Biking for Groceries with Kids

[nubbs180]

I haven't seen this addressed specifically yet, so here's my question:  If you're trailer is full of kids, where do you put the groceries?

And just to add to the dilemma, I live within biking distance of Costco.  How does one bring home 50+ pounds of groceries (bulk flour, sugar, rice, oil, toilet paper, etc) with two kids in a bike trailer?  The trailers I've seen tend to be rated for 100lb capacities; kids and groceries can quickly outstrip that.

Thanks!

[Sfrancophone]

We've done it with a 3 year old and a 9 month old. Instead of stuffing the trailer to the gills with kid junk, we leave everything at home (except a minimal diaper kit). That leaves the back of our trailer (the Burley Bee) free for carrying food. If you need to augment this arrangement, add two canvas bags across your handlebars. This way you can carry a good deal of weight in front and back. As for Costco, the only way I've found to cope with the weight is to shop more often, as it costs next to nothing to bike to the grocery. The alternative? Wait until one of them goes to school, then stack their weight in food beside kid #2.  Could be a long wait to hit the store!

Another alternative? Go on the weekend with your mate, also on his bicycle (extra hitch already installed), and make them haul the trailer on the trip there or the trip home. There are several other permutations here involving trail-a-bikes, bike seats for infants and toddlers, and tandems.

[Bakari]

One kid on a bike seat, one in the trailer?
Or one kid on a bike seat, the other on their own little bike?

Or a bigger, stronger trailer.
Or a cargo bike that can hold two child seats (like an xtracycle or yuba)
Actually, a standard bike can hold two, one on a back rack, the other in front near the handlebars.


Or make the kid's other parent watch them on grocery day.

[Barry]

Kids in the trailer, panniers on the bike.  I use 4 regular cloth panniers, but these oyster bucket panniers always struck me as pretty badass for shopping http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-Better-Bucket-Panniers/

If you're not too far from the store, you can also use your big 70L backpacking pack.  I've ridden a few km with 50 lbs of groceries in one of those, and it's not bad. 

[Use it up, wear it out...]

We use an Extracycle, the biggest load I've carried is 2 kids + 5 large, full grocery bags.

[Saving mom]

They don't sell xtracycles in Texas. I also have kids who are 5 and 7 and the trailer is awkward with both of them in there. Anyone know if there is a bigger kid seat sold commercially that I could add to a women's trek bicycle?

[Tradies wife]

They don't sell xtracycles in Texas. I also have kids who are 5 and 7 and the trailer is awkward with both of them in there. Anyone know if there is a bigger kid seat sold commercially that I could add to a women's trek bicycle?

A yuba mundo? http://yubaride.com/yubashop/product.php?id_product=65. Check out the accessories for these practical bikes too. Cushion seat and a set of handlebars. Loads of options.

At 5 and 7, are your kids just about ready to ride their own bikes with you?

[Saving mom]

They should be but we haven't taught them how to ride bikes (I know that's bad but we live on a very sloping street that slopes into a busy street with a blind curve).  It's on my near term to do list. I am not the most confident cyclist and adding worrying about if my kids will respond appropriately to traffic would not add to my confidence. I think my September challenge should be to get those kids on bikes!

[twinge]

They should be but we haven't taught them how to ride bikes

I've taught about a dozen kids to ride bikes--my best successes have been having them do a lot of tries and playing practice down a very gently sloping grass hill in a park before even doing the sidewalk to really build up confidence and balance skills where   And I think it's better to skip training wheels. 

[caligulala]

We get our groceries with the kids on an xtracycle as well. We can do 2 gallons of milk and 4 big reusable bags of groceries in the panniers along with the 2 kids in seats. The seats are rated to something like 55 pounds and kids can ride loose on the back if they are old enough to hold on. Xtracycle does sell their bikes directly so you don't need to have a dealer in your area.

For Costco, we walk with the stroller during the week. We do the go more often strategy and if it doesn't fit in the undercarriage basket, we leave it until next time. Since we don't have a car, we'll hitch a ride with someone or do car share for the weeks we need to get 50 pound bags of flour.

[Bakari]

They should be but we haven't taught them how to ride bikes (I know that's bad but we live on a very sloping street that slopes into a busy street with a blind curve).  It's on my near term to do list. I am not the most confident cyclist and adding worrying about if my kids will respond appropriately to traffic would not add to my confidence. I think my September challenge should be to get those kids on bikes!

