Not-so-fun fact: According to the city's DOT, it's illegal to lock you bike to anything other than a bicycle rack. Thankfully, it's not a law that seems to be enforced, but anyone who's commuted by bicycle long enough will have the experience of finding the sign you locked your bike to removed so workers can tear up the sidewalk.

When Carlos Martinez bicycles to work in Manhattan from his home in Jackson Heights, Queens, he must ride along Northern Boulevard, a broad and busy thoroughfare, before crossing the Queensboro Bridge and heading south on Second Avenue toward the East Village. It is a commute that few bicyclists would relish.

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The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum is offering big bucks to designers to create attractive, functional and well-designed racks for bicycles throughout New York City.

The organizations, supported by Transportation Alternatives and Google, Inc., are looking to offer top designers over $50,000 in honoraria to develop prototype bike racks and an additional $15,000 in prizes.

Think you can build a better bike rack? Now's your chance.

Yesterday the city announced an international competition for a bike rack designed "to be an icon for New York City cycling." The competition is a partnership between DOT and the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum with support from Transportation Alternatives and Google.

A study revealed that a lack of secure bike parking was the biggest reason why people don’t cycle to work. So the Department of Transportation is cooperating with Cooper-Hewitt, Google and Transportation Alternatives to organize an international design competition for the next generation of city bike racks. More than $50,000 in honoraria to develop prototype bike racks and $15,000 in prizes will be awarded to the top designs.

The year 2007 may prove to be one of the most important years in the storied history of New York City's development. In a future timeline of urban advances, it might be printed in as big a font and as bold a type as 1811--when the grid system was adopted--or 1904--when the I.R.T. subway opened. The text adjacent to 2007 could say something like "the start of livable streets," or "the bike boom begins," or "congestion pricing kicks off." It may turn out that all of those descriptions may suit 2007. The real question is, in hindsight, will they?

A few business executives have dreamed up a private-sector solution to the problem of secure bicycle parking in New York: the city's first bikes-only parking lot. They have a space on West 33rd Street. All they need is a corporation willing to pay as much as $200,000 a year to sponsor it.

"We're really looking for a big number to build something quite spectacular," said Daniel A. Biederman, president of the 34th Street Partnership. "We want this to be the premier bike parking facility in the country."

Lucia Green-Weiskel almost gave up trying to run an errand on Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg the other day after wasting time trying to find a place to park.

It's a well-known predicament to drivers across the borough - but this time there's a catch: Green-Weiskel riding a bike.

In a city long known for parking nightmares, finding a place to lock a bike can now be added to the list of urban frustrations.