Bike Shop Hours and Service Update

We spoke to our local Baltimore bike shops to see how they’re doing as demand increases. More folks are out riding during the summer and as a low-contact way to get to places the midst of COVID-19. Bike shops are taking safety precautions to protect their employees and workers, like isolating bikes for a window of time before working on them. This means demand is up while service generally requires more time.

Here are bike shop hours and how long you can expect to wait for a full-service appointment. Most shops are booked 2-4 weeks for full-service tuneups and in-depth repairs, but can turn around quick(er) fixes (e.g. a flat tire, brakes needing to be replaced) within a 24-72 hour window.

Baltimore Bicycle Works @ Falls Rd.

Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11-7pm, and Saturday & Sunday 11-5.
Full service tune ups are booked 4 weeks out. For smaller repairs, drop by and see.

Baltimore Bicycle Works @ Belvedere Square

Hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 10-6pm, Thursday 11-7pm, and Friday 11-5pm.
Full service tune ups are booked 4 weeks out. For smaller repairs, drop by and see.

Joe’s Bike Shop @ Mt. Washington

Hours: Monday-Friday 10-8pm, Saturday 10-6pm, Sunday closed.
Open for in-shop browsing. Booked 2 weeks out for full-service repairs.

Joe's Bike Shop @ Fell’s Point

Hours: Monday-Friday 10-8pm, Saturday 10-6pm, Sunday closed.
Curbside service only. Booked 2 weeks out on full-service repairs.

Race Pace Bicycles in Charles Village and Federal Hill

Hours: Monday - Friday 1-7pm, but closed Tuesday. Saturday 11-6pm, Sunday 11-5pm.
Full-service tune ups/repairs booked 3-4 weeks out. Small repairs done within 48-72 hours.
Race Pace is also offering safety checks for $25. If it's safe to ride, your bike will be returned within 72 hours with basic check-up and repairs. If it needs a fuller tune-up, your $25 gets put towards a full-service appointment booking.

Velocipede Bike Project in Old Goucher

Velocipede is offering assisted DIY repair and bikes for sale, but by appointment only. Email appt@velocipedebikeproject.org or call (410) 343-9181 to book.
Since they are a volunteer-run nonprofit, they only charge a $10 shop use fee, plus parts.

Slow Streets Launch!

In April, we wrote “It’s past time to close some streets,” arguing that Baltimore City should follow guidance from the National Association of City Transportation Officials and faculty from the Bloomberg School of Public Health to immediately repurpose some street space away from parking and close some streets to through traffic as a pandemic response. Since that time, even more cities have implemented these measures to provide additional physical distancing space for residents on city streets. 

In May, Baltimore City Council unanimously passed legislation introduced by Council President Brandon Scott to implement at least 25 miles of slow streets with an equity lens within all 14 council districts. The legislation has gone unsigned by Mayor Young, but goes into effect without signature or veto after three regular council meetings. 

Since this deadline is fast approaching, Baltimore City Department of Transportation has officially announced their Slow Streets Program in response to the legislation. 

From the Baltimore City Department of Transportation press release: 

Over the next two weeks, BCDOT will begin to implement the citywide Slow Streets program which will include temporary “Road Closed: Local Traffic Only” signage on barricades to discourage cut-through traffic. The barricades used on selected streets will decrease traffic volumes to provide safer streets for physically distant walking, wheelchair rolling, jogging, and biking across the city.

The new Slow Street Program is credited to the passing of the Temporary Street Space for Pedestrians and Cyclists Bill 20-0532 and Slow Streets Pilot Program, which includes three locations across the city at Druid Hill Park, Lake Montebello, and Patterson Park. The new Slow Street Program will give residents more space to social distance and is designed to promote social distancing efforts for essential exercise and moving around town.  Since the city council passed Bill 20-0532, BCDOT has identified nearly 65-miles citywide of potential Slow Streets and will work with each City Councilmember to seek input from and prioritize the 25-miles mandated by the City Council.

In addition to identifying 65-miles of potential Slow Streets, BCDOT will begin accepting potential Slow Street nominations from residents across the City of Baltimore. All nominations must meet BCDOT’s Slow Streets criteria and will require sponsorship from their respective Councilperson in order to be approved for implementation. There will be an evaluation period 30 days after 25-miles of Slow Streets have been installed across the city. Baltimore City residents will be able to provide official comments and provide feedback.

Drivers should only use a designated Slow Street if their destination is within two blocks of that street. Residents, emergency vehicles, deliveries, and trash collection vehicles still have access to Slow Streets. Streets with bus routes are not eligible for a Slow Streets designation.

Click here to visit the BCDOT Slow Streets page and FAQ, and if you would like to request BCDOT consider a slow street in your neighborhood, you can fill out an interest form by clicking here.

We look forward to examining proposed implementations as more information becomes available, and will continue to hold the city accountable to the legislation’s intent to design and implement Slow Streets equitably. This includes using signage and barricades for closures, without any use of police enforcement.

Farewell Danielle!

Today Bikemore says goodbye to our beloved colleague Danielle Parnes. Danielle joined Bikemore in the Fall of 2016, and this year will be heading to graduate school at UCLA to study transportation planning. You can read Danielle’s farewell in her own words here. While it would be impossible to summarize the impact she has had on our organization, we wanted to share our deep appreciation for her and her work with the broader Bikemore community. 

From design and communications, to programming and events, every time you interacted with Bikemore online or in person, Danielle’s creativity and talent was behind it. She has cultivated countless relationships in the community fostering our ability to serve as many people as possible. She elevated our work, ensuring that everything we did was polished and professional. 

