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Sleet is unbikeable, it stings if you're moving at any speed. I remember bicycling while it was lightly snowing and then it changes to sleet.
Sleet hurts, but the worst is freezing rain. I got caught in that once when I was in college. The roads and paths were quickly too slippery to ride in, barely walkable. And by the time I got back to the dorm the bike was literally coated in 1/4" of ice.
I am bumping my own thread to talk about parking....
So one of the reasons I didn't bother to bike until this year (when I won a bike), even though I have a perfectly serviceable bike at my parents place, was parking. And in most urban areas, leaving a bike parked outside overnight is a good way to lose a bike.
I live in an apartment without a balcony. I have a place in a secure garage, but unlike the other units in my building, my garage is smaller and not accessible from the lobby of the building. I debated hypothetically parking my bike behind my car. But since my garage is pretty small, I would need to back out to retrieve my bike. There wouldn't be enough space for me to pull it out without moving my car, unless my neighbor and I switched to smart cars or mini coopers. Our garage is so small that if someone doesn't park perfectly it is a tight squeeze to get in the door, and we both drive compact cars.
Anyway, since I didn't have a place to park, I didn't bring my bike. And then I discovered near the first floor stairwell, there was a pole that would be suitable to park a bike. Just when I was thinking about picking up my bike at my parents, 2 people started parking their bio there. And there went that idea.
No I park my bike on the exterior staircase railing on another floor. The staircase is rarely used, I am one of about 3 people who use it, and no one on my floor or above uses the staircase. It isn't obstructing anything, and if there was a fire, people could easily get out.
Well a few days ago, I got a note from my HOA president. She is looking into an exterior bike rack, since there about 4 people who wold like to park their bikes outside. She also doesn't have a balcony, and I don't know the story on the other people who are parking outside. We also both live in studio sized units.
I was really excited. I can't think of any new buildings in Oakalnd with bike parking, and my building is circa 1958, so bike parking wasn't on the radar, that's for sure.
So the point of this post, do any of you live in, or know of, multi unit buildings, apartments or condos with bike parking?
How long before bike parking is a standard amenity in multifamily dwellings? After all, car parking is standard and way more expensive. Bike parking is cheap and requires limited space.
One apartment building I lived you could put bicycles in the basement. Building was on a slope, so no need to carry bicycles. There was no garage, just a small parking lot (I'd rather have indoor bike parking than car parking). Though you can always keep bicycles in your home and carry them down the stairs, and if you live in an elevator building not really an issue. Smaller units you can often keep them in the common hallway. For example a common setup in NYC, or at least Brooklyn, is the street is composed of a row of attached 3-story homes, but each each "home" is subdivided into apartments.
There's a common hallway inside, as long as you trust the people living in the other floors, you could toss your bike in the first floor entranceway by the door. Or just deal with carrying up a floor. Boston apartments are usually the same setup but often not attached.
Smaller units you can often keep them in the common hallway. For example a common setup in NYC, or at least Brooklyn, is the street is composed of a row of attached 3-story homes, but each each "home" is subdivided into apartments.
Hmm I live in a condo building. I got a little warning when I left my bike in the hallway for a few hours about hogging public space.
My street was officially designated as a sharrow nearly a year ago. But since I have been biking, I have been too afraid to bike down at the top of my street and the block below mine. Today, after biking over to Main Street, I decided to take the scenic route home. I wanted to see if it was an easier ride. My street is mostly 2 lane one way in my neighborhood, with a speed limit of 30mph.
Well it was a little iffy in a few places, the bike lane ended, and the hill is pretty steep. But the worst part was my own street. My street is a hill, a pretty steep one at that. I live in the middle of the street and in the middle of the hill. It winds slowly for roughly 4 blocks on "my side" before leading to downtown downhill much less aggressively. When you start at the top in a car, if you don't step on the gas, it is steep enough to keep you rolling at 25mph, even from a near full stop.
So as I biked down the last block, trying to moderate my speed with my brakes. I stayed to the right of the lane, instead of taking the full lane, and realized that was a terrible idea. Most cars were polite and moved to the other lane. But one impatient driver decided to pass me closely. After that, I moved to the center of the lane for safety.
Once I made it home, I ran into a neighbor who saw me biking down the hill, and the unsafe passing of the driver. She commented that she wants to take up biking soon, but she is a little afraid. When she first moved in, her then husband vetoed the biking because he thought it was dangerous. And she hasn't been on a bike in ages. But she still wants to take it up again, and perhaps bike around town when it feels a little safer. FYI: she is a divorcee in her late 50s. I guess good infrastructure is age-less
She does walk around the neighborhood over to Main Street and such. When she got divorced she sold the house that was in another less walkable part of Oakland, and decided to move to our current neighborhood, so she could walk around! She's got a "lunch bunch" of other women in the neighborhood in their 50s/60s and they walk around. Hopefully I see them soon on bikes too! There is a proposal to convert the busy thoroughfare up the block into a protected bike lane. It is striped with a regular lane a few blocks away from us near the park, but it is hairy near where we live. I refuse to bike on it, and retreat to walking my bike on the sidewalk until the bike lane shows up. The first time I tried to ride it, there were too many impatient drivers passing me closely.
You will get used to descending if you do it a lot. Generally on hills like that you will be coasting to about 25 mph anyway so I just use the full lane. I think this is common practice, around here anyway, but it does take a while to get comfortable with it.
Nice job taking the bike out today though, may in Oakland tends to be just amazingly beautiful
Bike parking can be an issue, in Portland I would keep my bike in my studio apartment, thankfully it wasn't too much in the way. I was also lucky with work I had a place to lock my bike up where it could be watched the entire time, though we often brought our bikes into the storage closet at work. I am very protective of my bike because I set out to build a simple affordable single speed and finished with a $1200 single speed that I love and fear of it ever being stolen.
I heard of all the terms except "salmoning" and "shoaling". Fish terms?
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