Finally with the groceries already…

Last night I finally stopped at the store and picked up something up to ferry home. Admittedly it was only a 12-pack of soda, but those are generally annoying and tending to heaverier rather than lighter. I picked up the Safeway brand diet cola (Go2Cola) which comes in the “old style” 12 pack instead of the newer “fridge packs.”
It fit neatly into my Nashbar Townie Basket with room left over for my lock and such – that way I didn’t have to spend time using a bungee cord to put it on the rack. I’m sure glad I bought a couple of them as they don’t currently seem to be available at Nashbar. The item still comes up, but no prices or way of ordering. Hmmm….

Of course my bag wasn’t that full with only the 12-pack.
On the other side of my bike I had the Nashbar Euro Compact Pannier with my laptop, a book, and some paperwork. I’d been at a late meeting and needed all of that. I’d carried the laptop before, but never quite as last night.
The verdict…?
I could haul more around pretty easily. I will admit the handling was different. Not bad, just different and really not all that different. It certainly wasn’t harder to pedal, though I will admit I took it very easy so as not to shake up the soda – I wanted one when I got home.
Now I’m up for trying to do some “real” shopping, though I have to say, I never buy that much at one time. I’m used to shopping on the moped which doesn’t really let me get much home. It’s entirely possible I could carry more on the bicycle than the moped in it’s current configuration. The bike might even be easier because I have to park the moped some distance away and carry the bags whereas with the bike, it goes up the elevator with me.
Today my commute was on the slower than slow side. I didn’t really feel like I had much energy and I’m beginning to wonder about my diet. Yes, I realize food and energy have at least a passing relationship, so maybe it’s time to start thinking about that as well. I stopped drinking several years ago, stopped smoking at the end of 2006, quite eating most sugar last Thanksgiving, started biking recently, and just cut up my credit cards – is diet (and I don’t mean dieting) next? Stay tuned!
Aloha!