Behold: RackSpotter – A crowdsourced bike parking tool!

[Steve O]

@PotomacCyclist 114403 wrote:

I’m still having some difficulty in placing the pins on the map in the precise locations.

I gave up on my phone, which is an older android. Trying to navigate the website was just way too much work. And I never remember to add the racks I saw while I was out when I get home.

So I appreciate those of you with spiffier technology and more patience.

[PotomacCyclist]

Other than the Satellite View issue on mobile, the website works OK most of the time for me. Sometimes if I want too long in between data entries, the site seems to time out. I can navigate through some of the screens but then it locks up. I have to close the browser tab and go back to the website and log in. That usually fixes it.

Other issues that aren’t related to the website itself: Sometimes the photos of the bike racks go through without delay. But for some reason, some of the photos are much bigger in file size than others. This can lock up the site. I don’t know why this happens. I don’t change the file size settings on my phone. Most of the time it works, but occasionally it doesn’t. It might have something to do with the next issue.

And that would be spotty wireless service in the airport parking garage, and perhaps elsewhere. My wireless coverage is generally very good in Arlington (except in the Metro stations on the Blue Line these days). But I think there were dead spots near the parking garage bike racks. That could explain why I had issues with the photo being uploaded. Same thing happened at the Metro faregate plaza bike racks too. People at the Metro station use mobile Internet, so I would think there should be good wireless coverage there. Maybe it’s a WMATA issue. (Metro was supposed to have wireless phone/data coverage in all the stations and tunnels, but the contractor company handling the project filed for bankruptcy last year. Nothing seems to be happening, despite an upcoming deadline by Congress to have wireless coverage throughout the Metro system.)

I haven’t had nearly this many issues with the wireless coverage and the website elsewhere, though it has happened at a couple other places before. Maybe it happens when you add too many stations in a short time period? I don’t know. Fortunately, there aren’t any more bike racks to cover at the airport, other than the location near the Terminal A loading dock.

[PotomacCyclist]

Re the MVT and the airport, I think there could be better signs for cyclists. I don’t remember if there are signs at the middle entrance from the MVT to the airport grounds. If not, those would be useful.

Additional signs along the route from the MVT to the parking garage, with the main bike rack location, would also be a good idea. I don’t think the route is obvious. (I didn’t ride along this route last week, so I don’t know if there are signs there or not.)

I’m guessing that Arlington does not have jurisdiction over the airport grounds. But maybe the County can coordinate with MWAA to improve bike signage from the MVT to the bike rack locations. The County could also suggest that MWAA add bike items to the airport maps located around the grounds. I saw several of these maps at shuttle bus stops and at the Metro station. I don’t think any of the on-site maps have bike information (routes, connections with the MVT, bike parking). If and when the Capital Bikeshare station is added, that could be shown on the maps too. It wouldn’t take up much space. The bike racks could be marked with a small icon, with a legend at the bottom of the map. The bike routes and MVT connectors could be marked with dotted green lines. They should be able to add that info without cluttering up the maps too much.

[PotomacCyclist]

I should note that on some (maybe all?) of the maps at Metro stations elsewhere, I’ve seen bike route info overlayed on the neighborhood maps. Maybe not all of the Metro stations have these new maps, but some do. They show bike route info in dotted lines on the map of the neighborhood surrounding the Metro station. I think they are in red dotted lines, but I don’t recall.

(Some elements of the Metro maps have been updated and upgraded. But other elements haven’t been changed. For example, I’ve seen SmartBike locations still listed on some Metro neighborhood maps, maybe as late as last year. Those maps might still be around. At least they corrected the copyright info. The older Metro maps used to say (c) Washington Metropolitian Area Transit Authority.)

[PotomacCyclist]

Another note about the airport:

The MWAA wants to build a new terminal on the north end for regional carrier flights. They would demolish the MWAA headquarters building and a maintenance hangar. (They will also move the security screening areas outside of the main hall of the main terminals, so that most or all of the restaurants and shops would be behind the security screening area.)

This would wipe out two of the bike rack locations I added to the BikeSpotter map. All that work for nothing.

http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/new-commuter-terminal-on-drawing-board-at-reagan-national/article_fe373e50-ec27-11e4-916a-fbcb4c22b904.html

[PotomacCyclist]

Well, I was talking about safety on CaBi on the other thread. While I didn’t get into an accident, I did get into a zero-speed tipover when I wasn’t paying attention. I was doing a longer recovery ride. (I ran a 5K over the weekend, my first race in 7.5 months. A 5K run race isn’t that hard on the body, but it does involve some intensity. I’m making sure to take it easier this week. I injured myself last year by doing a hard workout just a few days after the Challenge Ride at the Air Force Ass’n Cycling Classic. That injury lingered on for the entire 2nd half of the year.)

