How to deal with a rack hog?

I ride to my local supermarket every day, or just about. The management is
nice enough to provide a bike rack, one with about 10 slots. Unfortunately,
one of the store's employees insists on locking his bike parallel to the
rack. This means he takes up one whole side, and it's difficult for bikes on
the other side to be locked, as the front wheel can't be fully seated(if you
understand what I mean) into the rack. I pointed it out to a manager
yesterday, and he said he'd handle it. Today, the bike was parked and locked
the same way, so I left a note on his seat explaining the errors of his
ways. I'm sure this is some kid with no car, and he's paranoid about his
bike getting stolen, but I'd like to lock mine properly too. I'm tempted to
buy a cheap lock from WalMart and lock him up but good. :-)

In article ,
Gooserider wrote:
I ride to my local supermarket every day, or just about. The management is
nice enough to provide a bike rack, one with about 10 slots. Unfortunately,
one of the store's employees insists on locking his bike parallel to the
rack.

On traditional racks that don't let you get close enough to get a U-lock
through the frame and rear wheel (much more expensive than a front wheel),
there are two safe ways to lock things:
- Perpindicular at either end (2 slots)
- Parallel to the rack
Parking meters, cart corals, etc. are all beter choices.

--
a href="http://www.poohsticks.org/drew/"Home Page/a
Life is a terminal sexually transmitted disease.

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 23:02:36 GMT, "Gooserider"
wrote:

I ride to my local supermarket every day, or just about. The management is
nice enough to provide a bike rack, one with about 10 slots. Unfortunately,
one of the store's employees insists on locking his bike parallel to the
rack. This means he takes up one whole side, and it's difficult for bikes on
the other side to be locked, as the front wheel can't be fully seated(if you
understand what I mean) into the rack. I pointed it out to a manager
yesterday, and he said he'd handle it. Today, the bike was parked and locked
the same way, so I left a note on his seat explaining the errors of his
ways. I'm sure this is some kid with no car, and he's paranoid about his
bike getting stolen, but I'd like to lock mine properly too. I'm tempted to
buy a cheap lock from WalMart and lock him up but good. :-)


You never know what some poor biker has suffered through to make him act
paranoid like that, so though it's funny and probably serve him right, I'd
skip the Walmart lock idea, heh-heh.

(Can you not lock your bike off the rack but to the end post?)

-B
Always be kind to other bikers no matter how much it pains! ;-p

"Gooserider" wrote in message
...
I ride to my local supermarket every day, or just about. The management is
nice enough to provide a bike rack, one with about 10 slots.
Unfortunately,
one of the store's employees insists on locking his bike parallel to the
rack. This means he takes up one whole side, and it's difficult for bikes
on
the other side to be locked, as the front wheel can't be fully seated(if
you
understand what I mean) into the rack. I pointed it out to a manager
yesterday, and he said he'd handle it. Today, the bike was parked and
locked
the same way, so I left a note on his seat explaining the errors of his
ways. I'm sure this is some kid with no car, and he's paranoid about his
bike getting stolen, but I'd like to lock mine properly too. I'm tempted
to
buy a cheap lock from WalMart and lock him up but good. :-)

If it's the type of rack I'm thinking of, many of them are so poorly
designed you can't seat your front wheel properly under any circumstances.
In addition, a passer-by can easily knock the bike over and trip into it
while the front wheel is still stuck, ruining the front wheel. (I witnessed
this happening to somebody else's bike, luckily for me but unluckily for
them). Plus, bicycle racks are often so underutilized that taking up a
bunch of slots doesn't matter.

The combined effect of these problems encourages the poor bike parking
behavior you observe.

See whether your note works. Or, see if you can lock your bike to the end of
the rack (which is where I usually try to lock mine, if it's the type of
rack I think you are describing). It's probably a kid being thoughtless,
rather than an *ssh*l* in training, and the cheap lock from WalMart seems,
to me, an overreaction.

