Getting fancier in Chicago

Today's quick bike rack nugget is from N. Cohen, with a side of guest star H. Johnson (well, her foot anyway). She spotted this fancy bike rack in north Chicago, down by the river.

Bike rack, hanging out, by its onesies. Why? What for? Why is it so pretty? Who knows? Who cares!

Bike rack: Getting fancier every day.

For fancy bike rack with, as Nora points out, Democratic-themed Toms on, THREE bicycles out of four. Next time, we want to see Houston in there!

Tall bike rack spotted...well, just about everywhere

I haven't done a themed bike rack post in a while, and finally it got to critical mass - apparently tall bike rack is out there, and my dear eagle-eyed readers have been noticing. Well, here's a round-up of some crazy large bike rack!

First up is another J. Dach special, spotted at Soldier's Field in Chicago - super duper tall bike rack! It practically resembles a door, and serves as such for this stairway. Good luck getting through that when it's locked into place.



The next is from P. Bauer, who spotted this iteration in Chicago as well (what's up, tall bike rack Chicago) - here at Wrigley Field right outside Pat's ridiculously baller apartment. (Side note - who has a SEGWAY in their apartment? Pat and Jack, that's who.)




OK. As as a delicious finale, here's one featuring the very lovely D. Barnes in her BRATW debut, as photographed by the equally lovely J. Quinn. And no, folks, this piece is from Milwaukee, which is also in the Midwest...is it because the folks from the heartland tend to be taller and thus, the bike rack matches as such? Are the bikes bigger? Or are the obstacles just larger? So many questions. So little time. All I know for sure is that D has some killer pants on. Oh yes grrrrrl.

Tall bike rack. Coming to a town near you, if that town happens to be in the Midwest.

Because I like my bike rack to be tall, grey and handsome (don't read into this too much, folks) - THREE bicycles out of four.

Gorgeous Chicago sunrise as seen through bike rack

The inimitable J. Dach (getting a lot of post-time in lately) sent me this beautiful photo, and he really just summed it up nicely:

"The sun rises over downtown Chicago and a piece of bike rack as the NATO summit kicks off."

Such a lovely sentiment. Who knew the Dach was such a poet? (Maybe we all did.)

For bike rack in silhouette, with the skyline beautifully framed and the probably ridiculously early hour Dach had to be up to get this: FOUR bicycles out of four.

Bright and sunny Chicago Bike Rack

The weather in San Francisco right now (which is where I am currently located, albeit not for long - I don't have a blog that is somewhat about travel for nothing!) is pretty terrible. Rainy, cold, windy. I know people in the midwest and east coast are shaking their fist at me, but hey - I live in California. Sunshine is a birthright.

Which is why I'm posting photos of Chicago from last fall, where it was bright, sunny and mostly warm. Bike rack glinting gloriously in the sun, looking absolutely at home contrasting with the bright blue of the sky. Holding its own against the tall glassy structures whose verticality only complements its horizontal nature, yet accompanying the never-ending stretches of asphalt and reflecting light back to its source, elongating the day into dusk.

I admit, I was wondering what this bike rack was doing here, lining the streets as naturally as the trees that populate downtown Chicago. Turns out, there was a race the next day, and this helped the runners stay on course. I've run a few races, and I don't remember whether the bike rack was there to help guide my way. Sad. I like to think they were there, keeping silent, yet strong, company. 

Waxing poetic about bike rack: THREE bicycles out of four. Keats I'm not.