The Chainlink

Festival Bike Parking: Your thoughts

As it's Chicago high festival season and this bike thing seems to be catching on (heh), I'm wondering: 

    - Which festivals do the best job of welcoming and accommodating bicycle riders?

    - How do they do it? 

    - How can they improve?

For example, I love that Pitchfork has a dedicated and staffed bike area because the first few years I locked against a fence and prayed the whole time, but last year, the bike area was overcrowded and it was annoying to disengage my bike from the one that parked on top of mine. Etc.

Who designs the best bike parking? Is it necessary? Does it keep you from going places if you can't safely lock up?

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Permalink Reply by Tim on July 14, 2013 at 7:54am

I haven't biked to too many fests because I usually go with non-bikers, but I am always amazed at how many bike are around. One of my favorite bands played Wicker Park Fest last year on Sunday night and it took us a long time to find a spot to lock up to even though there were extra racks put out for the fest.

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on July 15, 2013 at 3:17pm

Yeah, I guess I wonder if that kind of bike parking (putting out a bunch of those rental wheelbender racks) is the best idea as biking grows. 

Tim said:

I haven't biked to too many fests because I usually go with non-bikers, but I am always amazed at how many bike are around. One of my favorite bands played Wicker Park Fest last year on Sunday night and it took us a long time to find a spot to lock up to even though there were extra racks put out for the fest.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 15, 2013 at 3:26pm

Pitchfork has the same problem year after year-- they order plenty of racks, and then nobody intervenes when they all get grabbed by the setup crew to use for barriers in front of vendor booths.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 15, 2013 at 3:28pm

My favorite parking is for the Hideout Block Party. There seems to be enough, it's in a relatively supervised place, and it's right at the entrance, not down the block somewhere. And best of all they just did it on their own...

Permalink Reply by Julia 3.5/7.5 mi on July 15, 2013 at 7:30pm

This isn't nearly the same volume, but the Logan Square farmer's market tried a bike valet. There are so few signposts on the boulevard compared to the crowd (plus the rack at New Wave is already always full). I think I saw at least 20 bikes in there when I used it, and a $2 donation was suggested for the service. We had actually stopped biking because there was nowhere to lock up week after week (just a few signposts, always full). I'm always a huge fan of a safe/monitored valet option, when available. The Drake actually valeted my bike once on a rainy day!

Permalink Reply by David Altenburg on July 15, 2013 at 9:06pm

I want to add my agreement on how great the Logan Square Farmer's Market bike valet (run by the Roadie Cab guys) is. It feels too good to be true to not have to mess with the locks for my bike and trailer while keeping an eye on my 2-year-old daughter. I would be happy to pay for a bike valet in lots of situations. 

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 15, 2013 at 11:11pm

I forget which event it is but there's one in Logan Square (Kedzie and MIlwaukee)that predictably generates a handful of reports to the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry every year.

The Valet at the Farmer's Market sounds very nice, but for larger events I much prefer a protected and supervised area for self-locking.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 16, 2013 at 12:22pm

Sarah, is your question rooted in your professional background? if so, you should contact Brian at the Andersonville Development Corporation. They had a bike valet during Midsommar fest. He may be able to provide feedback.

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on July 16, 2013 at 3:02pm

Not really - I am looking to the bike community for our needs and wants to make a proposal in my role as a bike person on my ward's transportation committee. It would be great to gather what people feel works best, since there are many different models out there. I can speak for myself (I like the protected/high fenced supervised area for locked bikes, too), but I *try* not to assume I know what's best for most...


Duppie 13.5185km said:

Sarah, is your question rooted in your professional background? if so, you should contact Brian at the Andersonville Development Corporation. They had a bike valet during Midsommar fest. He may be able to provide feedback.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 18, 2013 at 3:01am

One thing I loathe about large event bike parking (that doesn't have valet) is the fence-like barrier used as a bicycle rack. It has all the downfalls of the grill rack (used most frequently in Chicago by Jewel-Osco) in that its incompatible with many sizes and types of bikes and the only way to lock *well* to it is by lifting the front wheel over the horizontal top bar (damaging your fenders). The only advantages are seen by the festival organizer and the transporter (its lightweight and stackable). 

Dero sells a better portable rack: the Compack and its larger twin, the Event Rack.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 18, 2013 at 8:05am

Speaking about assumptions.

I went to Square Roots last Friday and noticed the complete lack of bike parking. Knowing your involvement with the organizers, I just assumed that that was why you came asking.

Thanks for reminding me not to make assumptions.

Sarah D. 1-3.3 said:

Not really - I am looking to the bike community for our needs and wants to make a proposal in my role as a bike person on my ward's transportation committee. It would be great to gather what people feel works best, since there are many different models out there. I can speak for myself (I like the protected/high fenced supervised area for locked bikes, too), but I *try* not to assume I know what's best for most...


Duppie 13.5185km said:

Sarah, is your question rooted in your professional background? if so, you should contact Brian at the Andersonville Development Corporation. They had a bike valet during Midsommar fest. He may be able to provide feedback.

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on July 18, 2013 at 2:46pm

Thanks for the Dero tip , Steven, and I completely agree about the overuse of wheelbender/barrier at every festival - bike tangles waiting to happen. And yep, to Duppie, our event production team forgot to secure the stages, so all those racks designated for bikes were pulled to use as - barriers. Super annoying/embarrassing. 

My feeling is that festival organizers need to know what exactly "bike friendliness" is in order to claim it and execute it properly. 

Steven Vance said:

One thing I loathe about large event bike parking (that doesn't have valet) is the fence-like barrier used as a bicycle rack. It has all the downfalls of the grill rack (used most frequently in Chicago by Jewel-Osco) in that its incompatible with many sizes and types of bikes and the only way to lock *well* to it is by lifting the front wheel over the horizontal top bar (damaging your fenders). The only advantages are seen by the festival organizer and the transporter (its lightweight and stackable). 

Dero sells a better portable rack: the Compack and its larger twin, the Event Rack.

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