It really bugs me when Boulder businesses don't offer sufficient bike racks -- or any any all.
Case in point: I get a massage every couple of weeks at
Massage Envy in the new 29th St. complex. Plenty of parking space there, but --
not a single bike rack in that part of the shopping center! Last time I went there I chained my bike up to the mesh fence protecting the trees planted there. But then the massage therapist told me that people have been getting ticketed for that. So basically, if I want to lock my bike up when I ride over to get a massage, I have to park my bike in the central part of the complext and walk to the periphery. Not a big deal, but geez! You'd think in a brand-new shopping center in Boulder, of all places, they'd have bike racks everywhere!
Then just a couple of days ago -- ironically, just after the
video shoot for my commuter of the year Channel 8 profile concluded -- I was stopping by the Body Shop on the Pearl St. Mall, right near Broadway and Pearl. I couldn't find a nearby bike rack! I just wanted to run into the store to pick up one item, and I didn't want to have to wander a distance just to park my bike, so I ended up chaining it for a few moments to a handrail next to the Body shop -- probably illegal, I'll bet.
And then yesterday morning I biked up to Chase Bank at the Table Mesa Shopping Center. I just needed to stop at the ATM there. They only offer one U-shaped bike rack, and two bikes were already chained up to it -- no room for mine. One other bike was already leaning unlocked against the bank wall. (See photo.) I ended up leaving mine unlocked, since i could see my bike from the ATM machines in the lobby...
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I just spend several hundred dollars on my new bike and I depend on it for basic transportation. I see no reason to leave it available to thieves. So I get annoyed when the places I visit regularly fail to offer adequate bike parking facilities.
Wouldn't it be great if every parking lot in town took just one or two car spaces and installed bike rack, converting them to bike parking? Really, most parking lots are mostly empty most of the time. Taking a couple of convenient, close spaces and converting them to bike parking would send a strong message that this city is serious enough about encouraging alternatives to cars that it makes bike parking as convenient as possible.
What do you think? Where could Boulder use more bike racks? Please comment below.