"Mike Kruger" wrote in message
s.com...
"Gooserider" wrote in message
...
I ride to my local supermarket every day, or just about. The management
is
nice enough to provide a bike rack, one with about 10 slots.
Unfortunately,
one of the store's employees insists on locking his bike parallel to the
rack. This means he takes up one whole side, and it's difficult for
bikes
on
the other side to be locked, as the front wheel can't be fully seated(if
you
understand what I mean) into the rack. I pointed it out to a manager
yesterday, and he said he'd handle it. Today, the bike was parked and
locked
the same way, so I left a note on his seat explaining the errors of his
ways. I'm sure this is some kid with no car, and he's paranoid about his
bike getting stolen, but I'd like to lock mine properly too. I'm tempted
to
buy a cheap lock from WalMart and lock him up but good. :-)

If it's the type of rack I'm thinking of, many of them are so poorly
designed you can't seat your front wheel properly under any circumstances.
In addition, a passer-by can easily knock the bike over and trip into it
while the front wheel is still stuck, ruining the front wheel. (I
witnessed
this happening to somebody else's bike, luckily for me but unluckily for
them). Plus, bicycle racks are often so underutilized that taking up a
bunch of slots doesn't matter.

The combined effect of these problems encourages the poor bike parking
behavior you observe.

See whether your note works. Or, see if you can lock your bike to the end
of
the rack (which is where I usually try to lock mine, if it's the type of
rack I think you are describing). It's probably a kid being thoughtless,
rather than an *ssh*l* in training, and the cheap lock from WalMart seems,
to me, an overreaction.

Yeah, I know. The lock would be a bit harsh, just venting a bit. I've used
the rack when he wasn't there, and my 700c wheels fit just fine, and the
bike is stable. He may have a problem with his MTB wheels, but it doesn't
excuse his behavior. Today there were two other bikes suffering from his
parking job. I hadn't thought of locking to the end of the rack, but it
doesn't seem very stable, either. No cart corral in the parking lot, either.
There is a handrail I could utilize, I guess. I was just trying to be nice
and use the rack, since it's provided. Hopefully my note will work.

"Badger_South" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 23:02:36 GMT, "Gooserider"
wrote:

I ride to my local supermarket every day, or just about. The management
is
nice enough to provide a bike rack, one with about 10 slots.
Unfortunately,
one of the store's employees insists on locking his bike parallel to the
rack. This means he takes up one whole side, and it's difficult for bikes
on
the other side to be locked, as the front wheel can't be fully seated(if
you
understand what I mean) into the rack. I pointed it out to a manager
yesterday, and he said he'd handle it. Today, the bike was parked and
locked
the same way, so I left a note on his seat explaining the errors of his
ways. I'm sure this is some kid with no car, and he's paranoid about his
bike getting stolen, but I'd like to lock mine properly too. I'm tempted
to
buy a cheap lock from WalMart and lock him up but good. :-)


You never know what some poor biker has suffered through to make him act
paranoid like that, so though it's funny and probably serve him right, I'd
skip the Walmart lock idea, heh-heh.

(Can you not lock your bike off the rack but to the end post?)


Well, there's not really an end post. It's a freestanding rack, a grid rack.
If it was a wave rack there would be no problem. He has a nice bike, a
Diamondback(pre WalMart) and I'm sure it's his only wheels. But he's just
using a cable lock, and it appears to be long enough to run through both
wheels and the frame if he parked correctly. The WalMart lock idea would be
funny though. Heh heh heh.....

"Drew Eckhardt" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Gooserider wrote:
I ride to my local supermarket every day, or just about. The management
is
nice enough to provide a bike rack, one with about 10 slots.
Unfortunately,
one of the store's employees insists on locking his bike parallel to the
rack.

On traditional racks that don't let you get close enough to get a U-lock
through the frame and rear wheel (much more expensive than a front wheel),
there are two safe ways to lock things:
- Perpindicular at either end (2 slots)
- Parallel to the rack
Parking meters, cart corals, etc. are all beter choices.

He's not using a U lock, he's using a cable. He threads it through the rack,
and through both wheels. He could do the same if he parked perpendicular.
He's just not considering that other people might want to use the rack. This
supermarket has no parking meters or cart corrals, unfortunately. The rack
could be better, especially if it was a wave type, but any rack is better
than no rack.

He's probably not even aware that anyone else uses the bike racks.

-Luigi

After the manager promised to take care of the problem, and the problem
persists, I would definitely talk to him again. May be that he forgot, or
the bike owner is ignoring him. In either case, he needs to be told. And
this time, I would let a little annoyance creep into my voice.

I've got an idea! How about cabling the bike in properly, as you suggested,
and giving the key to the manager?

"Luigi de Guzman" wrote in message
...
He's probably not even aware that anyone else uses the bike racks.

-Luigi

I doubt that, since there are two other employees who lock their bikes to
the rack.