Living Car Free - Parking Frustration

Though there are several bicycle parking spots available at this store there are many that are being blocked. It got me a bit frustrated over time and I made a video about it.

The most bicycles I've seen there at one time was nine. That left eleven other potential spots open. So to me it seems that by blocking so many spaces the store manager is in a way discouraging bicyclists. There are several employees that ride their bicycles to work. I've met some of them while at the racks.

At least there are some spots for secure bicycle parking. Two days ago there were only three spots available. The rest were blocked by their collection of broken shopping carts.

Watch the video and tell me if I'm overreacting, justified, or just being picky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8V3i9DZYv0

"These are really good quality bike racks"

WTF mate.

Those racks suck. Cover them up.

That said, I like the idea of the video. You should mail a letter to the corporate office with a link to the video.

Did you try taking your shirt off?

Those bike racks only attach the front or rear wheel. No wonder there aren't many people using them! LOL.

Seriously, I would never use those bike rack unless I'm riding some $50.00 dollar rusting Huffy. All you have to do is look at the bicycles locked to those racks and that will tell you the type of people using them. When they come back to get their rusting beater and see your $800.00 dollar brand new bike, guess what they're going to do?

Shame on you for shopping at Wal-Mart to begin with!!! They are teh evil!

But yeah, send it to their district and corporate offices, you never know.

Let me describe those racks for people who are unfamiliar with them. Each individual locking station has a bottom and top piece of flat square steel that are connected by four vertical steel tubes. There is equal space between the square tubes. One puts their bicycle tire between the two front tubes. There are two horizontal firm rubber tubes parallel to the ground half way up. These rubber tubes grab the bicycle tire and hold it in place.

On the right side of the station is an arm that swings up. It has a large rectangular end through which a lock can connect both the front wheel and frame. Each station uses large rivets for the swinging arm and all of the individual stations are bolted together with the same type of rivets. The whole line of stations are bolted into the ground.

I really like this style of rack. The swinging arm makes it possible for me to string my cable lock through the front and rear wheels. I don't think any thief would spend time trying to destroy the cycle rack to get my bicycle. They would spend their time defeating my locks. Since it is a multi-section rack a thief would have to defeat each station to walk away with several bicycles at once. Whereas the more conventional rack with only four legs could be carried away and multiple bicycles could be stolen at one time (with enough people and a truck).

There have been some other very expensive mountain bikes parked at this store. It is only two miles away from several mountain trails. There have even been a couple of recumbents parked there (not counting mine). One of them belongs to an employee who leaves his lock at the store.

Before I posted this thread I visited the Wal-Mart site and sent the link to their customer service center. This is the third one sent. One was sent before the video was made. One was sent the day after the video was made, and the one sent today with the link to the video.

I would say that Walmart has a problem with where they store their shopping carts. That is probably what they should address.

And maybe..just maybe.. they put the carts there because not many people use the bike racks, so its a obvious spot to put the carts.

I agree they shouldnt be blocked.. so the manager needs to store his carts elsewhere. The walmart I visit doesnt have that large of bicycle parking. They have about 5 feet of the U type steel racks which is about 50 feet from the store, off to the side of the building.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "more conventional rack". There's at least 6 different designs I can think of in common use here in Madison, none of which are like the rack you show. The zoning board approved racks need to be set in concrete, be usable by 'bents and upright bikes, usable with a rigid lock to secure both rear wheel and frame, and not restrict bikes to a certain tire width or damage fenders... So nothing that meets city guidelines is a rack that can be carted away. (the old fashioned fencing style racks that you'd see at a school or library growing up do exist around here, but the city really discourages their use)

I'm not really sure why you'd want a rack with moving parts. Seems to me like one part or another would rust so it can't be used. And if there's any way a thief can get at the bolts/axle of the moving portion, it'd be very easy to defeat.

Anyway... I know Wal-mart around here complies with parking rules. They're required to have an accessible rack by law. I don't shop there since they're very inconvenient and have a dangerous parking lot, so I'm not sure how *well* it complies (one of the local Targets has four bike parking places, with no other parking anywhere in the strip mall... not in the spirit of the law at all). And if Helena doesn't have a law about bike parking, odds are the manager won't take your complaints very seriously.

I would talk with the group or groups that maintain the local mountain bike trails. They probably find this an inconvenience too, and if a lot of people complain, it might have an effect.

Seriously, I would never use those bike rack unless I'm riding some $50.00 dollar rusting Huffy. All you have to do is look at the bicycles locked to those racks and that will tell you the type of people using them. When they come back to get their rusting beater and see your $800.00 dollar brand new bike, guess what they're going to do?

