A new "boot" on my bike

Today it is easy to find something to write about. I've been out on my bike doing groceries and other bits and pieces. My bike's been upgraded with a new "boot" and it is great.


This is what I used to cart all my groceries in:

It looks a bit strange, that is because it is a child seat as well as a basket.
However it is a very long time since it was used as a child seat! You cannot
see, but it is metal covered in plastic, except that in many places the plastic
has deteriorated and fallen off, leaving metal exposed that rusted.

And this is what I've got now:

Showing the rear wheel stand
that lifts the whole back
of the bike off the ground.
 It gives a lot more stability
when loading a child or
heavy groceries onto the bike.

I can hardly believe I waited so long to change. This new basket holds more than the previous one. It is awesome. I no longer have to worry that something might fall out the side. (I recently had to ride back over my route from the shop to retrieve a milk bottle that dropped out onto the road.) I fetch groceries home on my bike three or more days a week, so this is a significant improvement. 

Where I park my bike. It is the easiest to
access of all the places we squeeze our
bikes into at home. I get the privilege
because I'm the primary hunter and
gatherer!

The only thing I miss is the handle on the front of the old basket, which helped me get the back wheel up when putting the stand down (you can just see the stand at the bottom of the photo). When there is 8+ kilos on the back of the bike it isn't easy to lift up, especially when I get home and park it in the little space beside our car.


Here's an older post where I also talk about shopping on bikes.