Then I decided to ride up to the Air Force Memorial. I knew there were some bike racks there, based on Google Maps. But I didn’t know how many spaces. I had to ride up and verify everything in person. It was after sunset and I was walking the CaBi bike around the grounds. Then I looked up at the towering heights of the Memorial, while holding onto the handlebars and standing off to the side of the bike. Somehow the handlebars twisted and the bike started to tip over. I think I tried to hang on to keep the bike upright, but that only pulled me off balance, and down I started to go. I didn’t reach out with a hand because I know that only leads to broken wrists and collarbones. So I just remained as calm as I could while I tipped over with the bike. I landed partly on my arm and partly on my back. It hurt a bit, but no serious damage. Just a couple minor scrapes. I don’t know why I keep getting into these scrapes. I wasn’t sitting on the bike. I don’t think I was moving forward. If I was, it was about 1 mph.

Anyway, I added the bike rack to the BikeSpotter map. There was only one set, with multiple U racks lined up together.

There are still a few more isolated bike racks east of 395. I know where all of them are, but they are scattered all over the place. I’ll have to get to them one at a time. Maybe one a week, or every other week.

[Steve O]

@PotomacCyclist 114671 wrote:

I was walking the CaBi bike around the grounds. Then I looked up at the towering heights of the Memorial, while holding onto the handlebars and standing off to the side of the bike. Somehow the handlebars twisted and the bike started to tip over. I think I tried to hang on to keep the bike upright, but that only pulled me off balance, and down I started to go. I didn’t reach out with a hand because I know that only leads to broken wrists and collarbones. So I just remained as calm as I could while I tipped over with the bike.

Where is YouTube when you need it?

[PotomacCyclist]

America’s “Funniest” Home Videos fan, are we?

My shoulder is actually still sore. Nothing torn, but I think I was lucky I didn’t suffer more serious injuries. I think it’s just a mild strain of the rear deltoid muscle. Should be OK by the end of the week. I may even be able to swim tonight, but I’ll re-assess later. I also came pretty close to doing some damage to my lumbar back.

Parts of the Memorial are sloped, very gently. Maybe that caused the handlebar to twist like that. It was also after sunset, so I couldn’t see very well, other than the metal parts of the Memorial, which are lit up.

[Tim Kelley]

@PotomacCyclist 114671 wrote:

Just a couple minor scrapes.

Rackspotter is like a fickle beast. It will love you if you let it, but it will also demand your blood. Thank you for paying tribute.

[PotomacCyclist]

What about 30 bags of gold sovereigns? A fine pirate’s treasure, I think.

[PotomacCyclist]

I did manage to do my good deed for the day before I headed to the Memorial. When I was on the Crystal City connector, coming off of the MVT at the underpass beneath the GWMP, I saw a shredded car tire sitting on the other site of the railing. This is on the barrier between the narrow bike/ped path and the road that heads to the airport.

Apparently there had been some sort of accident or incident in the past. Someone just left the shredded car tire in the road and then someone placed it at the top of the barrier, against the thin metal railing. The barrier is not that wide, so I was worried that at some point, the tire would fall down into the car lanes, potentially causing a major accident, even killing a driver or two. So I turned around and rode back to the tire. I parked the CaBi bike and lifted the grimy tired over the railing onto the narrow bike path. It was old and filled with mosquitos and dirt. The tread was ripped up.

Then I pushed the tire along the path, because it would have blocked most of the narrow bike path. I moved it past the underpass and onto the grassy area, where it shouldn’t pose a risk to cyclists or runners. It was too heavy to carry all the way up to the Crystal City Water Park, so I just left it there. I’ll contact someone to have it picked up and discarded properly. It shouldn’t be a safety issue now, but it shouldn’t remain there near the path.

I think that section of the trail is still part of the MVT, so it would be under NPS jurisdiction. Or is that actually Arlington property? I’ll contact both.

https://goo.gl/maps/QWjt0

[PotomacCyclist]

Arlington National Cemetery is covered now. I took Metro again instead of biking there.

They prohibit cycling in most of the Cemetery. A large sign indicates that recreational activities are not allowed. (That likely includes cycling, running, group fitness walking, bodyweight strength workouts, CrossFit, etc.) It’s possible to ride down Memorial Ave. and into the entrance of the visitor center area. There are two wheelbender racks right by the front gate, one on each side.

The racks have sets of two bars, not sets of three bars. I don’t know if you can fit two bikes per set of bars. I included estimates of both situations, with one bike per set and two bikes per set. (Even though the racks were identical, I posted different numbers for each. I estimated how many bikes I thought might fit. I included notes about how bikes might fit if you doubled up on each set of bars, and used the large rails at the ends.) The racks were empty when I saw them, and I didn’t have a bike myself, so I didn’t have a good way of testing it out. The racks were pushed up against the wall, but they weren’t bolted down so it was simple to slide them away from the wall to get extra space for a bike.

