Missed connection

[dasgeh]

@KLizotte 107655 wrote:

I’ve complained to the customer service desk about the useability of that rack as well. Obviously not designed by a cyclist. I ended up using a signpost but they are far and few between around there. Perhaps a nice note to headquarters is in order?

Headquarters should probably be aware of how ironically bike-unfriendly other WFs are too. The one in Clarendon is horrible. Luckily, there’s primo parking for cargo bikes that can take advantage of frame locks.

[jrenaut]

The P St NW WF has pretty good bike parking, though they like to block the secret parking garage rack sometimes. It’s not a coincidence that I stop there 1-3 times a week on the way home from work to shop.

[americancyclo]

@Crickey7 107652 wrote:

You: The fourth manager at Whole Foods on River Road whom I’ve told that the bike rack made of out of recycled plastic is (a) unusable, (b) half-assembled and (c) invariably blocked by parked cars (since the parking attendants have been telling people to park there).

Me: Person cheering my tiny victory at your instructing the parking attendants to stop doing that.

The missed connection is the hundreds of people a day who ride on the Capitol Crescent Trail, a half block away, and who do not stop at your establishment because there’s nowhere to lock a bike.

Is this the bike rack in question?
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7775&stc=1[/IMG]

http://www.thewashcycle.com/2012/11/whole-foods-new-bike-rack-kind-of-sucks-.html

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2012/09/bethesda-urban-partnership-honest-tea.html

I’ve seen these before and they are terrible!

[Crickey7]

@americancyclo 107663 wrote:

Is this the bike rack in question?
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7775&stc=1[/IMG]

http://www.thewashcycle.com/2012/11/whole-foods-new-bike-rack-kind-of-sucks-.html

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2012/09/bethesda-urban-partnership-honest-tea.html

I’ve seen these before and they are terrible!

That’s it as newly installed. Since then it’s been disassembled for Xmas and badly reassembled next to that low wall. They have the same design at their White Flint location.

[Crickey7]

It totally vanished when the Christmas trees came, and only reappeared after I squawked at Manager No. 3.

[americancyclo]

So from the articles in 2012 it seems the well intentioned partners are:

Bethesda Green
Honest Tea
Federal Realty Investment Trust
The Coca-Cola Company
Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP)

and earnestly designed by Terracycle

Honest Tea also highlights their partnership with WABA in their Keeping it Honest 2012 Mission Report

If WABA still has a working relationship with Honest Tea, they might be able to help guide their noble intentions and their expenses, since Terracycle sells these for $845.00 – $1,690.00 which is much more than the $130 cost for a single staple or u style bike rack that is much preferred.

something that conforms to the
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals would be great.

[MRH5028]

Me: Riding down Gallows towards Dunn Loring after a morning ride on the W&OD
You: Honda Civic SI Hatchback speeding down gallows, passing me with 6 inches to spare, and swirving into the left lane narrowly missing a truck. Your job must be very important to be in such a hurry.

Also a thanks to the Fairfax Connector bus driver who pulled up next to me at the light near the metro station to commiserate about the crazy driver above. At first I thought you were going to tell me to stay off road, instead you made my morning.

[dplasters]

@MRH5028 107708 wrote:

Also a thanks to the Fairfax Connector bus driver who pulled up next to me at the light near the metro station to commiserate about the crazy driver above. At first I thought you were going to tell me to stay off road, instead you made my morning.

I go back and forth on this a bit but:

We gripe frequently as cyclists about the crazy drivers and the awful things they do to us. But in this area I honestly think I get treated only marginally worse than if I was in a car. There are just a lot of special drivers out there and your mode of transportation is irrelevant. You are in their way. When I do drive, I make sure I go the speed limit or less as I’m much more aware of vulnerable road users and am aware that even that 5 mph can make a big difference. Most cars treat me just as bad as when I’m claiming the line on a bike. Narrow misses, hard swerves, dirty looks, and honks abound.

Our position on the road is more vulnerable, so I get the extra griping. I’m just not sure if we are treated terribly much worse than the way every other road user is treated. Which is a more global sad note. It is great when I run into a fellow road user (using whatever method of transport) that has a more sensible approach to transportation.

[mstone]

you: the people wearing tights & hard-shell jackets

me: riding the w&od in shorts

holy cow, it was over 60 degrees and sunny! if it seemed dark, that was probably an early symptom of heat stroke.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@mstone 107823 wrote:

you: the people wearing tights & hard-shell jackets

me: riding the w&od in shorts

holy cow, it was over 60 degrees and sunny! if it seemed dark, that was probably an early symptom of heat stroke.

The number of hardshells I saw today was baffling. I wore a normal long sleeve jersey and was a bit too warm until I got out toward Dulles, where it was quite a bit colder.

[dcv]

@TwoWheelsDC 107826 wrote:

The number of hardshells I saw today was baffling. I wore a normal long sleeve jersey and was a bit too warm until I got out toward Dulles, where it was quite a bit colder.

Some may have started early when it was mid 30’s

[peterw_diy]

@dcv 107827 wrote:

Some may have started early when it was mid 30’s

Ding ding ding. Started at 9am, shell & wind pants were fine until a bit after noon. My toes being chilled might have been a factor.

[JimF22003]

When I started my ride out of Leesburg it was still about 35 degrees. By 2:00pm it was still only about 43 degrees. It never did start getting really warm until I was already home 😡

[mstone]

@dcv 107827 wrote:

Some may have started early when it was mid 30’s

The weird thing about jackets is, they are removable. Or at least unzip-able. I had a jacket too. It was on my rack.

[dasgeh]

We loaded up, zipped up, gloved-up for the ride to church, then stripped it all off for the ride home. We were very happy to have the box to throw all our junk into.

[Author]

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