Đại úy Chuck and the NCOIC Part 13

June 18 and 19 – Days 14 and 15

York to Harrisburg; 6/18

The all night rain finally ceased as Đại úy was firing-up the JetBoil to make the last campground Cuppa Joe. An energy bar would suffice for the ride into York where food could be found.


As the end of a tour approaches feelings about ride can clash; wanna be done and don’t want it to end. The final 100 miles would be the first serious road riding since Pittsburgh and transition would be swift with the small city of York only a few miles away where the Rail to Trail portion of Pennsylvania Bicycle Route J-1 joined J-2 and became the J Route. Construction, too-sharp turns and learning that riding on sidewalk would earn a citation from an aggressive constabulary were the beginning of an uneasy introduction to the city. Even the McDonald’s furthered the sense of unease with its abundance of signs stating the lingering over a meal for more than 30 minutes would be considered to be loitering.

Returning to the J Route was hindered by a large, international style sign announcing “no bikes allowed” on the street providing direct access. One-way, two lane streets, traffic lights and rush hour complicated the ride, but York was eventually escaped. Joy was short-lived as the hills of PA became the sole topic of conversation for most of the next 40 miles.

The J Route follows low volume roads that are not loaded-tandem-friendly. What’s that mean? Hills! Hills that began leaving York and continued unrelenting for most of the day’s ride, is what. Yes, there were hills in the early days of the journey, the Allegheny Mountains, but the steady 1.5% grade of a Rail-to-Trail is not a big deal. The final hill before reaching New Cumberland, PAS, was 8% and three-quarters of a mile! Its only redeeming quality was that it was downhill. But you have to go up before you can go down and there was plenty of walking to get up too-steep hills.

Note the name of the sub-division; Rolling Hills. Had just walked and pushed about 1/4 mile to get there.

Remember Three Mile Island?

Had the Dynamic Duo been traveling by car the J Route would have been picturesque as it followed the wide Susquehanna. On a loaded tandem it was an ongoing task with little visual relief. The folks at Red Land did buy the intrepid riders a drink.


The plan had been to cover about 50 miles and spend the night in the Doyle Hotel, a well-known stop on the App Trail. After crossing the river to Harrisburg food requirements beckoned; Pita Pit, Yay! It was clear by then that the hills had won and HBG was the day’s end, even before horns and revved engines were used by passing motorist to express their lack of appreciation for the bike. An America’s Best Value Inn on the north end of HBG marked the end-of-day; basic, clean, inadequate WiFi and Taco Bell food across the parking lot.


Harrisburg to central PA; 6/19

The final day would cover about 50 miles by following US Routes 22/220 and 11/15 with the first ten involving a series of  . . . yes . . . hills. After re-crossing the Susquehanna at Fisher’s Ferry the J Route used the ten foot wide shoulder of a heavily traveled multi-lane highway. It wasn’t Pittsburgh traffic, slow, pondering and angry. Instead it was loud, close and loud and also loud. Again, by this time, Kodak Moments were mostly history not reality.


An odd moment occurred when the Duo stopped to help two motorists with a flat tire, not something you see every day. By 1400, the Subway in Selinsgrove was reached, the final on-the-road food was consumed and a phone call made to discuss venturing into the countryside to reach the final destination.

Not meaning to belabor the point, but . . . hills. And a thunderstorm. Fifty-five and a half miles got Đại úy Chuck and the NCOIC to the end of their ride, but not their adventure.

Did Đại úy get to visit The Doyle Hotel? Yep. On the way back south, in the rain. Got to meet Vickey, who greeted him at the door, Pat and a bunch of through hikers. Don't bet that he won't be staying there one day soon.


Stay tuned for gernal comments about the ride; what worked and what did not, observations and suggestions.


.

Racks and Hard Places; The Archer Road Tour, Part 2

Continuing East on the South side of Archer Road

A suitable rack at campus Outfitters

Campus Outfitters
The building currently housing Campus Outfitters has been an eatery in the past. Maybe a Gator clothing outlet will survive.

The rack here is sturdy and visible to traffic, but not readily visible if one is shopping. Still, it provides adequate security for an employee.





 
Sonny's
It's a local institution and very popular, but Sonny's provides no bicycle specific security. There are flyparking options and high traffic probably makes this a relatively secure place despite not being able to see your bike from inside. They have racks and half racks to feed you, but no racks to secure your ride

Sonny's will sell you a rack, but provide riders with none!

Chick-fil-a's rack is commonly in use

Chick-fil-a
The rack at Chick-fil-a is almost always in use and this creates some problems because of its size, placement and design. Larger bikes and those with fenders do not easily fit in the designated slots and large bike can create an obstacle for a car using the adjacent parking place. The nut and bolt construction of the rack is a lesser problem here because of the high visibility and traffic. Except for the lack of space, parking here is quite secure.

Nut and Bolt Rack

Easy to see your ride at Chick-fil-a

 









Willy's Mexican Grill
Newly arrived Willy's meets many of the standards I set for secure bike parking. The rack is sturdy, set in concrete and permits easy locking of front and rear. Ideally there would be two racks set at a right angle to the current single and providing more space. Yet, even using the rack in the typical manner (meaning parking the bike perpendicularly to the rack) security is good becasue of visibility from within. The only time when a parked bike is out of sight is upon entering and ordering.

