Raincloud Publishing/Dan Allison
1615 O St, Apt 303
Sacramento CA 95814-5085
rain @ raincloudpub.com
775-997-4937
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Carson City Bicycle Resources by Dan Allison is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Bike racks are a critical part of the transportation infrastructure, but Carson City is sorely lacking in bicycle racks compared to other towns of similar size, climate, and terrain. This page and the bike rack database are part of an effort to increase the number and quality of bike racks.
The database can be searched by one or more of: name (business, agency or public facility), address (street name), zip code, region (north, south, east, downtown), or grade.
A Google Map of the bike racks is now available. The Muscle Powered yellow bikes have a yellow bike icon.
The original photos included in the database are available on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/sets/72157615885924948/. Locations that have more than one rack will have additional photos there.
A number of racks were installed by Muscle Powered. These yellow bike racks are Muscle Powered's symbol.
I've no doubt missed some bicycle racks. Please provide additions and corrections to Dan Allison, allisondan52@gmail.com, 775-997-4937.
Traditional racks are comb or toaster type. Think of the rack you saw when you went to school. These are barely acceptable racks. If a user places their front tire in the rack, their bike will probably be stolen because the thief leaves the front wheel locked to the rack and takes the frame and rear wheel. If a user places their rear tire in the rack, it is likely that their derailuer will be damaged. Modern racks provide two points of contact for the frame, and allow the bicycle frame and rear wheel to be locked to the rack. The front wheel can then be removed by the user and locked with the frame, leashed with a cable, or taken along. Modern racks include inverted-U, loop, and wave. An example modern rack is shown above.
The rack must also be installed with the proper clearance around the rack to allow the user to park their bike properly. Wave racks in particular are often installed up against walls so that they can be used by only one bicycle.
If you are considering the purchase of bicycle racks, and need some advice, please get in touch with Dan Allison, allisondan52@gmail.com, 775-997-4937. I can certainly provide you information that will be useful to obtaining modern racks and installing them in the correct manner.
In order to be used, the bicycle rack must be visible. It should be located near the entrance to the business or facility, not hidden away around the corner. Painting the rack a bright friendly color also helps people find the rack as they are approaching. Galvanized racks often blend into the background of walls and can't be seen.
There must be sufficent bicycle rack space for all the likely users, including nice weather and special events. If bicycles are locked to other objects such as trees, sign posts, and fences, there is insufficient capacity. Most bicycle friendly cities have a code requirement that 10% of all parking spaces be for bicycles, and several cities are considering increasing this to 20%. Of course there is a chicken-and-egg question: is there low bicycle use because racks are hard to find, or do people not install racks because there is low bicycle use?
Carson City is fortunately not a place with a high bicycle theft rate, but it does happen, and you should protect your bike. The frame, and the hardware mounted on it, are the valuable part of your bike, so your frame should be locked to something substantial. With modern bicycle racks, this is easy to do. Probaby the best option is to use a U-lock to secure your frame and perhaps the rear tire, and then to use a cable "leash" to secure the front wheel and maybe your bicycle seat. When I got a U-lock (a Kryptonite Evolution Mini), I repurposed my cable that had been my only lock system before, to a leash for my front wheel. It works great. There are a lot of other systems and approaches. All of the local bicycle shops have a variety of lock types. This is not an item to go cheap on, but at the same time, you should balance the weight and expense of the lock against the value of your bike and the relatively low rate of bicyle theft in Carson City.
As soon as you start looking for places you can lock your frame to a bicycle rack, you'll quickly discover one of the reasons why I so detest traditional comb and toaster racks. It can't be done! These racks were designed to lock your front wheel, and your front wheel only. Think about coming back to find your front wheel safe, and the rest of your bike gone. That is why you will often see bikes locked to trees (ouch), sign posts and fences rather than nearby racks.
Don't ever leave your bike unlocked "for just a moment" - those are the bikes most likely to disappear. It doesn't require bolt or cable cutters to hop on and ride off, and it takes only seconds.
To use the old bear story - I don't have to be able to outrun the bear, I just have to be able to outrun you - you don't have to have the most expensive, heaviest lock, you just have to have a better lock than the other bicycles of similar value parked near yours.
First, make sure that those businesses and agencies that have done the right thing are recognized for it. If you use a rack that is modern and properly placed, make sure that you say so. Frequent businesses that have modern and properly placed racks. They deserve your business.
If a business or agency has a rack, but it is a traditional rack, not properly placed or installed, and/or is hard to find, let them know in a polite way. Often the person you'll talk to is not knowledgeable about bike racks, and probably not the person responsible purchasing and installing the rack, so approach it as an opportunity for some friendly education rather than as a complaint.
If a business does not have a rack, but you do or would like to do business there, some friendly words to the owner or manager are certainly in order. Let them know you want to continue doing business with them, but it is hard when there is no place to safely park your bicycle. Be gentle, but clear. The business owner has a million things to think about in operating their business, and bike racks are probably not high on their list. Help move it up their list by talking to them.
If you are using a public space that does not have racks, let the managing agency know. Every park, every government office, and every street corner in business districts should have a rack!
I wish there were some centralized place for requesting bicycle racks, but there isn't. Yet.
In the database, bike rack locations are rated based on the type, number and placement of racks, and assigned grades of A, B, or C.
A = a modern bicycle rack, placed in a location visible from and accessible to the entrance to the building or facility, properly installed, and of a sufficient size to meet the needs of current users
B = a modern bicycle rack, but lacking visibility, installed improperly, or with insufficient capacity
C = a traditional bicycle rack
Locations with grades of C should not be discounted. The business or organization has made an effort to serve their customers, but improvements could be made. Keep in mind that there are thousands of businesses, many agencies, and dozens of public facilities which have no racks at all - they get a grade of F!
The sections of Carson City are arbitrarily defined, as follows:
north = north of Long St
south = south of Fairview Dr
east = east of Roop St
downtown = between the regions above
This clearly leaves a lot of fuzzy area in between the sections, and that is just the way it is for now.
It is often not clear who a rack belongs to, particularly with the few in the public right of way and often in the case of shopping centers. If observation indicates that rack belongs to one business, then it is under the name and address of that business. If it seems to belong to a shopping center, then the address of the main business in that shopping center is used.