Grocery Bike

On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 9:31:54 AM UTC-8, wrote:
Op zondag 3 februari 2019 16:43:23 UTC+1 schreef Frank Krygowski:
On 2/2/2019 5:47 PM, wrote:

Riding on a heavy sluggish utility bike hauling 10 kg of groceries on busy urban roads is not an enjoyable ride for me.

I'm sorry. That's kind of sad.

What is sad?


I enjoy lots of different types of riding.

What gives you the impression I don't. Should I enjoy hauling groceries by bike? It was raining/snowing yesterday morning and I met a colleague at the store. He was on his bike and in full rain gear soaking wet just to get groceries. I know he owns a car. Does he feel guilty taking the car? WTF?

Lou

I presently have two different carbon fiber bikes - a Time VX Elite and the Colnago CLX 3.0. The Time isn't especially lights and neither is the much newer Colnago. I have a Basso Loto, a Pinarello Stelvio. I have a Redline Conquest cross bike and a Ridley XBow cross bike. I just sold the frame from my Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra. I have another Pinarello Torino that I have to do a little refining on and sell it. These bikes all have completely different rides. I like the Colnago, the Time and the Basso and want to sell off everything else but nothing has been selling at all.

I can do just about anything on the Basso that I can do on the cross bikes though it won't do dirt downhills since you can't mount knobbies and so you can't brake. But I ride gravels roads and dirt trails with the Basso.

I really have no complaints about the Colnago. It could be a little lighter but then I would worry about it breaking. It's about 17 lbs without pack and water.

I really wouldn't want any bike that rides worse that the Basso which it a really good riding bike. But the idea behind the grocery bike is convenience and not going for a ride.

On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 9:33:47 AM UTC-8, wrote:
Op zondag 3 februari 2019 16:46:01 UTC+1 schreef Frank Krygowski:
On 2/3/2019 2:29 AM, wrote:
I often get the impression that I live in a different cycling universe than yours ;-). ... I get up on a saturday morning just after the grocery store opens at 8.00 am...

Yes, our universes are different indeed. Waking at 8 AM is almost
torture for me.


--
- Frank Krygowski

I always get up between 7.00-7.30 u. Some of us have to work on weekdays you know.

Lou

SUCKER!! Actually I would like to get a convenient job. I like the challenge of research and development. I was sent a job opening at a local company that makes robots. Just a glance at them showed me a dozen immediate improvements I could make. So I tried to apply and their website is down. I wonder if they went out of business while trying to hire someone. This is what you get if you think that it takes a degree and not knowledge to do things.

On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 10:36:49 AM UTC-8, Duane wrote:
wrote:
Op zondag 3 februari 2019 16:43:23 UTC+1 schreef Frank Krygowski:
On 2/2/2019 5:47 PM, wrote:

Riding on a heavy sluggish utility bike hauling 10 kg of groceries on
busy urban roads is not an enjoyable ride for me.

I'm sorry. That's kind of sad.

What is sad?


I enjoy lots of different types of riding.

What gives you the impression I don't. Should I enjoy hauling groceries
by bike? It was raining/snowing yesterday morning and I met a colleague
at the store. He was on his bike and in full rain gear soaking wet just
to get groceries. I know he owns a car. Does he feel guilty taking the car? WTF?

Lou



+1

Though I do try to commute by bike when I can. Great way to relieve work
related stress. But I use my road bike with a backpack.

--
duane

Unfortunately the sort of work I do I have to wear a suit and tie.

On 2/3/2019 12:31 PM, wrote:
Op zondag 3 februari 2019 16:43:23 UTC+1 schreef Frank Krygowski:
On 2/2/2019 5:47 PM, wrote:

Riding on a heavy sluggish utility bike hauling 10 kg of groceries on busy urban roads is not an enjoyable ride for me.

I'm sorry. That's kind of sad.

What is sad?

I enjoy lots of different types of riding.

What gives you the impression I don't.

Well, there was a hint in your sentence defining an enjoyable ride:
"An enjoyable ride for me is on a snappy bike, in comfortable cycling
clothes, on quiet country roads, nice scenery and preferable in nice
weather."

Perhaps there are lots of other enjoyable types of rides for you, but
your definition of an enjoyable ride didn't make that clear.

Should I enjoy hauling groceries by bike?

I'm not saying anything about "should." But wouldn't it be better if you
did?

I've always enjoyed riding to get groceries. Before I retired, I also
enjoyed riding to work and back. I enjoy riding with family members. I
enjoy long solo rides, and slow rides with friends who happen to ride
slow... and so on. These styles of riding and more bring me pleasure.

It's unfortunate there are others for whom a heavier bike, a bigger
load, a slower companion or whatever make riding not enjoyable.

It was raining/snowing yesterday morning and I met a colleague at the store. He was on his bike and in full rain gear soaking wet just to get groceries. I know he owns a car. Does he feel guilty taking the car? WTF?

Maybe he enjoys riding in the rain? That's one thing I don't usually
enjoy. But I suppose my life might be a little better if I did.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 2/3/2019 11:01 AM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 10:46:01 AM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 2/3/2019 2:29 AM, wrote:
I often get the impression that I live in a different cycling universe than yours ;-). ... I get up on a saturday morning just after the grocery store opens at 8.00 am...

Yes, our universes are different indeed. Waking at 8 AM is almost
torture for me.


--
- Frank Krygowski

I'm lucky in that there is a 24hours grocery store within a mile of me. that makes it so much easier to ride the bicycle to do grocery shopping in the wee hours of the morning say around 2AM or so. There is virtually no traffic and there are no lineups in the store.