Oh, well then!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_bike

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/adams-trail-a-bike.html

http://www.amazon.com/WeeRide-Pro-Pilot-Bicycle-Tandem-Trailer/dp/B001STXC2A

Kids learn the basics of pedaling, while not having to worry about balance or traffic!

There's even a version for two: http://www.bikekidshop.com/adams-folding-tandem-trail-a-bike-p-2105.html

If you hook the trailer up to the back of that, you will be awfully long, but on the plus side, now the kids are helping provide power instead of just weighing you down

[Saving mom]

That's awesome. Thanks bakari! Something like the folding tandem bike is what I am thinking of. Great!

[flyfamily]

Our children are older, so I don't have the trailer. However, using backpacks has been a huge help. Also, cloth bags that can hand on my handlebars without throwing off the balance! It definitely takes some strategic thinking. Do you have the option of going on a few trips throughout the week? Maybe change up the route or run different errands, so you're not bringing home a full load (flour, milk, etc. which is so heavy and adds up) on every trip?

[MrsPete]

This may not be a popular thought here, but I stand by it:

Instead of managing two kids and groceries on a bike, I vote for making a good list (so you don't have to do it day after day) and make a good, stock-up trip in the car.  If you plan well, you should be able to do this perhaps twice a month, and the gas isn't hard to justify.

[bogart]

This may not be a popular thought here, but I stand by it:

Instead of managing two kids and groceries on a bike, I vote for making a good list (so you don't have to do it day after day) and make a good, stock-up trip in the car.  If you plan well, you should be able to do this perhaps twice a month, and the gas isn't hard to justify.

This.  Then if you want to start doing test-rides with your newly self-propelled bikers and you run out of milk/eggs/bananas, you can go with them between big trips (perhaps to a closer store, no idea what your grocery geography looks like) and start by getting just a few items.  Personally I find biking with my kid stressful if we need to get somewhere (apparently everyone else's kindergartener is focused, but mine is that one outlier -- bopping along on the bike and stopping because he sees a rock that looks interesting, or his leg itches, or ...) and I find grocery shopping stressful (what can I say, I don't enjoy shopping) and moreso if my kid's along, so the thought of combining the two AND a big load of groceries?  Not going there.

[Bakari]

I believe even MMM himself once posted about taking a car trip to the Costco once every couple months for major stocking up, didn't he?

Even when I am shopping at the place three blocks from home, and go by foot with a push cart, I still buy a couple hundred dollars worth of food and fill the cart to the brim so that it lasts at least a couple weeks.  Why spend the time traveling and waiting in line any more than you have to?

[Hadilly]

Saving Mom: I would highly recommend starting your kids out on a balance bike first (I personally love the Strider). It will enable them to completely skip training wheels once you shift to a real bike. They are very sturdy and well made, plus the company stands behind their product, so I wouldn't hesitate to buy a used one.

[bikejanebike]

I'm trying to get back to biking. It was hard when I had four littles because I couldn't possibly pull them all and haul anything, so I defaulted to my car a lot. I've recently woke up and realized that habit needed to be broken.

I live an easy safe distance to my local grocery store, so now that my 4 kids are of bike riding age we've started going together.  If I'm not up for the supreme fun of wrangling the kids,  the heat, locks, helmets AND groceries, I go alone in the mornings or evening when my husband is home. This is all more easily managed during the school year while mine are in class during the day.

 I do remember filling the back of the bike trailer when I had two toddlers. The biggest problem I found with this was weight. I am a small person, so filling up the trailer with two kids and groceries was very physically challenging.  I tried to limit my bike grocery shopping at that time to milk, eggs and bananas and saved the big shopping trips for bi-monthly car trips.

[adventure league]

 I do remember filling the back of the bike trailer when I had two toddlers. The biggest problem I found with this was weight. I am a small person, so filling up the trailer with two kids and groceries was very physically challenging.  I tried to limit my bike grocery shopping at that time to milk, eggs and bananas and saved the big shopping trips for bi-monthly car trips.

