New City Bike Racks on Adams Avenue

We received a tip from Bike San Diego contributor Robert Leone that new blue City of San Diego bike racks had been recently installed along a stretch of Adams Avenue in Normal Heights. When I rode up there yesterday afternoon, there were indeed several pristine new racks bolted to the sidewalk at many of the intersections along Adams Avenue between Kansas Street to the west and 35th Street to the east, including a single lonely but long-awaited rack at the post office at 33rd and Adams.

Two odd things about these racks: 1) they seem very short, and 2) the tube diameter seems very thick. The shortness is a bit inconvenient, it can be hard to lean your bike against the rack. I’m guessing that they were designed shorter to be easier to lock wheel and frame to the rack, but this is where the tube diameter issue comes in. Because of the way I had to lean my bike to get it to rest against the rack, I had a hard time fitting a regular medium-sized U-lock around the rack, my frame, and my rear wheel because the rack itself was so thick. My secondary cable lock of course worked fine, but I had to reverse my usual locking arrangement, putting the cable lock through the back wheel, frame, and rack, and simply locking my front wheel to my frame with the U-lock. This means my weaker cable lock was the only thing securing my bike to the rack. Maybe other people with greater imagination and better manual dexterity will have an easier time than I did.

Also, a lot of businesses along Adams, which tuned-in long ago to the fact that bicyclists were riding to their businesses, have already put out their own bike racks in most of the areas where the new city racks have been installed. Granted, these racks have their own problems, like bolts that could be easily removed, or chains around tree trunks that could be cut, but it almost seems as though the city’s new racks are a solution (and a problematic one) to a problem that had already been at least partially addressed by business owners on Adams.

What do you think about the new racks? Has anyone noticed similar racks appearing elsewhere in the city? Any experiences with them, good or bad?