Bike rack in the ruins of the Sutro Baths

Truthfully, I had never really heard of the Sutro Baths before E. LoVecchio and S. Finke sent me this photo, even though I lived in San Francisco for a few years and had wandered the Pacific Ocean side several times. Turns out it was once described as the world's largest indoor swimming pool, with amazing views of the sea, seven different pools with fresh and salt water...and random things like a concert hall and ice skating rink. (So says Wikipedia.) 

Opened right at the turn of the century, and closed sometime in the 1960s. Then, while being demolished, it caught fire and the whole thing burned down except for a few tunnels and cement walls, and only the ruins remain near the Cliff House. Sort of weird to think there are these "ancient ruins" of sorts in a place as modern as San Fran, but there they are if you are to visit!

Sam, no stranger to seeing things that locals might normally ignore, didn't waste a chance to visit these unusual grounds...and found some bike rack blocking the path down. Well, at least she found some of my favorite barricade as a consolation prize. (Apparently, when the waves are huge, they've been known to wash visitors to the Sutro Baths away and drown them. So, bike rack: good.) 

And, as a bonus - Sam strikes up her best Top Model pose to really capture the flavor of forbidden grounds, separated only by flimsy bike rack. Nice work, guys. The overblown backlight, the haze of bike rack - it's a pretty awesome photo. 

For the fact that one bike rack photo wasn't enough, and that I imagine Eric yelling "work it, work the bike rack, more attitude, bitch" (in a faux crazy photog way, not in a derogatory way, okay?) - THREE bicycles out of four. Next time, Sam, take off the sunglasses. I wanna see you smile with your eyes, the way Tyra would want it. 

Buckingham Palace bike rack. Can't get more regal than this!

With all the news of a certain someones getting married recently (they have their own website? I guess that's normal for most married couples, I guess, but how long in advance do you think did they have to register that domain name?), this particular bike rack post from my favorite enabler, B.Shannon (or "Shenanigans" as I like to call him) is quite timely.

But really, I think bike rack is newsworthy in its own right! I don't need no stinkin' wedding to find this photo fascinating.

Shenanigans has managed to find barricade that you might not want to chain your bike to - it looks about as old and crumbly as the original London Bridge - rusted, with some weird triangular base design holding it up. I'll say this, ol' chap - I wouldn't want to have to move that around, it looks far more unwieldy than the usual unwieldy bike rack I feature on this blog.

THREE bicycles out of four - it'd have gotten the full rating but I am American and I have to give some sort of knee-jerk slap in the face to our British counterparts. So take that, Buckingham Palace!

Super tiny bike rack in El Paso, Texas

B.Becnel has some, ahem, spicy bike rack in this edition of BRATW - no, ladies and gents, this is NOT a photo of Paul Bunyon-esque fellow next to normal bike rack, but rather something else. Something to truly behold and treasure - a brand new species not seen before on this blog.


Miniature. Bike. Rack.

Awesome.

I know there's a stereotype of girls always thinking the tiny things out there are just so adorable (babies, kittens, little bottles of condiments that accompany your burgers in hotel room service, the wee bottles of shampoo that come with your hotel room, the miniature mints on your hotel pillow - good lord, I spend a lot of time in hotels), but come ON. Tiny bike rack! Who wouldn't think this was so cute!

Mr. Becnel found this in El Paso, Texas. I am a bit stymied to think what the hell it could be barricading or used for. Tiny crowds? Tiny horses? PONIES?!?!?!?! (Squee! Clearly, I've channeled my ten-year-old self today.) The possibilities are endless.

For finding bike rack that would make ME look statuesque (all five feet of me), TWO bicycles out of four, one bicycle for each foot of height. An additional bicycle for the excellent addition of matching cap and plaid shirt. Well played, sir.

Alcatraz bike rack: you're on notice

(Note: the original blog post up and DISAPPEARED recently. I don't know what happened but it's as if it never existed. WTF, blogspot? Tumblr is making a run for my business...anyway. And apparently, unlike other people's posts, this one isn't coming back, so I've recreated it as best I could.)

S.Finke sent over some bike rack photos from a trip to San Francisco and Alcatraz recently. She's correcting in asking why anyone would "want to put more bars on Alcatraz" but since it's there, why in the world would they treat it so carelessly??

San Francisco! For shame. That's twice now that tipped-over bike rack has been found within your boundaries.

Anyway, there are some other lovely, non-tipped-over bike rack photos in this bunch. Thank god. 

See? Look here. Bike rack that is upright. Just ignore it's sad cousin to the left and in the background.  (The dude taking photos is clearly also ignoring it. Jerk.) 

Sam also took some lovely, artsy photos in what I'm calling Lover's Lane and Al Capone's cell block, in sepia tone, with some of the landmarks of The Rock. OK, so maybe it's not actually the real jail cell, but close enough. 

To top it off, she found Alcatraz banners specifically made to cover the bike rack. (OK, maybe not exactly to cover them, but whatever, let it go.) Bike rack, gettin' poetic and wordy and stuff. 

More artsty bike rack in a location best remembered for an awesome Nic Cage and Sean Connery movie? FOUR bicycles out of four, but a serious deduction (minus TWO) for the fallen bike rack. For shame, Alcatraz. FOR SHAME. 

An advance dream: pre-made bike rack covers

Sent over from S.Moss - pre-made bike rack covers, thanks to Electrum Productions and one J.Scott. Long gone are the days of trying to drape random fabrics and safety-pin them to bike rack: nope, they come fit and measured in a lovely blue banjo for all your barricading needs. I'm jealous. If only all my clothing fit as well.

For one-upping my tailor, THREE bicycles out of four.

Unseasonably frozen bike rack in NYC and New Hampshire

It's warming up here in California, and thoughts of cool, frosty ice cream treats haunt me all day. Seeing as I need to fit into a bridesmaid dress in the near, near future (and I doubt Spanx will save me this time), I'm stuck to licking ice cubes and thinking about chocolate malted crunch cones (Thrifty lovers, you know what I mean); I'm doing a post on frosty cold...bike rack. Brrrr.

Dave E. tells me he "risked frostbike" (ha ha. OK, he really said frostbite but did I not warn you about the bad puns??) to take these photos by taking his gloves off in New York City, on Lexington Ave. between 94th and 95th. And, he got the added bonus of NYC Metro in the background. Brava! The snow on the top of the rack looks like shaved ice!

Although, not to call you out here, Dave, but there isn't really much snow on the ground, it looks sunny and that car looks fairly snow-free in the background. But props for you for geting a bus with Oprah on it. That's got to be worth something.

And, now for a photo taken by yours truly with the assist of Kathryn E., who not only lent me her camera but pointed it out during a sketchy shuttle right into downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We stopped our driver in the middle of the street, and in the middle of a "slurry," I ran out and scared the beejeezus out of an oncoming car. Sorry, folks, but the paparazzi have come to your sleepy hamlet, in the name of bike rack.

Not the clearest photo, but look at the big flakes of snow! Clearly snowing, and damn cold, too.

For taking my mind off the cappuccino crunch in the freezer - TWO bicycles out of four. Mint chip, it ain't.