And I do really like night riding!


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 2/3/2019 12:33 PM, wrote:
Op zondag 3 februari 2019 16:46:01 UTC+1 schreef Frank Krygowski:
On 2/3/2019 2:29 AM, wrote:
I often get the impression that I live in a different cycling universe than yours ;-). ... I get up on a saturday morning just after the grocery store opens at 8.00 am...

Yes, our universes are different indeed. Waking at 8 AM is almost
torture for me.


I always get up between 7.00-7.30 u. Some of us have to work on weekdays you know.

That's kind of sad too! ;-)

Seriously, I rose then (or even earlier) for many years. But eventually
my university job A) had me teaching frequent evening classes, and B)
had me controlling the teaching schedule for my program. From that point
on, I almost never had to arrive on campus before 10 AM.

Which was good. The reading I've done recently has claimed that a
person's bodily clock is largely hard wired and very hard to change.

Heck, I might even understand chemistry if those classes hadn't been
taught at 8 AM.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 11:18:14 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 2/3/2019 11:01 AM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 10:46:01 AM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 2/3/2019 2:29 AM, wrote:
I often get the impression that I live in a different cycling universe than yours ;-). ... I get up on a saturday morning just after the grocery store opens at 8.00 am...

Yes, our universes are different indeed. Waking at 8 AM is almost
torture for me.


--
- Frank Krygowski

I'm lucky in that there is a 24hours grocery store within a mile of me.. that makes it so much easier to ride the bicycle to do grocery shopping in the wee hours of the morning say around 2AM or so. There is virtually no traffic and there are no lineups in the store.

And I do really like night riding!


--
- Frank Krygowski

There will be NONE of that here. The numbers of drunk and high drivers not to mention those playing with their phones is staggering. The numbers of speeders is also a knock-out. When I ride a bike up a back street that has side roads with stop signs on them you can tell from the way that people pull up to them that they would roll right through if something wouldn't be in their way. In the supermarket parking lot you start pulling out gradually since you cannot see around the full sized SUV's and someone will come past in the parking lot at 35 mph.

At least in the daylight I can see and estimate.

On Sun, 3 Feb 2019 18:36:47 -0000 (UTC), Duane wrote:

But I use my road bike with a backpack.

I rode with a backpack exactly once. Panniers rule!

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

On Sun, 03 Feb 2019 11:02:50 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

As shown in your reference the seat post/seat junction doesn't look
remarkable far back, it appears to be located about half way from the
bottom bracket to the rear axle. I checked one of my road bikes and
the seat post/seat junction seems about the same.

The cranks on a crank-forward bike are at an awkward distance: far
enough forward that I can't stand on a pedal to get steerage way, but
not far enough forward that I can pedal comfortably without setting
the seat too high to get both feet firmly flat on the ground.

But I can ride it on the days I can't walk. Those were so close
together last year that I got used to having a basket to carry things
in, and didn't walk on my good days. (I also got bored with coming
home by way of Grace College as a partial make-up for the missed
walk.)

Today one of the church ladies asked whether I was still riding my
bike in this weather. I just said "No, I walk" without going into
details.

I didn't get my slippers wet until I was three steps from my door. I
guess I got over-confident. Wet slippers for three steps beats
wearing the stiff boots I wore last Sunday for two half miles.

Perhaps I should put my feet into newspaper sleeves next Sunday. Then
I might remember to take the thick-soled sandals off when I take off
my coat.

But today I didn't wear a coat. Last Sunday it took me half an hour
to wrap myself up.

The prediction for next Sunday strongly suggests that I'll wear my
thin-soled sandals.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

On Sun, 03 Feb 2019 19:11:38 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Sun, 03 Feb 2019 11:02:50 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

As shown in your reference the seat post/seat junction doesn't look
remarkable far back, it appears to be located about half way from the
bottom bracket to the rear axle. I checked one of my road bikes and
the seat post/seat junction seems about the same.

The cranks on a crank-forward bike are at an awkward distance: far
enough forward that I can't stand on a pedal to get steerage way, but
not far enough forward that I can pedal comfortably without setting
the seat too high to get both feet firmly flat on the ground.

The so called "correct" height of the saddle is so that with the leg
extended and the pedal at the bottom of its' arc the leg will be
straight with the heel on the peddle.

If the saddle is low enough so that the feet reach the ground then the
knees bend more then necessary when the pedal is at its highest point.
My experience has been that if the saddle is too low then it takes
more energy to ride at any given speed. On the other hand if riding in
traffic being able to put your foot on the ground while sitting on the
seat may be more comfortable (or maybe comforting :-)


But I can ride it on the days I can't walk. Those were so close
together last year that I got used to having a basket to carry things
in, and didn't walk on my good days. (I also got bored with coming
home by way of Grace College as a partial make-up for the missed
walk.)

Today one of the church ladies asked whether I was still riding my
bike in this weather. I just said "No, I walk" without going into
details.

I didn't get my slippers wet until I was three steps from my door. I
guess I got over-confident. Wet slippers for three steps beats
wearing the stiff boots I wore last Sunday for two half miles.

Perhaps I should put my feet into newspaper sleeves next Sunday. Then
I might remember to take the thick-soled sandals off when I take off
my coat.

But today I didn't wear a coat. Last Sunday it took me half an hour
to wrap myself up.

The prediction for next Sunday strongly suggests that I'll wear my
thin-soled sandals.

--
Cheers,
John B.