Originally Posted by djork

and prefer locking it to a sign post or some other post that is in a more visible place, is safe for my bike, and is not obstructive to pedestrians or cars. But today I was doing some shopping by bike and saw an empty rack that looks like a big upside down U. I said okay, I'll lock my bike there. I came out to see another bike locked to it too and my thought was I hope it's not accidently locked to my bike and also how am I supposed to get to my bike? I had to carefully access my locks through the person's bike. Since I care about my bike and considerate of other's property, I was very careful not to so much as bump his bike. I did have to stick my hand through his front spokes to access my U-lock. This is a main reason why I don't like locking my bike to a public rack. I don't want to come out and see my bike bumped or hard to unlock because another bike is locked next to it.

I know it's just a bike, but come on, even with a car, no one wants to come out and see that someone had parked so close to you that you can't even get in or sometimes back out.