Easy to watch your bike at Willy's

Bikes are readily visible outside Willy's

Wave style Rack at Willy's

A word here about rack design and position. Wave style racks are cost effective and simple to install. (see The Art of Bike Parking) To effect two point parking a multi-bike rack becomes much less efficient. The racks provided outside The Pita Pit and behind Brass Tap encourage multiple bike parking and make two point locking possible simultaneously. Choosing the best rack and placing it effectively requires more than casual thought if it is going to promote bike security.

Wendy's
Sharing a parking lot with Willy's, the rebuilt Wendy's also shares the same bike security perspective. Their wave style rack is readily visible from within. Wendy's and nearby Willy's offer some of the most secure parking available on Archer Road.

Parking much like Willy's

The view from inside Wendy's

Racks and Hard Places; The Archer Road Tour, Part 1

Stuff happens along Archer Road in Gainesville. Eateries and places to buy things are the basic fiber of the area with Butler Plaza being the center of this retail universe. For many people coming to the area for the first time or just passing through on I-75, Archer Road is Gainesville. Residents of the area live with the dichotomy of feelings generated by what is there and the too-often heavy traffic. Riders are able to skirt and avoid the congestion, but must be perpetually alert for inattentive drivers. It’s just the way it is. Evenings can be especially dangerous as date-night activity can easily supersede driving skill and traffic awareness.

This isn’t about drivers or danger on wheels. It’s about what riders do with their bikes if they want to use the abundance of eateries and places to buy things? As noted in the previous entry, good locks (the HOW) are one part of the security thing. The other part is the WHERE.

Some business owners blame landlords for the lack of bicycle racks. Some claim “rules” prohibiting them. Few deny the need, though it may be nothing more than momentary lip service. Large, old, eccentric Vietnam veterans have a way of sometimes stirring contradictory comments. The cost purchase and install a satisfactory bike rack is less than $500. The actual cost depends upon the rack choice, site, preparation of the site and installation. An in-depth examination of bicycle usage and parking can be seen at bicyclinginfo.org.

Back to Archer Road, specifically the south side across from sprawling Butler Plaza . . .

We’ll start on the south side of Archer Road, across the street from Butler Plaza near the intersection with I-75 and begin looking at bicycle security accommodations. This is not a scholarly examination. It’s one guy’s perspective and will be far too subjective at times, maybe objective occasionally and probably tainted by some personal bias. The things that matter to me include proximity, accessibility, quality of racks, existence of racks and visibility.

Burger King

As noted previously, the Burger King on NW 16^th Avenue has a well placed, sturdy rack. The Archer Road establishment does not. It doesn’t even have a rack. It does have a lamp post. It’s not designed nor designated as a place to fasten a bike, but it works. A U-Lock cannot be used and a chain or cable has to be long enough to encircle the post.

This is one of those places where flyparking is probably ok, mostly because of visibility and proximity. It’s a busy place, the post is at the front door and the area can be seen easily from inside. The Archer Road BK doesn’t score for taking bikes into consideration, but its “facilities” are useable.

Burger King, SW Archer Road

Waffle House

Across the street from Burger King is a Waffle House that has neither a rack nor useable flyparking places for securing a bike. As with all Houses you can easily see into the parking lot, so leaning a bike against the building would keep it in sight, but not secured. Lack of a place to secure a bike is disappointing because I like Waffle House. Of course, one could affect the I’m-a-Waffle-House-regular-so-don’t-mess-with-me attitude. The pragmatic side is that Waffle House severs are extremely protective of and loyal to their regular customers. Thus, a regular’s bike might be safer leaning against the wall outside than chained anywhere else. Actually, anyone visiting Waffle House could expect that the servers would be or could be made aware of a bike parked outside.

Lacking Waffle House regular status, bike parking there is less than satisfactory. Visibility is good and the bike could be kept in close proximity, but security would still be limited.

Waffle House, SW Archer Road

Kerr's Wing House

Kerr's Wing House, Archer Road

Formerly Denny’s, the Wing House is a busy place in its early days of existence. When it was remodeled no provisions were added for bike security. Flyparking is possible, but potentially conflicts with take-out and handicapped patrons. Seating in the open air section would permit easy visibility of a bike fastened to the fencing.

Chaining my bike to the fence would not be a choice I’d be likely to make. Surely there is a wing place offering better bike accommodations

Want to compete with to-go and handicapped parking?

Adequate provisions at the Pita Pit

Pita Pit, Mochi, Chipotle, Brass Tap, and whatever else is there

The strip with its back to Archer Road houses several popular eateries. There is one set of bike racks outside Pita Pit that are readily visible from both inside and the open air section. A second rack is behind Brass Tap at the other end of the strip. Patrons of Mochi, Chipotle choosing that smaller, less conspicuous rack would need to feel less secure. It is visible to the parking area, but because of its location near some utility cabinets does not stand-out as does the larger one near Pita Pit.

You’d probably feel pretty secure at Pita Pit. From Chipotle you can see the rack behind Brass Tap, so that might make it ok. There is a railing along the east side of Chipotle, also, where a bike can be secured and viewed while dining. Visibility from any of the other places is lacking. Activity in and around the businesses could lower risk or, unfortunately increase invisibility.

The Brass Tap's parking is out of the way

Useable by Chipotle, the Tap's rack is out back.

There are a few subjective observations about bike security along Archer Road. Maybe you’ll find ‘em to be useful.