First I complained about the rickety, useless bike rack at Hobee’s in Mountain View. Then I was (mostly) pleased to see they had installed a new rack. On Sunday, we discovered an ill-placed, immovable garbage can that blocks the walkway when bikes are parked. A complete FAIL that makes bikes look like the problem.
There’s barely room between the bikes and the garbage can for walkers, and no room for the family with a child in a wheelchair that walked up just as we finished locking the bikes. We slid the bikes over to let them pass.
The good news is that when I reported it to the manager, she came out and looked carefully at the situation and agreed it was a problem. Anyone willing to guess what their solution will be? Will they move the garbage can, move the bike rack or removed the rack completely?
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- At first glance, Hobbee’s new bike rack under their covered walkway seems to work well enough.
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- But it’s too close to the curb. Our front wheels barely fit the narrow space and were almost hitting the car bumpers.
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- If the garbage can weren’t sticking out from the corner of the building it wouldn’t be so bad.
Location: Hobbee’s on Central Expressway at Rengstorff Avenue, Mountain View, California, USA.
ladyfleur
January 9, 2013 at 12:54 pm
Yay! The staff at Hobee’s saw my post and wrote me via twitter: “Sorry! Thanks for the heads up. Our landlord installed both items as center “improvements”. I’ll contact today re solutions.” I <3 Hobee's
NadiaMac
January 10, 2013 at 10:53 am
In SF, racks placed that close to the curb don’t meet code. Dan had a wheel taco’d by a large vehicle when parked in a rack that wasn’t even as close to the curb as the ones you picture.
ladyfleur
January 10, 2013 at 11:22 am
Poor Dan. I have no idea if there’s any code in MV for racks on private property. The good news is that the folks at Hobee’s want a better solution. It sounds like it’s the landlord who doesn’t understand the issues.
Richard Masoner (@cyclelicious)
January 10, 2013 at 4:20 pm
Good for Hobee’s for responding. And of course their long time and *very* generous support for Bike To Work Day in the Bay Area covers a multitude of sins!
ladyfleur
January 10, 2013 at 5:53 pm
I was very pleased that the manager took the time to walk out to see the problem and was pleased by the quick unsolicited response via twitter. I think the issue is that the landlord doesn’t understand what’s needed. Landlords aren’t always that cooperative, even for long-term tenants like Hobee’s. This is their original restaurant.