Bonus Los Angeles holiday bike rack!

And now: for a little holiday cheer brought to you by D. Sams and Eugenie, finally getting what this blog is all about. Congrats guys. Way to bring it before 2011! 

He spotted this gem over at L.A. Live - a cross between Times Square in New York, Disneyland and one of those Japanese cartoons that make you seizure (warning: I link directly to said cartoon). It's located downtown, in an apparently successful attempt to help revitalize a once barren and depressing neighborhood that should be the hub of the city. I'd say it succeeds on some levels, although the fact that it's sponsored by Target and yet, there is no Target to be found there is confusing and enraging. 

I digress. (Target is a big deal for me, m'kay?)  The bike rack found here is a very basic, utilitarian black, which I tend to like better than the basic gray type, and seems to be protecting a virtual wonderland of poinsettias, candy canes and a toy train track. Awww. You can almost hear the Christmas music that's been playing since September now.

The bike rack also seems to be protecting some seriously heavy duty cabling going on in the backdrop - there's enough lighting at L.A. Live to see it from the moon normally, never mind adding the five zillion lights for the holiday season. Its keeping the people safe from electrocution... although not safe enough that someone can't just lean over and flip the switch on the whole thing.

Just sayin.'

Anyway, hope you had a great holiday weekend and keep lookin' out for oh so awesome bike rack!

For hanging in there and finally spotting some truly awesome bike rack, complete with twinkling lights, winter wonderland and some sketchy electrical wiring: FOUR bicycles out of four.

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree bike rack extravaganza

Merry Christmas (Eve) to everyone reading this blog (all five of you...thanks Mom) - and now, for a special edition post.

Yes, N. Lynch came through for me and got some ridiculously awesome shots of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree - which is the gold standard in holiday festivities and imagery - and even more importantly - HOLIDAY BIKE RACK!

It's a Christmas miracle!

Only something as important as the largest Christmas tree known to man would require a double-barricade of custom bike rack, AND the standard steel version covered in logo'd fabric. Amazing.

Look. I know some of you are going to be all "but the stuff around the tree is fencing, not real bike rack. But it fits the qualifications, no? Let's take a look:

1. It could rack a bike if you stick the tire through the bars
2. It's moveable (it even has those kick-plates that some bike rack have)
3. It's barricading something.

Yup. Works for me!

I also love that it's painted in green and gold. How festive.

Merry Christmas everyone, and if you're lucky, I might manage to find some New Year's Eve themed rack. Will it be passed out on the street 10 minutes to the ball dropping, wearing a little tuxedo hat and sporting a noisemaker? Let's hope so.

And now, for the rating: twinkly lights, color-matched to the holiday with matching covered steel bike rack, the double barricade, and the fact that I'm feeling generous after a breakfast burrito brought to me by my sister: FOUR bicycles out of four. Top that, Santa.

Bike rack, but not, in Vancouver

I know this blog is called "bike rack around the world," and that the photo to the left is of actual bike rack.

This is not the bike rack I'm looking for.

(But I do appreciate Eugenie's efforts! Thanks lady! She took this photo while working abroad in Vancouver, Canada - in front of a restaurant I wish I had heard of before I went last year. Is this is a restaurant at a crime lab or is this thematic? Do they serve you soup while behind bars or while testing your DNA or running your profile?)

Anyway: I realize that this blog is dedicated to a very singular type of item, and said item may not be easily encountered all the time. That said, I still want you to send your photos in, people. Think: metal item that could be used as a bicycle rack but more commonly used as transportable barricade. I didn't say my obsession was normal.

Considering there is a blog out there called "Lawrence, Julie & Julia" about a guy who is watching the movie "Julie & Julia" every day for a YEAR, I don't think mine is too out there, right? Right? (Hello?)

ZERO bicycles out of four, although I'm inclined to give it half a bicycle for the lone bike lock left marooned on the actual racking structure.

Random Century City bike rack sighting

Sometimes, bike rack doesn't make a ton of sense. Why is it in this parking lot in an exclusive Century City enclave? What is it's purpose? Blocking off the luxury cars that its denizens drive? Forcing them to use the valet service? Creating space for their own private farmer's market? Only Dave E. knows. I'm not high class enough for these kinds of bike rack shenanigans.

