Bike racks don't all have to be dull loops of metal, do they? Generally speaking, bike racks are boring.

Usually they’re little more than simple loops of metal sticking out of concrete. Some are a series of parallel bars. Some are rectangular bars of metal sticking out of concrete.

Yawn.

I was encouraged to read several cities are trying to put a little art in the mundane world of bike racks.

From Austin, Texas, to Sioux Falls, S.D., and from New York City to Portland, Ore., communities are spicing up their bike anchors with commissioned pieces of art.

The objets d’park range from two-headed dragons to a dollar sign (on Wall Street; get it?) to sea monsters to, well, capital-A Art that defies conventional description.

Closer to home, the Lawrence Arts Center recently installed a bike rack designed by Mark Emge, entitled “Arbitrary Triangulation,” which plays off the geometry of multiple bikes parked at a rack.

And another rack designed by local artist Sean McCue — a tubular rack that spells out “Ride Lawrence” — is going into the downtown farmers’ market in the 800 block of New Hampshire.

It’s a good start.

I might be all gruff and buff on the outside, but inside I’m a sensitive artiste, so the thought of chaining a bike to a true work of art shines a light on my soul.

But not every rack needs to make a person ponder his place in the world.

Recalling a toothbrush-shaped rack I’ve seen in town outside a dentist’s office, I can’t help but think it’d be cool to see similarly themed racks outside other businesses.

Hence, a syringe- or stethoscope-shaped rack outside a doctor’s office, a frosty mug outside a bar, waves outside the pool, scissors outside a barbershop and a huge screw outside a lawyer’s office. (Hey, just kidding. I threw that in there for my lawyer friends. Wait, lawyers don’t have friends. I mean, I don’t have any lawyer friends).

Surfing around a bit, I found a company called Dero Bike Rack Co. in bike mecca Minneapolis that offers everything from the ubiquitous (and dull) upside-down U and wavy-S commercial racks to custom designs.

Poking around a bit, I was impressed with the company’s line of custom racks: everything from silverware to coffee mugs to an ice cream cone to a “bike-a-saurus.”

It might not qualify as art in the strictest sense, but darned if the racks sure didn’t beat 99 percent of the yawners I encounter daily.

That’s not to say utility doesn’t have its place, but I wouldn’t mind to see a little variety here and there.