arthursday.

since la meli is away this thursday, i thought i'd share a bikey foto some people seem to be liking over on the instagram.

while finishing up my wheel, a process that has taken a few days at a time after work and after rides, i saw this...



happy thursday everyone.

Come As You Are

Yesterday the CTX brought you a lovely moment to start your week.  Today I bring us down a few notches with my camera.  I think we should not get too high brow around here.

We always say ride in what makes you comfortable.  Flip flops and shower caps would fit that bill.

scenes from the bikey lane: grandfather edition

this morning on my way to work, i passed through the panhandle, which has a path where walkers/runners and bikers can all use. it gets hairy at times, but generally is pleasant to use.

today on my ride i saw what appeared to be a grandfather and his two grandchildren. the grandfather was in an electric wheelchair and had one boy in his lap. the older boy, about 6 or 7 years old, was on a bicycle riding behind them. it was a touching moment for me to see & thought it was good to share with all of you.

have a great monday!

friday fun times: po campo edition

so the ladies over at po campo have a little fun photo submission going on on their blog. i recently acquired a po campo bag via a raffle through means that involved competing with a 12 year old girl. things got ugly. and then they got nice after some friendly intervention... but i digress...



anyway, so recently i sent in a photo of me using the bag on the napa camping trip i went on recently. i took a foto while my pardner in crime was getting food fuel for us. i watched the bikes through a phone camera lens.



when i heard of the photo submissions i figured, hey, that lil po campo is in there, why not send it in for fun?

and now it's on their blog. go check it out! oh hai.

cute bags must be OUT during pride celebrations all throughout the city. and there's also bicycle music fest on saturday if you don't like hanging out at the dyke march/rally for some reason. sigh, too much going on. per usual. and we wouldn't have it any other way.

have a great weekend everyone!

Arthursday

Found these little fun drawings in the tumblr orbit which belongs to San Francisco sweet woman on wheels, of course.
xxo♥ la meligrosa

all above images via PixelRhodia

Hands On Learning

When you have kids that ride alone on major city streets you have to make sure they know what to do if something happens.  We have pointed out where all the bike shops along our regular routes are in case they have a flat or something.  We have taught them what to not lock up to (chain link fences are way easier to cut than the lock).  We have explained what to do if they get doored or hit by a car- call the police,  and let them deal with it.  I know enough about kids to know that if something happens they will not get the information right and they need calm, trained professionals to help.  We have taught them the information they should try to get, driver's licenses and insurance and plate numbers, but it takes a certain confidence and set of life skills to be able to do that when you have been knocked off your bike.

The other day, Cameron managed to get doored on Valencia Street.  There is a lot I could write about that, like how the bike lane on one of the most heavily used bike lanes in San Francisco is put 100% in the door zone,

or how often it is blocked by delivery trucks or taxis or construction vehicles....

but I will just tell you what came about with Cameron's dooring.

He got none of the information right.  After getting knocked off his bicycle, the woman who threw her door into him was more concerned about getting her door fixed than in giving Cameron her license or insurance info.  She didn't even ask him if he was OK.  He was only minorly injured and his bike was largely alright but Cameron was shaken up enough to forget everything we had taught him over the years.  He didn't even take any pictures (obviously not my son).  He wrote down her license plate number before she took off.

Needless to say, he got the plate wrong which we learned when we went to report the incident.

Unable to file a report because of insufficient information the really helpful Officer at the station told Cameron what he should do in a situation like that- call 911 and tell them you are a minor and that you need help.  They will be out ASAP and they can take care of what needs to be done (of course, if you are 18 or over don't tell them you are a kid) because opening your door into moving traffic is a crime.  Best of all, we were given the MAGIC PHONE NUMBER FOR ALL SAN FRANCISCANS-

415-553-8090

 

This number is the direct number to SF's 911 dispatch and can be used with a cell phone to bypass the cell phone 911 system which is run by the California Highway Patrol.  This allows you to speak  directly to SFPD without being patched through and gets you faster and more targeted response.  It also means you can be less specific about where you are and the person on the other end of the line can help figure it out (CHP dispatch in Vallejo can not do that as they are not in or from SF).

The phone numbers for-

 

Berkeley, CA 510-981-5911

Oakland, CA 510-777-3211

Daly City, CA 650-991-8119 (the DCPD asks that cell users call the non-emergency line until a system is created)

 

Go see if your city has a direct number to your local PD emergency dispatch!  Cameron and Úna both now have this number programmed into their phones as the first number in the directory.  Too bad it does not also magically impart the lesson that one should never ride in the door zone.

friday fun times: bike parking edition

i have been spending quite a bit of time working while parking bikes lately. i'm, frankly, exhausted.

took this picture last night as i was parking bikes for a pride meet + mingle at el rio. considering the traffic eff ups yesterday, i have to say that bikes were the way to get around the bay yesterday.



after the traffic snafus, i noticed a bunch of frustrated, and thus aggro, drivers. needed to be extra careful in the saddle yesterday!

i'm gonna get some miles in as training for the marin century has started! but first...SLEEP! have a great weekend everyone!