I give this TWO bicycles out of four. One for each fancy high-rise in the background.

Autumnal bike rack in West Virginia

Wild wonderful West Virginia. (You all saw that coming, didn't you? No? Your bad.) Bringing you bike rack with the colors of the fall - gorgeous reds, flaming oranges and a touch of golden yellow.

All set off by the lovely steel grays of bike rack. Brought to you by C.Welker and her taste for seasonal bike rack. (See the previous post for a hit of pumpkin.)

Bike rack in the wild. For that, THREE bicycles out of four.


P.S. Got some seasonal bike rack? I'm looking for bike rack that's been either decked out in Christmas lights or festooned with garland. OK, or just bike rack in general. Send here!

Pumpkin-flavored bike rack in Quincy, MA

For some, fall signifies a few things - the turning of the crisp autumn leaves, shortening of the days and a cooling of temperatures. For my best friend and my little sister, that means all things start coming in pumpkin flavors. Coffee, cakes, pies, cookies, soups, chicken, perfume, laundry detergent, deodorant, gasoline, etc. It's ridiculous, but I get it. Pumpkins. Whooo.

Fall has already come to a close for most, but for those of us in Southern California, our air is still crisp and calls for a light sweater (not quite the "perfect date" as a Miss Rhode Island once stated, but not bad either.) Sorry to the suckers in 20 degree weather!

Anyway, I'll try and post my autumn-related bike rack photos up before the bike-rack-covered-in-snow ones, just to give everyone a sense of seasonal continuity. And yes, I have several of those, okay?

This photo comes courtesy of one C. Welker, who personally bedecked this very patriotic stage AND the bike rack in pumpkins and bunting. I've never seen it so warm and inviting - it's like Martha Stewart's "Living" magazine projectile vomited fall cheer all over the site. Nice work.

For allowing me to make throw-up joke like the eight-year-old I am, FOUR bicycles out of four. (Okay, and this stage is damn gorgeous. Whatever.)

Return of the Indonesian Bike Rack

(Yes, that was a horrible play on Star Wars in the title. I'm on a ton of cold medicine right now, leave me alone.)

And now, ladies and gentlemen - the last post in the Indonesia bike rack tour de force.

Yes, this IS the meanest bike rack you've ever seen. It's kind of like normal Indonesian bike rack decided to make like Bruce Banner, get exposed to gamma rays and then, when it got angry, become a ridiculously large, spiky and dangerous version of its normal self.

I mean, I'd be scared to even try and chain a bicycle to this thing for fear if it biting me or crushing my bike to smithereens. Yikes.

Okay, so the first photo doesn't really do it much justice, but I promise you, this isht is HUGE. Next photo please:

Yeah. Check this beast out! It's not really even corralling or blocking anything but a few parking spots - nothing the little cone below couldn't do - but if you even had second thoughts about hopping out of the Civic and moving the cone, forget it, the mega-gigantic bike rack is there to give you the smack-down.

(I confess to attempting to move this thing solo - but I got laughed at by no less than three or four guards. I'm no Wonder Woman.)

I'm throwing in a bonus photo of I. Grunfeld, who I helped out on an ungodly midnight site build. This is the bike rack as owned by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta - as it was around 3 a.m. when I took this photo, I forgot to take shots of the accompanying but mismatching bike rack, which only accomplishes the feeling of variety here in Indonesia.

(There's a horrible "variety is the spice of life" joke to be made here, but I think I've already made it in a previous post and am too lazy to reference myself.)

For having bike rack that would intimidate the Hulk but is in a land where the average height of its citizens hovers around 5'2" - FOUR bicycles out of four.

Not quite bike rack in Dubai

While I firmly believe that bike rack is universal - I can't wait until someone goes to Antarctica and takes a photo of white bike rack there - sometimes, it can be elusive. 

Exhibit A: Dubai. Brought to you by one D. Sams, who apparently didn't see any applicable bike rack while skydiving over the city like a crazy man.  Which he is.

