I'm sure this will be the first of several bike-related posts. Today I want to focus on what I've found to be one of the most important aspects of daily bike commuting - having a safe place to lock up. It's not that I have an expensive bike or anything...actually my bike is pretty crappy. But, now that my bike serves as my primary means of transportation, it feels like it is worth so much more than simply its monetary value, so knowing it will be there when I leave work is huge. That's where this place comes in:
I know what you're thinking...that's a parking garage...for cars.
Yup...there's that giant encircled P...the universal sign for vehicular parking.
Hmmm...what's this? No bikes and no pedestrians allowed? Just cars I guess. But wait? What's that green sign glimmering in the distance?
Yessssss....a cage with a green P and a bike on it! Let's ignore the contradiction with that previous sign and revel in the beauty of this cage for bikes.
The door's locked, but good thing I have one of these handy dandy fobs on my key chain. You can have one too for just $60/year. Details can be found here. (and yes, I realize that the form found on this link says it only costs $50/year, but city workers apparently find updating forms each and every year when fees change to be an unnecessary exercise...sigh)
Yes! We're in and lucky me, my office is less than half a block away.
Oh how I wish this photo was filled with wall to wall bikes, but truthfully, this is as full as I've seen it since I started parking my bike here in January. With spring finally here, hopefully all those 'fair weather' cyclists will soon be filling all those empty spots. Still, I'm so glad I live in a city that is at least starting to invest in an infastructure that supports cycling.
We may be a long way from having scenes like this or this in Canada (those crazy Dutch), but with gas prices going no where but up and up...hopefully more people will see that the bicycle is much more than a recreational weekend toy. Good for your health, good for the environment, good for your wallet...it's a triple win situation. Who's crazy now?
-Kyle
3 comments:
I have to agree that I, too, find biking in the winter on slushy, slippery roads slightly insane. I can't really blame people for not being out there when it's -10. And going fast makes it that much colder! You are a brave, brave man Mr. Kyle.
Though, I do hope that as it warms, you'll be able to post pictures of a luxuriously full bike lock.
- agata.
PS. Who has time to update such tedious things as forms as often as once a year? That would be a waste of everyone's time, obviously.
Come on now, where's that green soul?? Before this winter, I thought the same thing...but roads get cleared of snow very quickly downtown and I can probably count on one hand the days where I wasn't biking on bare pavement.
I didn’t know about this at all. Thanks for the info.
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