MassBike PV Salvages Bike Racks

Lauren LeClaire

Written by
September 29, 2011

What school, town or city doesn't need more secure bicycle parking?  Thanks to quick action by two MassBike members in the Pioneer Valley, 10 inverted-U bike racks that were headed for the dump have been salvaged and will be returned to service.  

After determining the racks were too beat-up to re-use, UMass Amherst had removed them to make way for new ones. UMass math professor and MassBiker Mike Sullivan snagged the racks without hesitation and stored them temporarily in his office until further action could be taken. Later on, I (MassBike Pioneer Valley Chapter President) borrowed a utility trailer from Pedal People and pedaled all ten racks from Amherst to Northampton along the Norwottuck Rail Trail—about 350 lbs for almost ten miles.  It was an understandably slow but uneventful ride, and the racks are now awaiting decisions about where to site them.  The current plan calls for 5 city-owned sidewalk or school locations and 5 private establishments that serve the cycling public, such as grocery stores and cafes.