Tag!

According to Marc, my bicycle is now truly Dutch.

 

While KT and I shared a bottle of sparkling wine at Etcetera, someone decided my basket needed to be tagged.  It is only White Out, so I can take it off but now that Ian has decided it stands for "sexy, young bitch" I am tempted to leave it there.

What do you think?  Should I keep my graffiti or not?  What does "SYB" stand for?

The Sidewalker

Riding on the sidewalk. It is a charged concept, especially in places like San Francisco that are very busy.   I remember the law in California being that only those under the age of 12 were allowed to ride on the sidewalk, and then only on residential streets.  When I go to look for actual code I get a lot of hits pertaining to cyclists  "21200 (a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver...".  To me, this means don't ride on the sidewalk as we are not supposed to be driving on the sidewalk (although I have not found anything that specifically addresses that, either).  Then again, there are times when even I am forced onto the sidewalk for a variety of reasons.  Especially on my street.

Monterey Blvd. is very busy.  1700 cars an hour in the afternoon rush period!  There is no bicycle lane, no sharrows and not much consideration between the hours of 3:30 and 6:30 pm (and all day Sunday, for some reason).  It is a 30 MPH street (!!!!!!), entirely uphill when traveling west, and it is the best bicycle connector between CCSF/SFSU and the Mission, which is a major connection.  If you do not know how to ride in that kind of traffic, it can be harrowing.  I am not surprised when I see people choosing to ride on the sidewalk.  There are times when I do-

when riding west bound with Declan by ourselves without the bike posse that is the rest of the family with us.

when riding home from the grocery store with very heavy bags during the wind season

for certain blocks during rush hour because I don't want to become a statistic

anytime I am too tired or slow to be able to compete or cope with traffic.

Even then, I find myself mildly indignant when I see others doing the same thing.  The opportunity to be a hypocrite is seldom let pass me by.  Why?  Are there no times when riding on the sidewalk is the better option?  I have stated the circumstances when I do (I will say that this is the only time I ride on the sidewalk other than a stretch of Dolores St. which is so terribly lovely to ride on on very hot days I can not always resist).  Now, if the City would do something to calm traffic and provide bicycle space on my street, it would not be a problem (the neighboring Hearst St. is where the City would like us to ride but it is poorly controlled at the intersections and unacceptably hilly for most riders to tackle regularly).  No one would have to make a choice between the street and the sidewalk.

When do you think it is OK to ride on a sidewalk?  Or is it ever OK?

Shake It Up

I find that riding my bicycle everyday has brought it into the circle of all things we find indispensable. Invisible and ubiquitous. Although, tied with my camera as my most indispensable and treasured possession, I give it little thought, neglect it's maintenance and expect it to simply work no matter what (my camera receives much the same consideration). So now, like in all long standing relationships, things need to be shaken up and a new way to see must be found to maintain a proper sense of appreciation.

Now I am looking for new ways to "see" so that I can find ways to share with you. New ways to appreciate what I have and all the beautiful changes that are coming to my City and the rest of the country.

How do you keep from forgetting how lucky you are to ride your bicycle? How do you stop yourself from not seeing what is around you? 'Cause things are just starting to get interesting!

Weird Science

I love my cargo bike.

The usual weekend bicycle combo in the house is me on the Bat and James on La Baillena.

Like all things we love, La Baillena has some quirks. One of these quirks is very strange. Perhaps someone out there can enlighten me as to its origin.

My cargo bike, at times, generates enough static electricity that it shocks me! If the conditions are right (and I am not completely sure of what all those conditions are) I get shocked through both hands and my inner thigh where it contacts the saddle (if I am wearing something short enough to allow any skin to touch it). The shock is enough to cause a lot of pain and for me to reflexively let go of the handlebars. It always happens when I ride down a particular hill and is worse if I have a significant load, so I know the brakes have something to do with it.

This picture was taken just before the first time it happened. I tried to explain it to James, but he wasn't sure of what I meant. That is until it happened to him the other day. He came home from a quick trip to the market and told me he now knew exactly what I meant. That's when we came up with the possibility that it is static electricity that is the problem.

Has anyone out there ever experienced this? If so, what did you do about it?

A Little More Thinking Out Loud

We are all aware of the less than optimally well behaved bicyclist. Most know them by the term, a term I loath, "the Scofflaw". We see them, or perhaps you see me, failing to stop at every sign or riding on a sidewalk or taking the wrong way on a one way street... and we instantly assume that that rider thinks they are "entitled", another word I loath for its inappropriate overuse. For the most part, very few of us out here in the world look at those riders and think "if this street were better designed there would be no need to run that light/ride on that sidewalk/go the wrong way..."

