Bike Rack from (the Temple of) Heaven

I realize how far behind I have gotten in my bike rack posting. J. Dach reminds me every day. This will be rectified, starting today!

While Jonny will be disappointed to not three-peat, K. Edwards deserves a shout-out for the magnificent specimen of bike rack she found in Beijing, at the Temple of Heaven.

Pretty impressive, although I'm not entirely sure what purpose it serves - isn't the actual fencing enough? Or is it keeping people away from touching it? Props to China for getting matchy-matchy and painting it white, though. 

OK. More posts to come on a regular basis, I promise. Just keep sending me the photos and I will keep writing ridiculous descriptions about your favorite man-made moveable barricade. 

THREE bicycles out of four bicycles. 

A short update in haiku form

Bike rack blocks my path
It would be annoying but
I can submit it.

(Courtesy BRATW MVP contributor J. Dach.) 

(Four bicycles out of four. Obviously.)

Bike rack, Seattle style

In honor of my love of the Pacific Northwest and R. Lee's birthday, today I am featuring the lovely scenic bike rack he spotted in Seattle recently.

I have to say, this is an interesting development. Never have I seen bike rack joined up with a bench to create all-purpose barricade. It's as if it's just a continuation of the bench. Or is it a continuation of the bike rack? Who knows. Who cares?

I'm guessing this bike rack was meant to keep people OUT of the fountain, which is kind of a dumb premise to begin with. And fairly unsuccessful as there is a KID in the pool (hence the red arrow, he's a little hard to see here).

Ralph mentions there's a sign on the bike rack - which states, clearly - "do not drive on the fountain." Um, okay, we'll try not to do that?

And, of course, the "b-side" of the fountain. Thanks man! Way to deliver.

For giving us oddly placed and totally useless bike rack - unless, you know, it really DID prevent people from driving over the fountain (again, ?!?!) - THREE bicycles out of four. 

Hot and sweaty bike rack in Virginia Beach

This fancy piece of bike rack on the beach was sent to me from my dear V. Sanders a few weeks ago. I don't think I've ever seen such fancy scroll work on bike rack before, and it's even in a different color! Very lovely.

Even more confusing is why there's fencing that's behind the bike rack, or if the bike rack is protecting the fencing and then the railing behind THAT, but hey, whatever it takes to keep the masses from the beach. Kind of overkill, no?

Anyway, thanks for the fancy rack, Valentine, and as always, keep the photos coming people!

For totally unnecessary gilded and scrolled bike rack - THREE bicycles out of four.

Eric sexes up some Thai bikerack

My darling E. LoVecchio is shown here on his vacay earlier this year to Southeast Asia, where he stumbled upon some bike rack in the wilds (literally, in the wilds - this is at the Ko Lanta Wildlife reserve in Thailand) and thought he'd go check it out.

Shirtless.

On a Vespa. 

But wearing a helmet! (Safety first!) 

Very sexy. Well done.

It's also on wheels, with a slightly faded red paint job and some snappy signage. Great find.

FOUR bicycles out of four. I mean, I gotta give the man four, as he agreed to let me post this thing on here. 

Bike rack in Columbia. Insert your own scandalous joke here.

Bike rack that can tell a story? I believe that all bike rack has seen its fair share of action, but maybe none so infamous as the pieces here.

My darling B. Becnel (aka "Spicy") has sent me a photo of some innocent-looking bike rack from Bogota, Colombia. Simple, adorned with the slightest bit of caution tape from a past endeavor. With a bonus Jesus Christ gazing down upon the bike rack, from its Jeep and livery feed perch. So sweet. So simple.

J. Dach also sent me some Columbian bike rack but from the slightly more notorious Cartagena, clad in virginal white paint and a slight logo splashed across the front. Clustered together, ready for deployment, to be spread amongst the masses...ok, so the jokes write themselves. But all white bike rack! 

Big thanks to the guys and to everyone for continually sending me awesome photos - I promise to be posting more often on your favorite barricade product. 

For tropical and topical bike rack - I ran out of bicycles so I'm giving it TWO bicycles, instead of the four I promised it last night. (Insert groan here.) 

Italian bike rack with some, uh, Asian flavor

Today's delicious bike rack comes courtesy of one N. Cohen, offering up some unusual bike rack choices from Italy. Complete with its own seating!

Portable: check. Used as barricade: check. Also with seating for the weary public: check.

E. Shyu, who is pictured here to the left, is not only very stylish (American passport be damned) but very rested as she surveys the Spanish Steps in Rome.

And, despite this being Italian bike rack, it comes with a fiery hot dash of Asian spice courtesy of our models here. Molto piccante!