One thing that helps is learning how to use your gears properly and making sure your tires are inflated properly. I have friends who do hundreds of lbs (kids + heavy bikes + groceries) on their bikes and it's pretty easy once you get those skills dialed in (:

[jfer_rose]

Slightly off topic but I just discovered that Portland, Oregon has an event called Fiets of Parenthood in which parents and kids complete an obstacle course/race by bike. For the parents race, the moms  and dads had to race with their kids and complete the obstacles, one of which was to stop and pick up toys and the other to pick up groceries. Check out these photos:

http://bikeportland.org/2012/09/17/family-biking-skills-on-display-at-fiets-of-parenthood-77402

And Emily Finch, who is featured in the first photo on that link, also talks a little bit about biking with her kids and groceries in her video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7COaTRgnVxo

[hybrid]

This may not be a popular thought here, but I stand by it:

Instead of managing two kids and groceries on a bike, I vote for making a good list (so you don't have to do it day after day) and make a good, stock-up trip in the car.  If you plan well, you should be able to do this perhaps twice a month, and the gas isn't hard to justify.

+1  When I make my Costco run I often leave with 100 pounds of whatever (a case of beer is a good 20 pounds by itself - and my Costco carries a local microbrew!).  And gas up the car.  And stop at a few nearby places to pick up X, Y, and Z that were on the to-do list.  In short, just make Costco part of the "big trip" that cycling may not be practical for.  Especially since you live so close to one already, it's not as if you are spending much in gas to do it.

Sometimes a car really is the right tool for the job.  As Bakari rightly mentions, even MMM does it.

[mpbaker22]

One thing that helps is learning how to use your gears properly and making sure your tires are inflated properly. I have friends who do hundreds of lbs (kids + heavy bikes + groceries) on their bikes and it's pretty easy once you get those skills dialed in (:

Agreed, but hills above a 5% grade will still kill you if you're hauling weight equal to your body weight.  I can't imagine putting 200 pounds (my body weight) on my bike and trying to take a hill without getting a new bike with lower gears.

[Gin]

They should be but we haven't taught them how to ride bikes (I know that's bad but we live on a very sloping street that slopes into a busy street with a blind curve).  It's on my near term to do list. I am not the most confident cyclist and adding worrying about if my kids will respond appropriately to traffic would not add to my confidence. I think my September challenge should be to get those kids on bikes!

I live on a slope too.  The best place for us was the local elementary school dirt track.  The ground is worn down which is easier to ride on and a little forgiving when they fall.  The grass also had a tiny slope to the track which made it easier too.  This was for learning to ride with no training wheels. 

[TLV]

I can't imagine putting 200 pounds (my body weight) on my bike and trying to take a hill without getting a new bike with lower gears.

You don't necessarily need a new bike to get lower gears. Since we're recreational riders (ie we don't go that fast anyway) I installed this (or at least a similar one) on both of our bikes. Compared to the stock crankset, we basically traded the top 2 gear combinations for 4 more on the bottom. (~30% better gear ratio)

Nashbar had a sale at the time, so the total price (including the tool to install them) was about $50 for two bikes. It looks like they also sell cassettes for similar prices that would give another 20% improvement to the lowest gear ratio, but for the hills we ride on just the crankset is enough.

[Bakari]

I can't imagine putting 200 pounds (my body weight) on my bike and trying to take a hill without getting a new bike with lower gears.

You don't necessarily need a new bike to get lower gears. Since we're recreational riders (ie we don't go that fast anyway) I installed this (or at least a similar one) on both of our bikes. Compared to the stock crankset, we basically traded the top 2 gear combinations for 4 more on the bottom. (~30% better gear ratio)

Nashbar had a sale at the time, so the total price (including the tool to install them) was about $50 for two bikes. It looks like they also sell cassettes for similar prices that would give another 20% improvement to the lowest gear ratio, but for the hills we ride on just the crankset is enough.

And / or this: http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-MF-TZ31-Tourney-Freewheel-14-34T/dp/B003RLNOKC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Although, go low enough and its almost easier to just walk...

[abhe8]

how about other options for reducing need for grocery shopping?

chickens = eggs and meat at home
garden = fruits and veggies
Azure Standard or Country Life Natural Foods = stock up a couple of times per year (and they deliver)
free shipping with Amazon, sells lots of grocery items
beef/pork = buy 1/2 or full animal at a time, keep frozen

after that, i'd look into the double wee-hoo. kids sit lower, so not as difficult to balance and they can both pedal, to help with the load. you can put the trailer onto the back of teh wee=hoo (not ideal to have a baby so far back, but for groceries, not a problem).