Arthursday.

This Film is a celebration. It is a celebration of gatherings, of diversity, of life, and of the beauty of shared experience. We hope you enjoy. -Holstee

two for tuesday: tacotaco edition

remember awhile back i posted about my friend rose's kickstarter project? of course you do! to refresh other's memories, rose wanted to make a hot taco bike. basically like a food truck, but on a bike. with tacos. what is there NOT to like?

so rose raised her cha-ching and now is going to debut her bike by throwing a little alley cat this sunday.

looks like a bunch of fun in the sun this sunday. who's gonna go with me?!

congrats rose! so glad to see your dream becoming a reality!

using d.c. bikeshare

when i was in DC a couple of weeks ago it was humid and hot. oh and with that humidity came some drizzles. i didn't let frizzy hair stop me. i was on a mission.

i had a couple of hours to spare before i needed to be en route to catch my flight, so i, of course, thought of only one thing to do: DC CAPITAL BIKESHARE. luckily the hotel i was staying in was merely 1/2 a block away from the nearest station.



as you can see, most of the bikes were already checked out. there was someone behind me in the process of checking out a bike, leaving two bikes remaining.

i went up to the sign to see what i needed to do. thankfully, it was very informative.

i needed to put down a $100 deposit to use a bike for 30 minutes which costs $7 total. it did take awhile for that $100 to be returned to me, but such is life i suppose. that was their day pass rate.

while i was reading these signs to make sure i got everything down correctly, some frequent user hopped on one of the remaining two bikes. i figured i needed to hurry up before there were no bikes left to choose.

i put the seat down to a comfortable height for this shortie, put my bag on the front and i was ready to go.

i had no idea where i wanted to go, so i just decided to follow some bike lanes around. i figured they would take me somewhere i would have wanted to see.

i noticed some things never change. empty bike lane. full car lane. full curbside parking. typical.

i also noticed that DC (in this neighborhood at least) appears to have done what JFK drive wants to do in golden gate park. DC's is possibly more effective due to their "soft hit posts" which separate the parked cars from the curbside bike lane.

then i just rode around and noticed signs and the riders.

i also saw a vandalized bay area original.

and when i was done wandering around, i parked at a station in front of a grocery store and got me a sammich for the plane ride back to SF.

it was a pleasant and easy experience to use the bikeshare. i can only hope that SF has been taking notes on their WAY long and overdue bike share system. time to get with the program already. stop the politickin, and get people on those bikes already!

friday fun times: bike camping fotos edition

so i've been pretty busy on the wide open road. went bike camping the past two weekends. it was great.

i plan on talking about both of those experiences extensively, including the bike i used next week, once i have time to be near a computer that is not for work purposes.

but here's a teaser from both of those weekends.







first up on the order next week: DC's CAPITAL BIKESHARE. have a fantastic weekend everyone. can't wait to hear where your bike takes you this weekend.

Arthursday

Here is another small dose of posters, the sale/promotion I believe ended in May celebrating National Bike Month. Regardless, they remain a good dose of bike posters, the set includes a piece by Dora Drimalas which you may have seen on navy blue shirts around town, I think her shirts sold at upper playground at some point.

have a great week+end
xxo♥ la meligrosa

link via OMGposters ++ screenshots/images from/property of super7store

two for tuesday: voting and gil peñalosa

i'm super excited for today. voting day is very important. many people fought for the right to vote, and where i went to college, there's even a day off that students fought for in the 60s so people can go and vote. DO IT if you live in states today that have primary elections, like california! don't be apathetic, be proactive.

after work today, one of my urban planning nerd heroes is gil peñalosa! he's going to be talking tonight at the SFBC's annual Golden Wheel Awards.

watch to learn more about ciclovías here. the video is in both spanish (with english subtitles) and english.



gil is now executive director of 8-80 cities which is doing some pretty impressive things over there in canada.

and as i was saying in some earlier posts, this perfectly coincides with latinos and health. and getting families together to make a healthier living by being outside and doing activities together is good for both mental and physical health. winwin. AND it's FUN too. heh.

Night Ride

It has been a while since James and I were out riding at night.  It just never happens anymore.

Thought I would take a picture to remember how much fun it is!

From The Hip

It would seem I have spent enough time in the saddle of enormously large and heavy bicycles that I have become adept at it.

Taken from the hip, riding a 100 lbs of cargo bicycle one handed, using a fully manual camera. There really should be a way for me to make a career out of that skill set.