I did some rackspotting this afternoon sometime after 5 when most of the blazing heat was starting to die down (the incoming storms helped block the sun, too) in parts of Franconia, Kingstowne, and Alexandria.
Starting off, I headed toward the Rose Hill Shopping Center (Franconia Rd/Rose Hill Dr) which was a bust (a couple of the shopping centers I visited had no bike parking whatsoever). While passing through the Rose Hill Apartments area, I noticed out of the corner of my eye this impressive set of wheel-bender bike racks that seemed to show how much they need better bike racks (warning, do not look at the picture if you have OCD).
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I was impressed that there were a number of bicycle racks around Kingstowne Center. They were wave racks, but the crests were wider apart which leads me to believe they are better for cargo bikes (can anyone confirm this?).
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I then went over to the new Hilltop Village Center near the intersection of Beulah St/Telegraph Rd. They had a couple of bike racks (mostly wave racks with adequate space), but not all of them were that useful (stanchioned U racks too close to wall at Wegman’s).
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Heading north on Beulah St, I stopped at the MetroPark garages near the intersection of Beulah St/Franconia-Springfield Parkway. Both parking garages had oddly-shaped bike hitches that made me think they were holdovers from horse-riding times (but as you can tell in the pic, at least SOMEONE is using them!).
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Luckily, I made it home without getting caught in the rain (light sprinkling started as I was a block away). After all was said and done, I was able to add 25 bike rack locations to the Rackspotter site from this ride.
