Grocery shopping

Grocery shopping on the bike takes preplanning. I do have my bike set up with grocery bag panniers. These are open panniers that a grocery bag can slide right into. The problem is I treat these as the back seat of a car. I easily throw things back in there and then forget to take it out. I am usually carrying around quite a bit of totally unnecessary weight.
So the first thing I have to think about is to clean out my panniers. I need to have all the carrying ability possible. Then I make sure I have my cloth grocery bag with me. And I have to think to do this all in the morning before I leave the house when I won’t be going to the store until after work. Thinking so far in advance is always problematic for me.
Greenlife is my store of choice. The organic and sometimes local food source is something I am happy to pay extra for. I would go out of my way to shop here, but as it is, it is the most convenient store for me to ride my bike. I love it that at their new store parking places for bikes are provided. And I love pulling up and finding those racks almost full. Just by putting those racks out there have planted the motivation for more and more people to ride their bikes. Haaayyy!
Being on the bike means I have to shop carefully. I cannot buy more then my carrying space and weight plays a factor also. Carrying home a watermelon, a couple of cantaloupes, half a gallon of milk in addition to all my other purchases on day last summer turned into quite a challenge. Though the old Greenlife was only a half mile from my house, that half mile is mostly up hill. But by putting it in the highest gear and going slowly I was able to make it up.
I have to be even more careful now since the new store is further from my home. And in addition to the original hill, I have to climb Tremont. Load your bike with 40 pounds of groceries and discover how long that hill is!
Grocery shopping on the bike then requires:
• Thinking ahead• Roomy panniers• Careful shopping Not so difficult really!