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.