Sam’s Club by Bike

Gas is really expensive. My 2001 bright red minivan boasts a respectable 25mpg for a 7-seater, but it now costs me $110 to fill my tank. So I don’t drive it. Well, occasionally I do, but because the weather here is finally glorious and because my bike-enthusiast husband rides either to the train station (green) or downtown (very green,) I have his zippy little Toyota Matrix at my disposal. Makes a huge difference. I drove to Phelps - the lovely hamlet where Doug’s family owns a lake home – twice this summer. The van can make the 350 mile ride on one 26 gallon tank, but that’s over $200 round trip now (I know – math wiz.) The Matrix can also make it on one tank, but its tank only holds 12 gallons and thus sets us back only $50. Obviously, we take the Matrix whenever possible.

Last Monday was a glorious day and, after driving those 350 miles a day prior, I decided I’d do as much as possible on bike or foot. I took the dog for a run. I rode my vintage Schwinn Collegiate to see two clients. I ran with the dog to Best Buy to get Doug’s birthday present. But the kicker was when Corey, my daughter, and I decided to go to Sam’s Club via bike. Sam’s, as you know, is a wholesale club, so there are obvious limitations on which items I could purchase. Since the primary mission was coffee, I decided we’d be fine. We loaded our reusable grocery bag with three packs of batteries, a honeydew melon, a package of grapes, a gallon of milk and, of course, a 2.5 lb bag of Starbucks Coffee.

When we got back to our bikes, we compared the size of our load and the size of my wire basket and got nervous. I carefully loaded all of our items in my wire basket, took off, and promptly lost the melon. I reloaded, tied the bag off and set off. Driving home was a bit hazardous. The load in front made my bike unwieldy and it felt so front heavy I just prayed we wouldn’t have any sudden stops. But bit by bit we made it home, very satisfied with the outing. We got it all done, we replenished our coffee and fruit supplies (both key summer life ingredients) and did not use an ounce of gas. Thank God we didn’t need toilet paper.

JCH