Tell us Steve, what would this "type of people" do when they see your bike? And all YOU have to do is take one look at their bike to know all about this "type of people"? Who knew? Seriously!

My pet peeve with parking is the fellow cyclists that put their bikes parallel instead of perpendicular to the standard rack. The other day I go to Fiesta and three bikes took up the entire length of the rack all locked parallel on the rack leaving no room for other bikes where nine could have easily fit if locked the correct way. I have been tempted to carry a cheap combo lock with a note attached to it about proper locking technique, and directions where they can find combination code a few miles away.

I wish somebody would install a bike rack that's actually nice enough to get upset about. Usually the nearest signpost is more convenient and more secure than the bike rack.

I like when this happens.

I take a cart or two and tip it over. I lean my bike up on them and lock it to the cart. If they want to try that hard to rip it off good luck.

Or two I would take my bike and lay it on the rows and lock it that way.

Are you aware that you are taking money away from "Arabs" and giving it to China via Arkansas free trade zone? Just an observation.

Myself I would just go somewhere else if I could in the first place.

Why not just move the carts out into the parking lot?

It took 7 minutes of video to prove your point? Also I would have a discussion with the local fire marshal. I don't think what I see there is even remotely legal when it comes to not blocking an emergency exit.Yes there is an "alley" between the carts but in my area that would still not meet the letter of the law. BTW very few if any store in my area provide any type of bicycle racks. Local WM has none that I can see. My local grocery store doesn't either so I lock to the cart rack on the front sidewalk of the store.

Aaron:)

The garbage can is locked to the rack? i didn't realize they could be used as means of trasportation.

The garbage can is locked to the rack? i didn't realize they could be used as means of trasportation.
Say what?
http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/images/2007/12/11/ogp0002st.jpg
Seriously though, 7 minutes is way too long for any customer service worker. If you could condense it to 7 seconds, or even 7 words, or even a picture with Word Art on it, you would get a better response.

Next time you go there and the racks are full,bring your bike inside and go shopping with it.Get everyone you know with a bike and go shopping with it.You have to make it as bad for them as it is for you or they don't care.Squeeky wheel gets the grease.If they b*tch about it,tell them to move the carts and you'll be more than happy to use the rack.

In fairness to Wallyworld,the one by my house only had 5-6 spaces,and they were full most of the time.They were also in a hidden area that thieves would enjoy.I complained,as I suppose others did.They added another rack and moved them so they were in a high traffic area.So it is possible to get things done.

I think you're over-reacting, OP. Judging by the number of bikes locked to the rack, it's obvious that there isn't enough demand at for bicycle parking at that store to justify 20 bike racks, which is probably why they decided to put shopping carts there in the first place.

And, really, as another poster mentioned, you shouldn't give that store any of your money anyway. They pay their workers as little as the law will allow, virtually all of their goods come from people who pay their workers even less and who don't give a rat's *ss about environmental regulation, and this company is infamous for destroying the local retail economy of small towns across the continent. Unless your local Walmart has already eliminated other shopping options, I strongly urge you to lock you bike in front of other businesses.

Walmart is the freakin' devil dude! Though I can understand if you live in a town like I used to, where Walmart has already put every other retail store out of business.

Anyway, I'd call the fire marshal, seems the carts block an emergency exit.

One of the many reasons I stopped shopping at Walmart altogether three years ago was because they didn't have any bike lock-ups whatsoever at the local franchise and this is in a high-cycling, downtown area. The mall has some triangular ones a distance away, but they were often blocked by shopping carts from the ToysRus store, just like in the video. In a recent redevelopment of the mall, they have moved the cart parking and the bike racks are clear, but I generally ride a recumbent or trike to the mall and can't use those triangular things anyway, so I avoid the mall and refuse to even look at Walmart on the rare occasions when I do visit it. Letting head office know about the problem won't help. Like McDonald's (not that I'd go there either), one of their corporate partners, they are against cycling and the environment.

All of the broken shopping carts have been moved. I don't know where they are. Perhaps the repair company came and picked them up. There is no way for me to know if this is a permanent condition or not. Wal-Mart has not sent any e-mail message to me saying that they have done something about the situation. I'm just glad that the bicycle parking area is clear for now.

Should I now remove the video on Youtube or wait a few weeks to see if it remains clear? Earlier this year the area was cleared for almost two months and then the carts were blocking the bicycle parking again.