Beautiful Bike Racks

When my previous employer relocated in January of 2009, my bicycle and I had a little trouble settling in to the new warehouse.  That month we had a week of snow followed by rain and wind storms, and some minor flooding.  I had been parking my bike indoors at our old location, but at the new place it seemed no matter what out-of-the-way corner I chose to leave it was in someone's way.  We were busy putting up shelving and moving boxes and pallets around, with forklifts zipping around and electricians working overhead, so being underfoot was dangerous.  Finally I wrote a memo to management, petitioning for an outdoor bike rack, which I thought would be safer than trying to stake out space indoors.

Our warehouse manager did some research and found that to install a ready-made rack, like those wavy-pipe types, would require hiring a three-person crew for a full day for installation.  Instead he ended up commissioning a work of art from Shirley Erickson, who has taught metal sculpting in the department of Fine Arts at Western Washington University, and welding and metal work at Bellingham Technical College.  She has studied and worked at many art schools in the western states, including Pilchuk Glass School, and usually incorporates glass elements in her metal work.

Besides being practical and functional, the straight lines and circles in the rack she made complemented the geometry of my bike, and the colors and shapes of the building exterior.

When my second winter at the new warehouse came around, I bought several yards of clear plastic, meaning to design and sew an ideal, deluxe rain cover for my bike, but one weekend, while I was out walking in a windstorm, I caught a big blue painter's tarp blowing down the street.  With several bungee cords to strap it down, the tarp made a simple and effective rain tent.

Unfortunately, I suspect the management didn't like it - maybe it looked like a homeless person was camping out in front of the business.  And after the housing market crash, I couldn't help making jokes about my personal TARP plan.  Probably unwise, I realize now.

  

The HUB bike shop, a non-profit project that restores old bikes, also makes delightful bike racks out of old bike frames.  The racks are painted in vivid colors that would blend in well with any peloton, and include lots of clever detail work.

The purple and peacock colored ones are outside the new Boys & Girls Club building in Ferndale.

(Click on the photos to see enlarged details.)

These red and orange ones are outside the new Community Food Co-Op in Cordata.