Yakima used to make a device called a “Load Alert.” It’s an ingenious little device that sticks to your car's hood with a magnet. It’s a spring loaded sign, that only pops up when your car goes under about 25mph. Over 25, the presure from the wind holds it flat to the hood. I have one. It work great as long as you're not so hungry you pull into McDonalds drive-thru at 30mph. Unfortantely we have two cars with bike racks.
Another solution I read was to put your garbage cans in the front of the garage spot when you pull out. That way you have to stop and move them before you pull in. Brilliant. And, if it still fails, you can just toss your rack and bike in the convenietly located garbage cans.
My wife nearly decapitated her Indy Fab this past week. I saw it all unfold. From the thrid floor, I heard the garage door open. Being a good hubby, I started down the stairs to help her out. As I got to the 2nd floor, her car was already in the driveway and still rolling forward. STOP. STOP!! I shouted out the open window. Her windows rolled up and her on the phone, she couldn’t hear. I broke into a full sprint, leaping down the last flight of stairs shouting, “STAAAAAHHHHHP!!!!” Then, the crunch. I opened the front door, expecting total carbon carnage. Luckily the bike was just short enough and the garage overhang wood just soft enough that the bike barely wedged in.
The only damage was to the wood of the garage overhang (see above photo of scatches) and the hinge pin of her heart rate monitor strapped to her handlebars. Fhew. Bike OK. (photo left) Nothing ten bucks, a little garage paint and a trip to the watch repair shop wont fix.
Since I didn’t have a whole lot of time to write and research solutions, I posed the question to my Facebook friends. How Do You Prevent Yourself From Smashing The Bikes On Your Car Roofrack Into Your Garage Door? Here’s a few comments:
SUSAN
Some kind of alarm system that smacks you in the face when 5 feet away or something. Had the same error about a week ago with a low-hanging ATM. Bike OK but bike rack pretty (messed) up. The bike torqued the whole thing. I was hurrying to do errands and get to a ride.
JADEN
Giant mirror above the garage door like they probably have on the ceilings at the Wild Wood Inn in Florence Y'all!
SHANNON
Hang a sign from the inside of your garage door. When you press the door opener and the door opens, the sign will be hanging down, reminding you to check the car roof for bikes.
MITCH
Store all of your junk in the garage so you can't pull your car in.
1 comment:
Drive a pick up so you dont need to worry about it or get a hitch mount. Eaiser to load and I would guess that it would provide less wind resistance.
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