Miami Beach is inherently bikeable. It has a well-connected grid of small blocks, a mixed-use pattern of land uses and several key destinations reachable within a short ride. In addition, the City now has a bicycle master plan adding bicycle lanes and bicycle parking. This fact, however, does not prevent the city from having a few terrible examples of bicycle parking. This weekend I chose to document what I find to be the three worst specimens. In descending order:
# 3. The second-runner up goes to this “Wave” style bicycle rack located at Lucky Strike on Michigan Avenue. Although wave style racks can be useful, they must be placed so that both the wheel and the frame can be locked to the rack. In this particular location, the rack is about six inches too close to the wall, meaning that the tire hits the wall before being able to properly fix the bicycle to the rack. This results in a bicycle more apt to fall over, or a bent tire in the event that a thief decides he/she wants the bicycle more than you do.
# 2. The first runner-up goes to this unused rack located behind a bus shelter at the Miami Beach Post Office on Washington and 13th. Like the rack above, this rack is too close to the railing/wall. In addition, this style of rack gets the “ambiguous use” award. Does one put their wheel in the wide slots, or the narrow? Do you lift the bike over the top of the rack and let it rest at a 45 degree angle? I have seen all three maneuvers performed, but actually suggest none of the above. Go find a street sign, as this one is useless.
And the worst bike rack on Miami Beach goes to…
…this ridiculous wave rack located at the Bank of America on Alton Road. I think the images speak for themselves.
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