The bike valet

We knew this was coming in L.A.  -- the bicycle valet. There's one in Santa Monica -- and other places, too. With thousand-dollar bikes, it's about security as well as comfort:

Now, cyclists in search of heirloom tomatoes and organic cilantro can enjoy valet parking of the sort offered to BMW-driving diners at Ivy at the Shore or Chinois on Main, handing over their wheels to polite attendants who park them at a nearby bicycle stand. In California bicycle circles, this kind of service is the coming thing. Long Beach residents can check their bikes at the downtown Bikestation, where they can get free air for their tires and on-site repair service. A Santa Barbara self-service bike center opening May 1 will feature hot showers and a locker room for changing from sweaty nylon-spandex jerseys to suits, ties and heels. Valet bike parking would seem a quintessentially Californian response to clogged freeways and overflowing parking lots. By encouraging more cyclists, cities are promoting environmental consciousness and outdoor cardio workouts. Most important, for some cyclists, is knowing that someone is watching over their bike.

What do you think? Hit COMMENT and speak out!

Comments

[david p.]

it's refreshing to see any services offered to people not clogging the streets with their car.

i commute roughly 100 miles a week, and people ask me, "how do you do that in LA?"

i respond, "how can you NOT do it in LA?"

we have the perfect weather, and the perfect incentive: avoiding the gridlock. any incentives that cities could give to cyclists would benefit everyone.

[Manuel]

You guys should try the bike path along the Orange line that one is safe, nice and peaceful. I ride it on my 300.00 dollar Target bike, and it still does to job.

[bg mendell]

Serious cyclists (with serious bicycles: $5,000 plus price range; personally, I paid $1,591 for a used Cannondale R2000 in 1990) never let their rides out of their sight. With the respect that valet parking attendants give to their clients vehicles, I don't image serious cyclists will take that chance (behaviour) from bicycle valets.
As for Cheviot Hills, don't hold your breath. You will get to the top of
Fargo Street on a Fixie, first.

[Amir K]

This exact concept has been in the San Luis Obispo Farmers' Market for a while now. I agree, the bike friendly is the way to go in places that are semi-flat (Santa Monica, Venice, etc), but we're one of the very few American big cities with a such elevation change.

Here's a thought, how about for the planned Expo Line extension through Cheviot Hills we blend a park and curved bike lanes along it? Maybe the bike valet will show up there too.

[George Allen]

Thousand Dollar bikes? Try $3k to $5k to be closer to actual retail of what most serious bicycle riders are using. Nothing will relieve traffic congestion faster and cheaper than bikeways, bike parking, bike valets, showers for cyclists. San Francisco spent a couple billion dollars on BART and got a two percent decrease in motor vehicle usage from commuters who switched from cars to BART. Denver, where it gets down to zero on a few winter days but is comfortable for riding most of the time, even in winter, for a tiny fraction of the cost of BART, built hundreds of miles of bikeways and has gotten four to five percent of commuter trips onto bikes. It takes thinking the whole thing through though, including bike racks on buses and trains, so cyclists can pedal, then cover ground by bus, then pedal again to final destination.