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ALDI down the street sells these gigantic re-usable grocery sacks. They're almost too big to be useful, sometimes. I could probably fit two or three paper sacks of groceries in here.


I also have my Apple schwag bag, which is the same size as the more traditional re-usable grocery bags. Of course, both of these were made in a sweat-shop overseas out of highly processed petroleum, then sent here, likely on a huge cargo ship that burns a few gallons of diesel per engine rotation, but whatever. As you can see, the custom RNR Rack for the Urbana is designed to carry these style of bags. I generally throw panniers on for trips to the grocery, but I tried the bags today.


The unique top plate of the rack is easier to see in my first photo of the bike before unboxing (cropped):


So how does it work? First, you hold the bag so that the top of it is even with the rack, then you tuck the handle into the two top-facing holes on the opposite side.



Lastly, you reach your fingers into the holes on the side of the rack, and you push the handles under the screws that protrude downward, to hold the bag firmly into place.




I really should have taken both large bags, but wanted to show how you can use a more traditional sized bag as well.


I actually did groceries yesterday, but was in too much of a hurry to take photos. I staged it today for the pictures. I took the Urbana to Hen House, rushed home, dropped off groceries and took it out to the Tienda Casa Paloma Monday night ride. I haven't seen those guys in ages, and it was a fun trip. All told, I put about 25 miles on this bike yesterday. Today, I am feeling it.

While it's perfect for running errands and going to nearby places, the riding position doesn't lend itself well to longer distances, such as riding 4 miles each way to a 10-mile recreation ride. I think next time, I'll switch over to my road bike for the Monday night ride.

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