Bike Racks: Downtown, Bay & Champion

Ka-CHUNK.
Ka-CHUNK.
KA-Chunk!

That is the sound of the City of Bellingham installing staples. By which I mean 'staple'-style bike racks on the sidewalks of downtown. Like this one on Champion St. between Prospect and Bay:

Ka-CHUNK!

Or this one on Bay St. between Champion and Prospect (there's a 2nd behind the tree):

Ka-CHUNK!

These things are great. Two bikes can be squeezed onto each, although admittedly they have to get pretty up-close and personal with each other.

Nuzzling up on either side of the staple. Oh, and don't lock up to trees, you'll hurt their bark.

Probably the best thing about them is how simple and inexpensive they are so the city can scatter them about anywhere and everywhere. There are three in the shot above.

You don't usually find them under shelters, and security varies by the block, but mostly it's hard to complain about them. They're convenient because they're ubiquitous, at least in some spots.

Elsewhere in this scene, from mid-afternoon on a cold, windy, gray Sunday in April, I am pleased to see variety, ingenuity, and quantity in parked bikes. Thusly:

Bikes as far as the lens can see

A very encouraging scene. Bikes 1 & 2 are locked to a staple. 3 uses a cable to affix to a chain. 4 is locked to a screen with a cable. 5 may be locked to either a screen or a lamppost. 6 is definitely locked to a lamppost, while 7 is leaning against another staple. 

Add to that the 4 bikes in the photo above, and G's (which isn't shown), and you get 12 bikes parked in two very short downtown blocks.

Way to go, us, for biking; and way to go, City of Bellingham, for making sure we can lock up!