Not again! I think to myself. I’m leisurely biking home from a Saints game at CHS Field, when I notice the skies ahead darken ominously. Time to put the cargo e-bike in full chooch, and I’m off — a race against an involuntary shower.
It was too late to stay dry, but my open garage greets me as I arrive. Relieved, I park my bike, take a breath, and gather my stuff before heading inside.
Full disclosure: I fully acknowledge that having a garage is a luxury, and one that many people either don’t prioritize or can’t afford. Still, I hope this reaches an audience that perhaps didn’t realize garages aren’t only for cars, especially for daily trips. Which is why I almost titled the article: Why You Shouldn’t Sleep on the Convenient Bike Parking You May Already Have.
My typical pre-war St. Paul alley sees more car traffic than my street. Families in SUVs coming and going, mostly to and from their garages or off-street parking pads. Many of us take multiple trips in a single day, sometimes opening and closing the garage door over and over. Through the wonders of electronics and radio transmissions, a click of a button is all it takes to open and close the typical car storage.
Despite what some people say, cars are both heated and water tight, and can live quite happily outdoors. Ignoring the increasing prevalence of damaging hail, a garage or secure storage space is actually more necessary for people with bikes compared to cars.
Of course, bikes are a target for theft, even when kept securely locked in a garage. The so-called “smart home” can be a deep rabbit hole, but if you can dream of a smart security tool, it’s likely already out there. More on this, below.
It’s All About Convenience
If one’s bike isn’t easily accessible and relatively safe from theft, these are significant barriers to daily cycling. For all bike users, but especially for cargo and family bike users, convenience and storage are some of the biggest hurdles to frequent usage. Of course, I can’t pen an article without recommending a folding bike for anyone who finds storing their bike securely to be a challenge.
If you own a car and want to find a reason not to ride your bike, you can probably find one. I speak from personal experience: If there’s even the slightest reason to “just take the car,” your bike is going to be sitting a lot more than it probably needs to. Some of my excuses: too cold, too far, will there be bike parking, the take-out will get cold, the ride will be too bumpy, I have to carry stuff, I have to carry people, I have to go somewhere else after, I might need to give someone a spontaneous ride home, I just put my bike away. A common theme — a lack of convenience, both actual and perceived.
Many of you already store your bike in the garage. I, like many others, hope that more people will normalize riding their bikes more of the time, especially for short trips. So, let’s make the choice of taking the bike more seamless.
Bike-Accessible, App-Connected, Garage Door Opener
If you have a remote-operated garage door and ride a bike, you just might be missing out on one of its best quality of life use cases. The next time you take a ride, borrow the clicker from your car. See how it changes your overall biking experience.
However, not all openers are created equal. My late brother, Erik, installed probably his best-ever Christmas gift to me. A connected “smart” garage door opener. He swapped out the conventional, chain-driven electromechanical opener with a new one that not only had a working garage light, but being belt-driven, was far quieter.
With the new opener (circa $220) came the additional benefit of a connected “app” that would allow for smartphone-based garage door opening, as well as sharing access, among other features (maybe you forgot to close the door, so it warns you it’s been open for more than an hour). I don’t like to overdo it on the “Internet of things,” but this one had me hooked on day one.
Pro tip: wear touchscreen-rated gloves when you ride your bike on cooler days for easy app operation!
Tiring of grabbing and forgetting my car’s clicker when taking a ride, I tried out the phone app in my pocket. I now had the clicker in whichever car I was driving that day or week. Or, more accurately, in whichever vehicle! No matter what mode I was taking that day, I had an instant door opener control in my pocket. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?
Smart garage door openers also can help keep you bike secure. If you like notifications, then good news! These systems can easily be programmed to send a push notification when the garage door opens (or is left open). For additional assurances, one can also integrate Wi-Fi smart cameras and even motion sensors with night vision to send a notification when motion is detected in the garage, or when the side-door is opened.
Easier Biking = More Biking
It’s hard to break the conventional wisdom that says bikes are to be “taken out” and “put away” before and after each use.
It’s just so much more convenient to park my bike before dismounting and scrambling to open a door. This, I presume, is why remote garage door clickers proliferated to nearly every garage in the United States. It’s easier. Let’s also make biking easier. It seems obvious, but the exact same convenience of an automatic garage door is even better on two wheels.
You’ll thank me when you’re welcomed home — dry and happy — after your next ride!