Nigel was kind enough to send us a photo from across the pond of his weekly shopping setup. Its a great use of the Carry Freedom Y-frame bike trailer and stack-able plastic containers. Nigel claims that he can use this trailer along with a set of rear panniers to shop for a family of four for the week.
Nigel estimated that by the time he arrived at the store, found a place to park his car, walking to and from the car, and packing and unpacking the “boot”, the bike was actually faster even with an uphill back to the house. There really is no limit to integrating your bike into your daily and weekly life, it might take a little bit of fore thought at the beginning, but pays off in the end.
It is unfortunate that American society has become so dependent on driving, it has helped the growth of the big box corporate store and diminished the local independent shops. I know many may not have a choice, but just something to ponder. We can take a lesson form Nigel and try a little harder to ride our bikes to run our errands, if he can shop for a family of four then we should be able to incorporate out bikes for our own store runs.
The Carry Freedom Y-frame is a great trailer, unfortunately it is currently unavailable in the U.S., but there is a alternative option that might even be better. Check out the Wandertec BONGO, it is similar to the Y-frame with a flat universal load bed and an open platform design, but the BONGO uses a round hitch arm allowing the load bed surface to be level regardless of how high or low the hitch is, a draw back of the Carry Freedom Y-frame.
Thanks for the photo Nigel, and great job, keep hauling those groceries.