Here are a couple of photos of the exotic landscape of the United Arab Emirates state...minus the real bike rack. That said, lots of barricade aplenty! And lots of variety. And color. Lots of color!

Then again, 'beige' in a desert land area is probs not the best idea. Just saying.

Anyway, back to the bike rack. Yes, this is not bike rack in the traditional sense (of this blog, anyway) - you can't rack anything to the stuff at the left, and the bike rack below actual, REAL bike rack that's affixed to the ground. But forgive me for indulging - I know, the point of this blog is to demonstrate bike rack around the world, but hey, you also need to see what doesn't quite qualify, right? Right. So everyone, calm down.

That's right, calm down, all four of you who read this.

Can I just point out you can SEE the sand in this photo? I mean, whoa.

Below, some candy-cane striped something - I guess you'd have to stripe your equipment to prevent yourself from running into it.

A few more photos for your viewing pleasure. Who needs to see the Burj Kalifa when you have this blog?

 

Well, I'm sorry to say, considering there is no real bike rack here, it gets ZERO bicycles out of four bicycles, but points for saying that I was able to get a post about Dubai out of it.

Holiday bike rack in San Francisco

You may remember San Francisco's previous stab at demonstrating how bike rack was deployed. Shameful, but they are redeeming themselves with a little holiday display, seen here by the "Giff," that not only includes an identifying sign, but also a ginormous tree in the background.

I have a feeling this is for the ice-skating rink that they put up in Union Square around this time of year. So cute, but I'm always confused when I see them in places like Los Angeles or you know, Dubai. The bastards freezing in places like Minnesota have got to be laughing it up at us.

OK, San Francisco. I forgive you for the past lapse in judgment. I mean, you know, it's the holidays and all, right? Right.

For the bonus traffic cone in the foreground, and dazzling array of twinkly lights: TWO bicycles out of four.

Post-Thanksgiving bike rack leftovers

As a short Turkey Day recap, here is a quick shot of a post-holiday night out recovering from all that time with your families.

Brought to you from one D. Ceasar - who was surely innocently passing by and noticed the unorthodox bar containment system on the way home over the river and through the woods from Grandmother's house - from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Hope everyone had a great holiday. Considering I am still snacking on stuffing, I certainly had a good time.

For the fact that this barricade is labled "Bob's Barricades" and for the girl in the foreground clearly digging through oversized purse, probably to give dude to the right her number, and thus capturing the post-pumpkin-pie mind fog: TWO bicycles out of four.

Trending: German bike rack

Today, we get a visual treat from one H. Kuckat all the way from Germany. Yes, Germany! We're really taking this blog places, aren't we?

Anyway. Looks like variety is the norm here: we have plenty of photos that show bike rack, in action! I'm tempted to dismiss a few of them: I mean, would you park your bike at the one below? That said, let's face it - I'm not really into the bike rack that racks bikes. Otherwise, this blog would be full of these kinds of photos.

The first several photos, we have some guards standing...err, guard in front of matching green rack. Bonus points for matching outfits. Who says that fashion can't be found in Berlin? (I'm guessing this is Berlin...) Munich!  (I have been duly corrected.  Thanks Hendrik!) 

Also more bonus points for the supportive bits preventing tipping of bike rack. One of the worst things to happen with bike rack is having an oversize crowd push up against the rack, causing it to tip and lean dangerously (I mean, bully for the crowd advance, but the site guy is always having a heart attack about this). Having the support is great for those reasons...as long as someone else is setting it up.

Just saying.

Next up: police forces setting up candy-cane striped barricade at what I'm guessing is a police scene.

(All those hours of watching CSI:Miami are good for something. And not just for the nifty The Who theme song. Which is so good, I'm going to play it right now. "Won't Get Fooled Again." Turn up your speakers, get David Caruso glasses and go to town.)

I'll say this about the rack: good lord, that's unwieldy. Bike rack is ALREADY unwieldy, being metal, a weird large shape and usually heavy as hell. Adding a flat mesh panel to the bottom certainly can't help matters. Ugh. So not only do these dudes have to wear a fugly yellow reflective vest, they have to put this crap together?

