First 2, then 4, now two

by Glenn Mounkes

In 2012 one of my proudest accomplishments as DBC President was the project that eventually became know as the Winters C-Racks.  It was the Spring of 2012 and the City of Winters, California had a problem:  Too many bikes in front of Steady Eddy's Coffee House.  Sometimes so many that it was difficult to walk that stretch of sidewalk and, more importantly, made it impassable for the disabled.  It wasn't a matter of if, but when someone would bring a lawsuit under the ADA.  Cyclists add to the social fabric of Winters and contribute to the local economy so, they needed a win/win solution.  Could the DBC help?

At that time the practice for arriving cyclists was to hang their bikes on the elevated railing outside of Steady Eddy's or, lean them against the wall below.  When those spaces were filled you'd lean your bike against another bike.  At times the bikes were stacked 4 or 5 deep on the sidewalk.  Just a few feet away, in an orphan (sub-standard width) parking space, there was a wobbly A-frame bike rack that could hold at most 7 bikes.  I thought we could do better than that.

Something had to change and a number of elements needed to come together for a solution.  That was when Gene Ashdown offered to act as liaison between the DBC and the City of Winters.  Another part of the mix was Belinda Wensel, owner of Steady Eddy's (now retired) who, without hesitation made the decision to convert one parking space in front of the shop to bicycle parking.  The DBC's part?  Design and fund the new bike racks.  Soon we had a green light from the concerned parties.  Next came the design phase.

Concept v4 was approved

The question was: “Why not just put four A-frame bike racks in those 1.7 parking spaces?”  Good question.  Dave Joshel offered to help determine just how close you could space bikes.  We took measurements with several bikes hanging on a rail and arrived at a number that allowed for some wiggle room.  With that information I produced the first bike rack design: version 1, or v1, which failed to work any better than an A-frame rack - as did the next two versions.  But v4 was different; modeled extensively, it answered the question.

Compared to an A-frame rack, the v4's vertical legs were harder to trip on.  The v4's middle support leg extends outward about as far as the average bike's front wheel does when hanging on the rack and, splits the hanging area into two halves.  The curved pipe on the v4 describes an 80 degree arc with about 10 degrees nominal arc per bike.  The curve moves space from around the rear wheel to the handle bars - where bikes are the widest.  Multiple racks can be placed closer together and, when laid out strategically they accommodate more bikes in less space.  The three leg design has another advantage:  It doesn't wobble on uneven ground, so the crown of the street was a non-issue.  Four v4 racks will hold 32 bikes and, sometimes more by leaning bikes against them including, the occasional Tandem. 

Roger W. w/newly assembled prototype

The C-Rack (“C” is for Curve or Club) was approved and Mike Briggs of Winters offered to produce the first prototypes.  When the rack's component parts were all sized and ready, Roger Wilmarth and I assembled the prototypes in Mike's shop, which he later welded together. A few days later they replaced the A-frame rack in front of Steady Eddy's and immediately proved popular with cyclists.  After several weeks of use and with feedback from DBCers, we had what we needed to make the production C-Racks. 

Popular Prototypes

One of the lessons learned was that people moved the prototype racks around when it suited them so, the C-Racks needed to be firmly anchored if the gains from a planned layout were to be realized.  I surveyed the area in front of Steady Eddy's, then modeled it down to the inch in 3D in SketchUp and in a 2D draw program.  Several virtual layouts were tried on the computer until the “best fit” placement was determined.  The winning layout allowed cyclists to approach from either the sidewalk or the street to rack their bikes.  It also addressed the concern that some vehicles in the adjoining parking space might swing their doors into the hanging bikes.  When empty, the C-Racks are well inside the lane boundary and outside of the swing zone.  When full, the front tires of bikes hanging on the C-Racks will cushion the impact of a car door swung into them.  

The best fit layout

A few weeks later the C-Racks were ready and, when the freshly “hot dipped” galvanized racks arrived in Winters, the install site was ready too.  Each of the 12 legs was set according to the layout plan, then Winters City staff bolted the C-Racks to the street.  It was time for some serious bicycle parking. 

A few days after the installation someone came up with a great suggestion: Put reflectors on the C-Racks so cars wouldn't run into them at night.  After some research I ordered Refllexite tape and wrapped the three outermost legs, which now appear blazing white under headlights in low-light conditions.

C-Racks today, Legend and J. Hall

It's been two years since the C-Racks' debuted and the jury is in: They have become a fixture in Winters.  At installation they were bright silver but with age they've oxidized to a mature gray.  Even one vociferous critic of the decision and project that converted one parking space to Bicycle parking had to admit that the sidewalk is almost always clear and, hadn't seen a bicycle hanging on the railing outside of Steady Eddy's in a long time.  This successful project is a great example of what can happen when people work together towards a solution.  Even non-cyclists won; they had a clearer sidewalk to walk down.  

The C-Racks would not have been possible without the efforts of:  Gene Ashdown, Belinda Wensel, Mike Briggs, David Joshel, Roger Wilmarth, Martin's Metal Fabrication, the DBC Board of Directors and the members of the Davis Bike Club through their feedback and support.