This story is part of my ongoing coverage of the 2008 National Bike Summit. See the rest of my coverage here.
(Photos © J. Maus)
One of the highlights of my first day at the 2008 National Bike Summit had nothing to do with meetings, networking, or keynote speakers — it had to do with bike parking.
It just so happens that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has offices in the same building where the Summit is held (the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center). It also turns out, not surprisingly, that many EPA staffers ride bikes to work and they have a dedicated bike storage room all to themselves.
Thankfully, this year, they decided to share it with us.
The room is accessed through an unmarked door in an underground parking garage. Through the door is a hallway and, after you punch in a secret code, another door opens into the bike parking room. It was quite impressive.
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Ahhh, the secret code.
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It seemed like at least 100 bikes were parked in the racks and there was an entire wall of lockers (including one that had free inner tubes and other supplies available).
Maybe I’m too easily impressed. I mean, compared to the money spent on car parking, this is nothing. But still, it was great to see that the EPA practices what they preach.
You can see a few more photos of the bike storage room here.