Yet More Bicycle Storage Foofaraw.
Now that much of the hubbub over the College's bicycle storage offerings has died down -- thank-you, Laurie -- perhaps we can return to the question of alternative cycle stowage technologies. I came across this nouveau conceptual "tree" idea not so long ago (via Boing Boing):
Hold on a minute. This idea doesn't seem so new at all. In fact, I was able to quickly dig up the following example of prior art dating back to October of 1991 (a time before an agreed-upon spelling of "bungee"):
Why, the similarities are uncanny. Forget trying to patent your erzatz "tree" Mr. Dapke, this design features the real deal.
And there are many more stunning proposals where that one came from. Here are but a few more (click to view in a slightly larger format):
Don't forget to vote for your favourite. (Also, substitute "Yukon River" for "Lake Ontario" -- the original proposals were drawn up by a young engineering student from Kingston with a drawing talent limited to sock puppet stick figures.)
Archived Comments
At least you guys have storage... I would happily pay a fee for some decent bike storage at my workplace downtown. Locking your bike in a snowdrift sucks. Too bad we'll pay thousands of dollars a year to pave, maintain, plow our lot and provide plug-ins for cars, but nothing for the cyclist.
Yes, the College's bike lockers are pretty nice. We had a tour of them -- that's the sort of thing that passes for "work" during the summer -- and I felt it would be too easy for me to lock myself into one of them. So, I reluctantly declined to sign up. I imagine they've all been reserved by now.
I agree with Anthony - downtown bike storage options are bad, really bad. There's a lot of people who ride during the winter and having a solid place to lock up would be a smart move. What's always boggled my mind is that the City put in an expensive bike path down both sides of Two Mile Hill, but they only maintain one of them in the winter (same with the path around the airport, which is never plowed).