That just about covers the “unusual” bike rack locations, I think. Those would be locations that are not traditional retail, office, new residential, park or church areas. In Arlington, the list would include the airport, the Pentagon (which is an office building, but it’s hardly your typical office building, with the extra security measures), the Air Force Memorial and the Cemetery. There is still another bike rack at the airport, near the loading dock at Terminal A. I don’t think the general public would ever use that rack, but I might check it out sometime, out of curiosity. There might be more racks at the Pentagon, but I don’t believe any of those are publicly accessible. (I found an older online memo about the bike racks on a public military site that mentions the bike rack locations. I read it a couple times, but the following week, the memo was no longer accessible online. I wonder why. There wasn’t any classified info. It’s not a security risk for people to know where outdoor bike racks are located.) There are other locations, like the Foreign Service Institute and Joint Base Myers-Henderson Hall. I don’t know if there are any bike racks there. I don’t know whether the civilian population would have access to those locations. I wouldn’t think so.

I don’t think there are any bike racks near the Marine Corps memorial. I didn’t see any on Google Maps Street View. Maybe I’ll head up there next month.

[Curiosity is one reason I’m checking these locations out in detail. Another is that I’m taking mental notes, in case I ever get around to writing a novel. It wouldn’t be that interesting to set a scene in a typical retail, restaurant, office or residential area. But it could be interesting to have scenes set in the Cemetery, the Memorial or the airport.]

[PotomacCyclist]

https://twitter.com/BikeArlington/status/595666516537954305

I saw this conversation on Twitter between BikeArlington and Reagan Airport re bike racks and spaces at DCA (retweeted on The Washcycle). MWAA (Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority) has an online map that indicates there are 48 bike parking spaces at 6 racks at DCA. I think I posted the link before. If not: http://www.mwaa.com/reagan/1187.htm

That map is both incorrect and incomplete. I’ve mapped all of the bike racks onto RackSpotter this spring except the small rack at the Terminal A loading dock. (The MWAA map says there are 2 spaces at that spot.)

http://www.rackspotter.com/

I uploaded photos of each of the bike racks, except the one on the north end of the airport. (That rack is visible on Google Maps Street View: https://goo.gl/maps/3yvVM )

If I include the Terminal A rack, I counted eight racks at DCA.

*****

– North end of Hangar 12: 4 spaces. (2 spaces listed on the MWAA map.)
– Employee-only wheelbender rack: 2 spaces, but if it had been installed properly, it could fit as many as 12 bikes, but at least 7. (Rack is not listed on MWAA map.)
– Terminal C arrivals level sidewalk: 4 spaces. (Rack is not listed on MWAA map.)
– North MetroRail farecard plaza: 4 spaces. (2 spaces listed on MWAA map.)
– South MetroRail farecard plaza: 14 spaces. (15 spaces listed on MWAA map. There are 7 individual U racks. I don’t understand how you would come up with 15 spaces.)
– Terminal B arrivals level sidewalk: 4 spaces. (2 spaces listed on MWAA map.)
– Garage C ground level: 30 spaces. (25 spaces listed on MWAA map. It’s possible that some of the spaces next to the concrete walls are unusable, because the rack was installed too close to the wall. Even if that’s the case, the 25 space number doesn’t make sense to me.)
– Terminal A Loading Dock: (2 spaces listed on MWAA map.)

So MWAA says there are 6 racks with 48 total spaces. If I assume that there are 4 spaces at the Terminal A spot, then I count 8 racks with 66 spaces. (If the wheelbender rack is installed properly, there could be a total of 71-76 total spaces.) You can confirm through the photos I uploaded to RackSpotter for each location.

NOTE: As I posted above, MWAA wants to build a new terminal for commuter flights at the north end of the airport grounds. The terminal would replace at least part of the existing hangar and the MWAA office building. There are two bike racks at that location, a 4-space rack and the poorly installed wheelbender rack. There may or may not be new bike racks added if and when this project is completed in several years. There may or may not be new racks added when the new security screening areas are built in the future.

[Starduster]

Memo to the BikeArlington crew- When Rackspotter is finally tweaked to perfection, we should send it to Bikeyface in Boston: http://bikeyface.com/2015/05/07/for-lack-of-a-rack/

[Tim Kelley]

@Starduster 115332 wrote:

Memo to the BikeArlington crew- When Rackspotter is finally tweaked to perfection, we should send it to Bikeyface in Boston: http://bikeyface.com/2015/05/07/for-lack-of-a-rack/

Way ahead of you! Tagged Bekka yesterday on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BikeArlington/status/596387659347537921

Also, we’ll have some of her books as giveaways at BtWD.

[Author]

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