The sun was probably setting as I was helping park (and un-park) bikes in San Francisco, but I couldn't tell because of the tall buildings surrounding me. A friendly-looking man approached with a slight look of concern on his face. He needed to retrieve his bike because he knew our event was ending, but he also needed to stay for a couple of extra hours.
In search of a solution, he had done some research - there were BikeLink lockers nearby, so he rode off to park his bike in one of their storage lockers.
Unfortunately, he came back a few minutes later. He didn't have a BikeLink card, and couldn't purchase one (and load funds onto it) until the next morening. Some BikeLink lockers accept Clipper cards (our local transit cards), so I quickly checked my phone to see if there were alternate lockers nearby. But unfortunately he didn't bring his Clipper card with him.
He confided in us that he he had just purchased his bike a week earlier - it still looked very clean and new - and was hesitant to leave his bike outside. I couldn't blame him; I would have felt equally uneasy.
He couldn't bring his bike back inside. With no other options available, he reluctantly decided to take the risk and lock his bike outside while he finished working. We talked about how he could park his bike near a window so that he could peek out periodically.
It's in these situations that an AirTag holder for bikes makes a lot of sense. Instead of constantly worrying about whether your bike is still where you left it, or checking for your bike every few minutes, you can simply monitor it by phone. He would have been able to focus on his work instead of worry about whether he'd still have his bike in a couple of hours. It's a simple yet powerful improvement in convenience and provides peace of mind.