And in the rain? I feel the pain. Now I see why Oktoberfest is necessary: to deal with the arduous bike rack assembly. Who needs a beer? THIS guy.

And now, for the "trending" portion of this post. Could it be that all this work is...inefficient?

I mean, I've seen those Das Auto commercials for Volkswagon. Those cars are efficient. This method of bike rack is...well, less so.

Which comes to: plastic bike rack. Yes, PLASTIC. BIKE. RACK.

OK, this may just be barricade, but I think this is a warning sign of things to come. I mean, the Germans are always on the cutting edge. Look at their cars - BMW, Mercedes...that same logic is certainly to apply to bike rack, right? Right? "Ultimate Driving Machine," (TM) meet "Ultimate Barricade System?"

Anyway, who knows what the future will hold, other than more bike rack. And so, for having bike rack that knows no shade of gray: THREE bicycles out of four. Well played, Germany. Well. Played.

New Delhi surprise

We are taking a small break from our regularly scheduled programming of "Indonesian Bike Rack" to bring you bike rack of a different flavor - same continent, same prefix (sort of), but different country and VERY different bike rack: India.

Yes, today's bike rack post comes from New Delhi, from collaborateur and man-about-town D.Ceasar (unless one Spicy decides to send me some photos of his own).*** Mr. Ceasar notes that the various types of barricade shown to the right and below are notable mostly for their wide variety and distinct lack of bike-racking-ability.

No vertical bars = not a great chance of being able to lock my bike up. Coupled with the addition of wheels on all the barricades, well...a crafty (or not so crafty) thief could just roll off with both items!

Anyway, I'll hand it to the New Delhi Police

- or is it just the hipper moniker of "Delhi Police," as it says on the barricade - they know how to brand and make it really clear just who owns the bike rack. The rest of the metal? I don't know what to think of it.

Let's break it down:

+1 for wheels! I love wheels.

-1 for inconsistency.

+1 for keeping it interesting. I guess variety is the "spice of life" and spices come from India? (Yes, that was a stretch, leave me alone.)

+1 for painted barricade, but -1 for it being predominantly yellow and red. (Shudder.)

+1 for the weirdo slanted roof things. Way to discourage anyone from climbing over by promising infertility.

-1 for inability to actually rack bikes

+1 for being so intimidating that there aren't actually crowds pressed up against the rack, and in the wide shot photo, people's backs are actually to the bike rack. They won't even LOOK at it.

So that means a whopping TWO bicycles out of FOUR bicycles.

*** Okay, Team Mumbai. I'm looking at you to help fill the Indian gap here.

Indonesian bike rack, part 2

Now we move on to the increasingly more, ah, secure versions of bike rack in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia.

You can see they've moved past the innocuous red-and-white-striped variety, and now manufacture bike rack in the colors of a bumblebee: black and yellow, which already say "danger! Stay away!"

And it's even got the signature bee sting in the form of spikes on not only the top of the barricade, but also the bottom, rendering the actual racking of bikes impossible.

Confusing, yes, but goes to show that this particular bike rack was meant for barricade, not for racking anything mobile. Its the equivalent of trying to park your car in a spot that has tire spikes pointing straight out.

Not sure what the hell this bike rack is actually protecting right now, other than standing guard at probably the nicest mall in all of Indonesia (we're bourgeois like that), but I'm not going to debate its current function.

That said, if I were in a pushy crowd and trying to escape, I'd definitely think twice about climbing over this rack for fear of puncturing myself. I mean, this is some mean bike rack (that can't actually rack bikes).

Then again, wait until you see the ultimate in Indonesian security...stay tuned!

For a gripping three-part post about...bike rack, THREE bicycles out of four. One for each post. Duh.

Indonesian bike rack, part 1

Normally, I try to keep the blog posts about bike rack to one city per, but considering this is all of blog post number 10 or something - I think my rule can be broken fairly easily!

So. Jakarta had a plethora of bike rack to choose from.I'm not even really sure you can call most of it real bike rack, but I'm going to be writing about it anyway.

Let's start with the most innocuous type of bike rack they had - the candy-striped (OK, I guess in the Indonesian flag colors, but it did make me long for peppermint candies) non-lethal sort.