She joined Bikemore when it was still very young. She helped put in place so many systems of operation that have allowed us to grow as an organization. Every spark of an idea we had, Danielle brought it into existence in a way far beyond what we could have ever imagined. 

In the past year she served as mentor and supervisor to our two newest staff members Menelik and Clarissa. She’s been a trusted partner when frustrations arise, and always has an ability to reflect back the true meaning of our work--joy. Biking is a wonderful expression of joy. It connects us to our City and the people we love. And it is through biking that we got to meet Danielle. 

She is going to bring so much to the field of transportation planning. She has been our guiding light helping to ensure we critically examine our work through a lens of equity, and it is that perspective that is most needed when designing our public spaces. 

We invite you to join us in expressing our thanks and well wishes. We have created an online card for folks to sign, write a note, or share photos. You can see that here. 

To Danielle, we are so grateful you chose Baltimore to be your home these past few years. We are all better for it. 

With love, 

Liz, Jed, Menelik, and Clarissa 

Staff Transitions at Bikemore - A Note from Danielle

By Danielle Parnes, Director of Community Partnerships

With lots of bittersweet feelings, I wanted to let our Bikemore community know that June 19th will be my last day at Bikemore. This fall I will begin my studies at UCLA for a degree in transportation planning. 

When I came to Bikemore it was with eagerness and honestly a fair bit of naivety. I had previously been involved with non-profit work that shied away from being “too political” and I was attracted to the idea that the leadership at Bikemore wasn’t afraid of that. Bikemore understood that the policies in place and the elected officials who often have the final say are equally as important, if not more, than providing direct services. 

Over the last four years, alongside our staff, board, volunteers, supporters and partners, Cranksgiving grew from 70 to over 200 riders. Our Mobile Bike Shop grew from me and a Zipcar to having a full time program manager. We passed the Complete Streets Bill and endorsed our first Mayoral candidate (who won!). We grew from three staff members to five. 

Through both the wins and challenges I’ve seen Bikemore grow. We’ve questioned the idea of what bike advocacy should look like, what equity in transportation means, what authentic community organizing feels like, and who should be leading conversations. And while we’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg in this questioning of the status quo here in Baltimore and in bike advocacy across the country, these are the questions that I will bring forward with me in my future studies and work. 

While we can’t rely on many of our typical rituals of transition that require us to be together in person, I’m leaving with so much gratitude. Gratitude to our staff, board, volunteers, donors, supporters and partners who have given me the opportunity to be a part of this growth, challenged me, and trusted me.

Questions to Ask When Designing for Distance

Photo credit: @nswartsell

Baltimore City is beginning to reopen certain businesses as long as they follow specific guidelines around physical distancing. This has led many public and private organizations, companies, and agencies to consider what outdoor dining and street closures could look like. Restaurants especially have to rethink how to maintain capacity to make opening economically viable, while keeping customers spread apart. 

While this can be viewed as an opportunity to reimagine public space to prioritize people instead of traffic, we must also think critically about how Black people, people experiencing homelessness, people experiencing mental health challenges, and other marginalized communities are prioritized and made to feel safe in these public spaces. The City of Baltimore currently requires that businesses seeking a permit for outdoor dining or street closures must address the following: ADA Compliance, CDC guidelines, waste disposal, pest control, and possess an alcohol control plan. 

But for any project that moves forward, we should also ask these questions to ensure success: 

1. What is the plan to educate businesses when people who aren't patrons of the businesses inevitably use the space? Is it allowed? Will the guidance be to use de-escalation methods over law enforcement if there is a conflict between patrons and other users?

2. What public resources are being used to help businesses remain open? Are they being distributed in an equitable and transparent way? 

3. What is the outreach plan for business districts that primarily serve neighborhoods of color? Have neighbors or businesses located in these neighborhoods expressed an interest or need? 

4. Have discussions happened among the project leads and government agencies or the Mayor's office on how to implement in a manner that respects and maintains people’s right to protest? Have protest organizers been included in the process? 

5. If the goal is for businesses to operate without patrons entering their building, is there a plan to provide public restrooms? Who pays for them and for their maintenance? 

6. If the project is soliciting public participation in design, is there an outreach plan to ensure lots of different people in Baltimore are made aware of the opportunity? If the contract is awarded, are designers compensated fairly? 

Bikemore believes in equity in all policies. Policies aren’t just laws or regulations but also include rules that can be found in permit applications, public/private partnerships, and even in the ways private businesses operate. Policies often perpetuate or establish cultural norms that create an ingroup and an outgroup overtly or covertly. This can lead to discrimination. 

We are excited to see the creative ways businesses and City agencies repurpose space, and hope to collaborate with and hold accountable all involved to see that these issues are addressed. 

Through reading (some resources listed below) and conversations, these are some questions we’ve been thinking about - but we know there are more. More questions to ask, more norms to question, new ways to think. 

We’re interested in talking with others involved in these projects, and businesses or business districts trying to figure this out. Contact us at info@bikemore.net with your ideas or questions. 

Link to resources:

• ‘Safe Streets’ Are Not Safe for Black Lives by Destiny Thomas (June 8, 2020)

• Twitter thread of key works on anti-racism in transportation compiled by Keith Benjamin

• How do we respond to anti-Black racism in urbanist practices and conversations? a conversation moderated by Jay Pitter with Orlando Bailey, Tamika Butler, Anthonia Ogundele, and Will Prosper