Nora, as you can see to the right, is also looking very lovely as she models the latest in bike rack technology. Thanks for looking out for me, ladies.

For bike rack that comes with its own resting options (have you ever tried to sit on the top of bike rack? Not very comfortable for either the males or the females) for those who can't get around it, and for showcasing some stellar wardrobe choices: FOUR bicycles out of four.

Drink all day, play all night...it's BR in Miami, bitch!

I spent maybe five minutes making up ridiculous lyrics to go with this photo. I failed. Have you looked at the lyrics for "I'm in Miami"? They are ridiculous enough.

Hey! You looking kind of cute in that steel tubing bikini, giiiiiiiirl
Hey! This is what I wanna do, take off that steel tubing bikini, giiiiiiirl

Yup, not good.

Now I have LMFAO stuck in my head for the rest of the day. And maybe you will too.

Thank you to D. Sams for remembering me whenever he travels to exotic locales, and reminding me that Miami is way, way, way warmer than San Francisco right now. Damn, it is COLD out here.* Hence, two posts in a row (technically three!) of warm locations in the dead o' winter.


TWO bicycles out of four, because, you know, Miami is awesome (four bicycles) and the rest of Florida seems kind of meh (deduct two).





*Yes, I am whining about it being cold in California. I get that it's snowing all over the rest of the country but dammit, I don't live in the rest of the country for a reason! 

Bike rack in paradise

First of all - my apologies to my dedicated readers (all seven of you...whom I love very, very much) - I know I've been slacking off the last couple of months, but I'm back and ready to write about that ol' steel tubing I love so much. I have so much to catch up on - so much bike rack, so little time! Who knew when I started this blog that we'd hit so many different countries and cities? I mean, I will do a comprehensive bike rack stats post in the next week, but I know we've posted photos from six continents already. (Oh, Antartica - I can only dream.) 

So to counter the dreary days of December, I'm going to start with a little tropical punch. Bike rack...in Hawaii! 

To the left, we have a stack of bike rack hanging out at in Honolulu, ready to be deployed. Note, this may be the first (and last) time I've ever seen something that is used as barricade being barricaded off by something else. Was the caution tape and cones necessary, guys? 

Next up: bike rack in the true barricade style, replete with STOP sign. Kind of redundant, if you ask me.

This tropical specimen is courtesy of one J. Dach, whom is always on the lookout for the rare spotting of a wheeled, double-sided rack such as this one. Also, note the colorful taping of the back piece. What's up with that? Does it help it blend in more? Or was it just in a festive luau mood? I like to think it's sporting the bike rack equivalent of a lei.

And now, bike rack actually being deployed. Here's another case of redundant bike rack - if the thick tropical hedges (read: there are some serious bugs in there) weren't enough to counter anyone jumping into the path, hey, maybe some bike rack will.

To finish off our tour of Hawaiian bike rack, check out the bike rack that's getting set up at Kaneohe Bay on Oahu. Military men + bike rack = true tropical heat. Just saying. 

And to answer your question, yes, I felt kind of weird and pervy for taking these photos, but the soldiers in the photos were all about me taking pictures of them. So that was also weird, but hey! All in the name of bike rack.

We end with a tribute to what I think is one of the more, uh, interesting squadron logos on a helicopter ever: "Easy Riders." 

Yes, that is a Hawaiian warrior about to pierce the hell out of a shark. Don't mess with him. Or his bike rack. And that easily gets FOUR bicycles out of four. Naturally. 

Sassy bike rack from (Little) Italy

K.Defilippi has sent some super sassy bike rack photos from her vacay in New York - pretty amazing, I must say. Makes me want a latte, some pasta and some fine leather goods. Little Italy has got some awesome bike rack.

Set on a busy street in New York (Broome, to be exact), blocking off pedestrians too busy to watch the traffic whilst eating some gelato.

The paint job on these babies is pretty impressive - I have yet to see any bike rack in the American flag motif - one day. One. Day.

I love that this photo includes the whole street and the stalwart of New York photos - the yellow cabs in the background. Just bringing it all together here.

And to really top off the entire thing, Karen includes a photo of her showing her Italian pride - ladies and gents, that's as good as it gets right there.

Not to be outdone, D.Ceasar has also submitted some bike rack from Italy - from L'Aquila. Of course, D, next time I expect a sassy pose out of you, too. 

For bike rack both from and about Italy - and making me hungry for some pizza - FOUR bicycles out of four. (Horrible accent here) Thats-a-spicy-meatball!

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. 

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. 

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.