Non-lethal, you ask?

You'll have to stay tuned to the blog for the various bad-ass bike rack variety. Trust me, the range of bike rack with lethal spikes blew my mind.

I will say that I neglected to take a photo of the rigged lethal version, which was made of ordinary bike rack wrapped in barbed wire. WTF kind of crowds are you dealing with, Jakarta?

Oh, right. The kind that stops traffic and parties and/or protests

on buses. Well then, carry on.

My driver was not entirely sure if these were football (soccer to us Americans) fans or protesters, but was leaning on the side of football. Judging by how packed that bus is, I'm guessing that there were already people on the roof, partying and/or protesting or not.

Anyway, more Jakarta bike rack coming up in a blog about bike rack near you.

For multiple bike rack variety:
THREE bicycles out of FOUR bicycles.

Chileans do disaster right...

...by including a healthy dose of bike rack in their miner rescue operations press shot.

Okay, in all seriousness - the nation of Chile has shown the world how to respond to disaster: quickly, resourcefully, and with perseverance. Which is why all the miners made it out not only alive, but (fairly) healthy and with their sanity intact. Or why there was minimal damage and death from the earthquake months earlier.

So. Back to the bike rack. The way this shot is composed makes me so happy - a clear hit of nationalistic pride, framed by a large pulley system of some sort, rescue workers discussing their plan of action. But its tied together by a perfect thread of bike rack, keeping those not necessary for rescue ops out of the way.

Because I was glued to CNN to watch the efforts - which is a news outlet I'm not really a fan of anymore - and because Chile is apparently the MAN when shit goes down, FOUR bicycles out of four.

Bike Rack (In)Sanity

Well, there's probably no better place than DC to demonstrate the ass-kicking and corralling power of bike rack, especially at a giant Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Nice work, Mssrs. Stewart and Colbert. I tip my hat off to you.

While normally, I will mostly post photos taken by myself or my comrades out there in the World, every once in awhile there comes a photo so expertly snapped of my favorite subject that it bears mention in this humble blog. Credit, Getty Photos.

There's even an awkward pun in the title of the news story! For that, FOUR bicycles out of four.

Story accessible here!

Wet bike rack contest in Kalamazoo

While I may not exactly be super sexy in my full blue rain slickers (and yes, it was the kind that had overall attachments on the pants), the bike rack sure is. Whoo! Wet bike rack!

Okay, not quite the same as wet t-shirt contest, but hey, this is a blog about bike rack. What do you expect?

Anyway, nothing like a damp site build in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Naturally, game day was nice and dry and actually sunny. The build day, not so much, which was annoying - moving cold, wet bike rack in the rain is not super pleasant.

Kind of sad I left the Smurf suit in my hotel room, but I do still have my rain boots from that day, so that's a good TWO bicycles out of four.

Lebanese-flavored bike rack

I've seen a lot of different bike rack coverings - from bunting (my personal favorite) to black or blue Banjo fabric, to some weird tablecloth-like plastic, and even placards taped on in a futile attempt to cover the metallic gray expanses of welded piping.

But somehow, the spray-painted variety has totally escaped my notice and my clearly limited and stunted imagination.

Today's lesson in decorative bike rack comes from J.Slider and Spicy, from a jaunt abroad in Beirut. Clearly, instead of leaving bike rack to be a cold silver, they jazz it up with some spray paint in the motif of their national flag. I mean, why didn't anyone think of this before? So simple. So patriotic.

Words totally fail me.

Which is rare. (And short-lived.)

Anyway, you can see it being deployed here giving some color and cheer to an event with some heavy-duty military equipment in the background. It really makes the par-tay pop, don't you think? I think that home decorations dude with the extra H in his name from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Thom or something, would totally approve of the DIY-ness of the whole affair.

I give this bike rack THREE out of four bicycles - I'm withholding one star because the Lebanese could have gone the extra mile and put the tree on there too.**

** Although, let's face it - if and when I get ahold of my own piece of bike rack, and paint it in the manner of Old Glory, I may skip the whole fifty stars business. I mean, it's bike rack - it ain't going in the Smithsonian.