subject: What A Rack-it! [print this page] Whilst leafing idly through the pages of a dictionary recently I happened on the entries for the word rack. As I am a keen cyclist, and had been looking at bike racks the week before, it caught my eye. I was fascinated by the number of definitions there were for this simple word other than the ones associated with bikes. The word can mean anything from a set of shelving or similar framework, a method of syphoning wine or beer off its fermenting sediment, thinking really hard, a rib joint of meat to an instrument of torture.
The word rack when used in conjunction with bike or cycle can still have a multitude of meanings; all of them describing methods of securing, transporting or storing your precious cycle. Heres the story of the life of a bicycle and the different sorts of racks that can be used within the course of a year.
Youre determined that this will be the year in which you will get fitter by riding your bike to work instead of using the car all the time. Once you get better at it you may even think about going for pleasure rides at the weekends. The first thing is; what storage facilities have you got for your bike? Not everyone has a dedicated secure dry room or outbuilding, meaning that the bike has to share with the car in the garage or the lawn mower in the shed. Before too long youll be sick of moving the bike out of the way to get to the things you need, or moving things out of the way to get to the bike! Racks are available that you can mount on a wall (or even slung from the ceiling) on which you can then hang your bike or bikes on, freeing up that precious floor space.
Now that youve got an easily accessible place to store your bike, you set off for work, when you get there you will need somewhere to leave it all day before the journey home again. Many employers recognise the upsurge in the popularity of riding and provide sheltered racks (or stands) where the bike can be secured to the rack with a bike lock at the same time as being kept dry under the canopy.
A different kind of rack is also useful when you need to take stuff to and from work such as your lunch, a change of clothes, your wet weather gear or even those papers youve been working on. Now you could put all this in a rucksack and carry it but this will put extra strain on your back. The easiest thing is to get a rack that fits over the rear wheel of the bike from which you can hang special bags or panniers. The rack is fixed to the bike and the panniers just unhook easily for you to carry them straight into work without the need to transfer the stuff to another bag.
When you start to get a bit more adventurous (and fitter) you may want to try longer rides to enjoy the countryside or to take one of the many cycle-ways that now criss-cross our country. If youre just out for pleasure and not on a time trial the rack and panniers will come in handy once more, you may even decide to stay overnight to continue your ride the next day, in which case youll need your jim-jams in the pannier!
Youve now become such an enthusiastic rider that you cant bear to be parted from your bike for one minute and so you decide to take it with you when you go on holiday. Now, with all the luggage in the boot and back of the car, how do you get the bike there too? This is where bike racks for cars come in; these can be either fixed permanently to your car or be made to be easily removable. Some take the form of a roof rack with special fittings that you can fasten your bike to, dont forget that you will have to lift the bike up there, and down again, when your destination is reached not for the faint-hearted!
There is a different kind or rack that you can attach to a tow bar or the underside of the back of the car; you dont have to lift the bike very high to stand it upright on the stand part where it can be secured so it doesnt fall off. Another rack for the back of the car is secured with strong straps making it easy to take off when not in use.
When using any bike racks for cars that attach to the back of the vehicle you must ensure that you do not obscure the number plate as this is an offence and you wouldnt want to spoil your holiday by incurring a fine or worse still, points on your licence. All the bike racks for cars have the facility to carry more than one bike, meaning the whole family can enjoy a bike-riding holiday together.
