I DON’T KNOW WHETHER IT’S MY PREDISPOSITION FOR ALL THINGS BICYCLE, or that there are actually more people bicycling around Benicia — but it surely seems like I’m seeing more people on bicycles these days. And why not? The weather is absolutely perfect for it. We have an amazing array of places to bike to, such as downtown First Street, the State Recreation Area, fascinating historic places and museums, and our regular shopping, business and school destinations. And unlike downtown San Francisco, where there is a significant shortages of bike racks, we have a fair amount of racks here to park and lock bicycles.

My favorite Benicia bike rack is the one at the Community Center on L Street. This rack has all the features that I like. It has a front wheel “well” that allows the bike to stand without using a kickstand; a bracing arm that allows easy connection with most bicycle locks; and it accommodates a fair amount of bicycles. I did a search on Google images to see the range of bicycle racks and there appears to be an artistic Renaissance in bike rack design. I will not mention the Art Deco silver bicycle racks that created such interest in Benicia in 2010 . . . but there are clever racks in the shape of bicycles, spirals and the standard racks, including one that I call a “potato masher” design. At the New Wheel bicycle shop in San Francisco where I bought my electric bicycle (see photo above), they have a bicycle rack that allows the bicycle to be tilted upward to save valuable sidewalk space.

I mention bicycle racks since the lack of racks in Benicia was one of many findings from our Community Sustainability Commission B2 (Bicycle Benicia) studies. And in this era of new bicycles, bicycle racks that accommodate different styles of bicycles are important if we are going to address a bicycle parking need in our town.

Styles of bicycles

If it wasn’t for Doug Snyder, our local Benicia expert in all things e-bike, I wouldn’t be current on the fat tire rage. Originally designed by Surly (naturally, a Minnesota-based firm) for riding bicycles in the snow, the fat tire, at low pressure, has taken off as a way for bicycles to roll over “snow, sand, mud, wet roots, rocks and other terrain that would otherwise be impassable.” How fat is fat? A fat tire is around 3.8 inches wide, as compared to an electric bike’s 2 inches.

Then there are “freestyle” bikes that allow the rider to do the can-can, bar spin, X-up, throw down, cliffhanger, coffin and lazy boy. These bikes usually have front and back footpegs that allow, for the can-can, the rider to take “one foot off the footpeg and bring it over the seat so that both legs are on one side of the bike.” I’ll put a link below to more of the terms — anyone who knows freestyle will know I am a total novice about this exciting sport!

Cargo bikes are taking off as well. We are lucky to have Yuba bikes (Petaluma) and Xtracycle (Oakland) in Northern California. In fact, Doug has an Xtracycle of his own; he put an electric motor on it for zipping around Benicia. Cargo bikes are just what the name implies. They can and do carry cargo, up to 500 pounds of it! The cargo may be passengers, e.g., carrying children to school, or heavy materials.

I’ve mentioned recumbent bicycles before. Recumbents are a very efficient use of human energy. The innovation around recumbent bicycles, in addition to adding an electric motor, is adaptive design that allows individuals who love cycling but who may be unable to manage a bicycle to try a three-wheeled recumbent as an alternative.

The bikes mentioned above, along with road and mountain bikes, could all be outfitted as electric bicycles, as well allowing “pedal assist” that gives a boost when pedaling, and/or a throttle (no pedaling needed).

Now to park them

So, as more people are bicycling on a dazzling array of bicycles, the standard old bike rack will need to adapt to these changing needs and styles.

There is an interesting company called Dero that is in the “bike parking business.” What an amazing line of bike parking they have! Their product line consists of commercial bike racks, custom bike racks (yes, they have the standard “bicycle” shape design as well as chicken, deer, golf clubs, shoppers, and coffee cup and spoon bike racks), bike shelters, bike lockers and public bike repair. I really like the public bike repair products! They include: Fixit, Tool Kit, Pump Stop and Air Kits1, 2 and 3. And, they have Dero Zap, an automatic bike commuting system designed for corporations, retailers, government and universities. The Dero Zap program alone has 574,489 Zaps in use that have biked 4.8 million miles, saving 176,641 gallons of gas, reducing CO2 by 3.4 million pounds and burning 151,588,211 calories. Well, the data is from their website so the calories reduced could be challenged.

One of the Community Sustainability Commission’s 2014 goals is to encourage at least 50 people to start using their bicycles to get to work, school and/or to just enjoy all that Benicia has to offer. I think we are well on our way to meeting that goal!

Learn more
• Fat-tire: Bicycling Magazine: bicycling.com/mountainbikecom/bikes-gear/wide-load
• California-ebike.com
• Dero.com
• freestyle-motocross.net/info/guide/fmx/tricks.html
• NewWheel.net
• Surlybikes.com

Constance Beutel is the chair of Benicia’s Community Sustainability Commission. She is a university professor and videographer and holds a doctorate from the University of San Francisco.

Sharing is caring!