Tips for Mixed-Mode commuting

[Amalitza]

Wow, that’s astoundingly rude. I doubt you have to worry about a response, unless you in turn locked their bike up with your lock so they have to contact you to get it back. I can’t imagine they’ll actually call you or anything. They’ll take their bike and go home.

I wouldn’t actually do it because i would feel annoyingly guilty about it, but fantasy badass me would carry around a (cheap) spare lock waiting to see the bike again and lock it up (to the rack, not to your bike).

[KLizotte]

I’m guessing said person was running late for work and did it without noticing he/she was locking to your bike. Doesn’t help out your situation though.

[ebubar]

My response (which had me worried about slashed tires…) was to relock their bike to mine (alongside a very friendly note) to contact me.
I received a nice call around 6:30 apologizing profusely and asking me to come by whenever I got a chance. I get the impression that
if I wouldn’t have forced the call by locking our bikes together I would’ve been sitting here wondering if my bike was free yet.

As it is, its safely in the living room awaiting a well deserved cleaning.

[ebubar]

In the interest of having a good tips, here are some of mine:

When locking your bike somewhere, I use a ULock and a cable lock.
I ULock my back tire through my rear tire and frame to the bike rack.
Then I run the cable lock through the front tire, around the frame and into
the ULock. I’ve read that this was the best way to lock a bike.

[dasgeh]

@ebubar 51638 wrote:

In the interest of having a good tips, here are some of mine:

When locking your bike somewhere, I use a ULock and a cable lock.
I ULock my back tire through my rear tire and frame to the bike rack.
Then I run the cable lock through the front tire, around the frame and into
the ULock. I’ve read that this was the best way to lock a bike.

I believe the best way is to use a second lock (not the ULock) to secure the cable lock. That way, your bike can only be stolen by a thief who has brought tools to cut both. If the ULock is what’s securing the cable, then as soon as the thief gets through the U, they’re home free.

That said, around here, during the day, cable into a U is probably fine.

Of course, tips on locking your bike up for a long day apply whether you’ll be in your office, you’re enjoying a long baseball game or you’re taking Metro somewhere else. If you want a multi-modal commute, you have lots of options: you can always take your bike on the Buses (ART, MetroBus), you can take your bike on MetroRail sometimes, you can throw your bike in the car, park somewhere for free and ride the last part of the ride.

When I was starting out commuting from Arlington to DC, I’d ride to work in the morning (DOWNHILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL) and work late & take my bike on MetroRail in the evening, which put me at the top of the hill. Pre kids, of course.

Just throwing this in here in case someone wants ideas. There’s lots of talk here of long bike commutes, but really, all cyclists are welcome, including those who bike for only part of their commute.

[Author]

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