Car Free Chronicles

[drevil]

When I went car-free, I had to adjust my shopping schedule, as one person described it, to a more European version. Two or three days a week, I'll stop at the Giant across the street from where I work as I head home, filling up my two panniers. One reason I use Giant is they have the handheld UPC scanners, so I can scan items and fit them into my panniers as I shop. I don't have to worry about getting to the checkout and finding that I can't quite fit everything I bought into my bags.

One neato torpedo thing I discovered last week is that the Ortlieb pannier hooks clip easily onto the top of the sides of the shopping cart. I was filling them up while shopping and knew exactly when it was full. However, I didn't have the hand scanner, so I had to pull everything back out, scan, then repack. Thanks for the tip!

[CBGanimal]

When I went car-free, I had to adjust my shopping schedule, as one person described it, to a more European version. Two or three days a week, I'll stop at the Giant across the street from where I work as I head home, filling up my two panniers. One reason I use Giant is they have the handheld UPC scanners, so I can scan items and fit them into my panniers as I shop. I don't have to worry about getting to the checkout and finding that I can't quite fit everything I bought into my bags.

YES! I use the UPC and bring my bike into the store filling my panniers and rolling back out! Very cool!


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[Steve O]

My rule is to never use a cart in the store – only a basket – so I don’t buy more than I can carry.

Over time I like to believe I can eyeball my cart and tell exactly how much I can fit. But once in a while.....

A recent photo on Strava shows the petite W&W towering over the other members of the family - so yeah, I'm guessing they're not going through a ton of food.

Cause or effect?

[Steve O]

I’m curious, however, how it is to be car-free as a man in American society. It seems like there are still stereotypes and expectations that make it harder for men to be car-free. But maybe that is not-so-much the case in the DC area…

I am sure that there is a geographic component to this. However, I also believe there is a pretty big generational one, too. We old people are often surprised to learn that more than half of American 17-year-olds do not have their driver's license. That is correct: if you are 17 and do not have your license, you are in the majority, you are normal. That includes the entire country: urban, suburban, rural. Both of my kids got theirs after they were 18 and did not seem much bothered along the way.
Those of us who grew up with the 16th-birthday-rite-of-passage have an out of date understanding. So I would not be surprised by young people having a different attitude.

If you read DateLab in the Washington Post, it seems almost all the dates end with the guinea pigs either catching an Uber or getting on the Metro.

[n18]

Here is the path I use to get to Giant, mostly through Seminary RD, which is the flattest option I could find to Giant. I use the sidewalk sometimes, and sometimes the road, which is lightly trafficked at that segment. There is a Safeway in the area too, which has a wave rack to the south(StreetView link).

[Judd]

It sounds like my best plan for groceries is to hire Wheels&Wings to do all of my shopping.

[accordioneur]

It sounds like my best plan for groceries is to hire Wheels&Wings to do all of my shopping.

Get ready to live on cauliflower puffs and pea milk.

[n18]

Here is the second flattest path to Giant that I know, but it involves using a sidewalk that is somewhat unnoticeable, and negotiating a bad corner at RT7/Carlin Springs RD intersection(The gas station corner). That's why sometimes I prefer the first option. Here is a StreetView of that sidewalk.

[DCAKen]

One neato torpedo thing I discovered last week is that the Ortlieb pannier hooks clip easily onto the top of the sides of the shopping cart. I was filling them up while shopping and knew exactly when it was full. However, I didn't have the hand scanner, so I had to pull everything back out, scan, then repack. Thanks for the tip!

I had discovered this a few years ago. Then recently, my local Giant replaced the carts with more rugged plastic sides. My Ortlieb hooks don't fit as easily on them, but I can wedge them on.

[huskerdont]

Good for you. I couldn't swing it largely because of whitewater, camping, and ski trips (plus the dog), but I have gone from 35,000 miles a year to less than 10,000 a year for the last three years. I think I'm still a bit car addicted too from growing up in a place where it would be insane not to have one. Anyway, good luck. Eventually you'll end up like me, riding home with a bag of chips in one hand and a block of cheese in the other, wondering how you're going to brake because you misjudged the size of your bag. And I never seem to be able to carry enough beer--always need to get more for some reason.