folding wire “granny basket”. You could purchase products thru out the city and haul ‘em home with one of those. Believe it or not, by a per-capita energy consumption measure… New York city is one of the greenest cities in the US.
I did miss having a vegetable garden and being able to ride my bike.
April 8th, 2008 09:08
I second the Xtracycle! That thing changed my whole experience with bike practicality.
Now if only somebody can do something about those damn hills and their evil partner, gravity.
April 8th, 2008 09:46
Most bicycles available in the US seem pretty impractical for grocery shopping. I don't understand why there aren't more bikes available that come with fenders & racks, generator lighting, full chain cases and internally geared hubs. Does any major US bike company even have such a model?
April 8th, 2008 10:04
In response to Dag, While they're not US bike companies I was recently looking at Bianchi's Brilante and Rubino as well as Giant's Trans Sport and Trans Send. They meet some of your requirements. I'm favoring the Trans Sport right now as I like the heavy duty front and rear racks.
Currently I find Grocery Bag Panniers and a rear rack work quite well for grocery shopping. I also get a lot of strange looks as I leave the parking lot with a load of groceries on the back on my bike. Of course I live in Washington Co where Big SUVs that take up two parking spaces seem to be the norm.
April 8th, 2008 10:45
There are many bikes for many things. My CAAD 8 will go far and fast, but its grocery carrying capabilities are, sadly limited to what fits in a pack. I ride it to the store sometimes, and its like taking a sports car to church, but that is an exchange I make.
My jamis on the other hand is a fun little grocery getter- gears enough to be quick, with the back rack and white buckets it will haul enough stuff to feed me for a week- notice that internal gears, chain gaurds, wheel generators are mentioned- NONE of these things help getting groceries, but rather are part of an aestetic that some prefer.
Sadly the jamis is going tbe retired because I have found i prefer drop bars, and stored until my son grows into it... sometime next week most likely.
Russel- drink canned beer?
April 8th, 2008 11:24
I have been looking at the Surly Big Dummy with the Pugsley fork as a vehicle to transport the recyclables from my church to the recycling centers around town. The combination of the large load capacity and fat tires (26 X 3") would allow us to move our "stuff" very easily as there are no actual hills on any of the routes, just some gentle inclines. Now all we have to do is shake the money required for the purchase loose from whereever it will have to come from.
April 8th, 2008 11:30
I do most of our household's grocery shopping trips by bike (using my sturdy Bridgestone touring bike), usually filling my two big Ortleib panniers to the brim and leaving them open at the top in case I pick up any plants that need to peek out. They're just like giant grocery bags when used that way. It can be a hard haul--I weigh all of 115 lbs, so it's a lot of work. I think the worst part is how heavy the bike gets, and how hard it becomes to balance it once the panniers are on the rack. But it's fun somehow, and it always feels like quite an accomplishment to take one of those big "just got paid!" trips to the store every couple of weeks and not touch the car. I use a trailer for larger things, like going to the nursery for big bags of potting soil.
April 8th, 2008 11:44
But seriously, one of the best things I ever did was buy a house close to a grocery store.
April 8th, 2008 12:13
Sure they help getting groceries. Among my biggest complaints for grocery shopping on my bike are that it takes several minutes to get prepared to ride. This is because: I have to remove my lights so they don't get stolen (generator lights) and I have to roll up my pant leg or choose clothing that doesn't get caught (chain guard, which requires single speed or internal gears). I bet I'd cut my grocery store trip time by at least 3 minutes with those upgrades.
April 8th, 2008 18:06
my light comes off in three seconds and my pant leg rolls up in two... I am sorry you are unable to perform these tasks in a reasonable amount of time... and even if it did my 21 speed would still beat you there and back.
April 8th, 2008 18:34
Citizen Gregg: Stoke Monkey
Dag: Breezer makes bikes fulfilling your wish list. See Uptown 8 and Villager, for a start (at the top of their line up).
April 9th, 2008 12:17
Breezer's bikes ( http://www.breezerbikes.com/ ) don't have a complete chain case, just a guard. Also they're lacking something in the aesthetics department IMO. The Batavus Old Dutch is a good example of what I'm on about, also this one: http://www.fietsfabriek.nl/pages_eng/pmduo.htm
In any case, US bikes are most all designed for sport, not practical day-to-day transportation, and it shows.
April 9th, 2008 14:59
whatever Dag, my bike works fine for me, just stay to the right when i pass ok?