The Bicycle Fixation Great Bike Rack Contest 2007
coordinated by Gina Morey

The contest is now closed. Please go to the Results Page to see who and what won!

Riding a bicycle for transportation inevitably means having to park your bike while you shop, dine, visit, work, or play, and in this car-addled world, especially in the US, that often means a parking meter, signpost, fence, or tree serves as your parking structure.

More and more cities and businesses worldwide, however, are making an effort to accommodate those of us who travel using the world's most efficient machine, and some of the resulting facilities are wonderful...while many are not.

In order to explore what's out there for keeping our beloved velos safe while they await our return, we have decided to hold the Bicycle Fixation Great Bike Rack Contest. We are asking you, our readers, to go out into your city and photograph what you think is the finest bike parking rack you can find (as well as the worst!) These must be intentional bike racks, installed specifically for bicycle parking.

If you think you've seen the best (or worst) in bike rack design and placement, read through the details below, take your picture, and follow the submission directions at the end of this article. Pictures will be judged by a panel of experts in urban design, architecture, and bicycle transportation, and by popular vote of our readership, as outlined below.

How to Enter
Great bike racks are out there, we know it, and we'd like you to help us prove it. Enter the Bicycle Fixation Great Bike Rack Hunt! You could walk, er... ride away with some great Bicycle Fixation duds.

Here's how:

  1. Between October 1, 2007 and October 31, 2007, photograph a bike rack found "in the wild" (i.e. publicly accessible) anywhere in the world.
  2. Be sure we can clearly make out the details of the rack in the photo. A reference for scale, like a bicycle, would be helpful but is not necessary.
  3. Go to the entry form using the link at the bottom of this page.
  4. Include in the "Comments" field of the entry form some information about why you think it's a worth considering (good or bad), and any background information you might have.
  5. Visit Bicycle Fixation on November 15, 2007, when we'll announce the winners.

Contest Details
This topic consumed more than one of our coffee-house discussions as we volleyed around our ideas of what works, tossing out some ideas and tossing in new ones. The below codifies those discussions and constitutes the official rules for the contest.

The Bike Rack Defined:
For the purposes of this contest, a "Bike Rack" is a structure designed specifically for bicycle parking and whose placement is intended to facilitate the use of bicycles. It can consist of anything from a single rack element as defined below to a set-aside parking area with multiple racks. Use of the bike rack must be free of charge.
  1. Rack Element: Something to which you secure your bike.
  2. Rack: An array of rack elements associated by structure or proximity. For example, several Post-and-Loop rack elements in close proximity would constitute a bike rack for the contest. A sculptural bike rack will have several securing points.
  3. Rack Area: Bike parking with multiple bike racks separated by aisles.
For more details, view the Judging Criteria.

Also, please download these Bicycle Parking Guidelines (PDF), with the compliments of the good folks at the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, and learn more about what planners currently think distinguishes a good rack from a bad one. (Hint: The judges will be referring to this guide as well.)

The Winners

  1. There will be one Contest Champion whose photo will be judged to show the best in bike rack parking by our panel of judges.
  2. There will also be a People's Choice, whose photo will be the popular winner by vote of Bicycle Fixation visitors.
  3. Finally, there will be the Lanterne Rouge, whose photo will illustrate the most horrible official attempt made at installing bicycle parking. This "winner" will also be selected by popular vote of Bicycle Fixation visitors.
The Prizes
Every winner will gain massive bragging rights, get their name and portrait (optional) published in Bicycle Fixation, and receive Bicycle Fixation product (see below).

Winning photos will be posted, with full attribution, on both Bicyclefixation.com and her cousin site Newcolonist.com. With permission, the photos will also be made downloadable for possible inclusion by anyone participating in a Accommodate A Bike At Work letter writing campaign.

Winners will also receive some Bicycle Fixation threads, in various configurations, as follows:

  1. Contest Champion: Bicycle Fixation Classic Wool Knickers
  2. People's Choice: Bicycle Fixation Hemp City Knickers
  3. Lanterne Rouge: Bicycle Fixation "James Black Hat" wool cycling cap (Coming soon)
Who Can Enter
Everyone! No bicycle ownership required (though obivously it helps if you've actually tried to use the rack!). We're staying out of it, naturally, as are our judges, relatives, and business partners.

The contest is now closed. Please go to the Results Page to see who and what won!