Just as all of us feel stressed out, harried and late the second we hit the freeway in our cars, we also feel vulnerable, threatened and squeezed when we take to the poor excuse for public space we call the streets and roads of the United States on our bicycles. While there are many people out there who feel that the law is in place to keep us "safe", it is my opinion that, for the most part, the law is there to prevent us from behaving in our own best interests in environments that have developed in a way that prevents us from acting normally. So much of what we see is the result of adapted behavior to sub-optimal environments that all of us, regardless of transportation choice, are forced to survive in.

These thoughts came to me as I listened to the talk David Byrne gave at the 2010 TED conference on the influence of architecture on the development of music over the centuries. His feeling is the music developed as a result of the environment it was created in as opposed to humans first adapting the environment to our musical needs. As I listened it made me think of all the things in life that we do that are a result of our adaptation to the already built environment of the cities we live in. An example of this would be a city like San Francisco that has such a strong history of small, fully contained neighborhoods where you could walk to everything you needed- if the hills around you make it very difficult to walk or ride a horse/bike then you will make sure that your neighborhood has a market and a cobbler and a seamstress and a school... because it is just too hard to keep schlepping over the hill for every little thing. Our modern times have tried to superimpose a suburban, car based drive-through model on San Francisco since the 1950's and by just about every measure this has been a failure which we now all live with and have adapted to- up to, and including, the sub-optimal behavior of many bicyclists.

If Gregorian chanting came about in part due to the echoing nature of sound in grand cathedrals, then it isn't a stretch to say that people do seemingly odd things on bicycles because they can not pretend to be 40MPH delivery trucks racing to get across town. If we want those who ride bicycles to "behave" better than we have to give them an environment that encourages that behavior by making it easier and more convenient and a great deal safer to do so. Just as the Gregorian chant loses something when performed in an open air amphitheater, the urban cyclist loses something when they are forced to "share the road" with 30 ton buses and cab drivers who only know that time is money.

If I have not lost you to this point, perhaps you would like to hear the thoughts of Mr. Byrne yourself. Perhaps you will find some parallels of your own.

A Boy And His (Future) Bike

Nature being what nature is, Declan is growing out of his bicycle. Unlike the older kids at the same age, Declan rides his bicycle a lot. He has managed to wear out the rear tire with all of the skid stops he performs. He sees his bicycle as his ticket to "Big Boy". Even though his school is only three blocks from home, he wants to ride there because his siblings ride to their schools everyday. Because of that, his bicycle isn't like the bicycles his friends have- his bicycle isn't a toy, it is a tool.

This is the kind of bicycle I wish I could find for him. It is a Batavus Dragon 20" with lights and a rack and fenders and a chain case , and most importantly, a 3-speed internal hub with coaster brakes.

Declan is only five years old, and hand brakes are not a good option for him at this point. It will be a few more years before he has strong enough hands to use hand brakes, especially when we are beginning to teach him how to ride in bicycle lanes and how to ride between neighborhoods with us.

I have looked around and have not been successful in finding anything like this in the US. Forget the bells and whistles, I can put lights on a bicycle and Declan isn't quite ready for cargo so a rack is not necessary at this point. He does need some minor gearing to make the hills around our neighborhood more easily negotiable (the typical 7 speeds with external derailleur you find here are too complicated for someone so young) and he needs reliable coaster brakes that will keep him from flying into traffic. This is not a combo that you can find here in the USA.

The smile Declan is exhibiting in the above picture is the result of him riding the whole way from our home to the Farmers Market almost three miles away. We were able to ride in the street the whole way there including crossing three very busy intersections. He was so proud of himself. He was also a little disappointed that he could not ride home. Because his bicycle is a little small for him, hills are that much harder for him and it was uphill a great deal of the way home.

So now, I find myself looking for a needle in a haystack. I could have a bicycle like the Dragon shipped to me, but the price would be so hugely prohibitive it would be silly. I don't mind the shipping, but the bicycles themselves are pricey. Had I been able to buy one with my first child to pass down, the expense wouldn't be so bad, but Declan is the last one. I have looked on Craigslist in several regions with no luck. Ebay has been a bust. All I have found is a larger version of what he already has, a single speed with coaster brakes ranging from $50 to $500.

With the City opening up to more and better cycling, and with the future of Declan's world being one where he will need to be independent of oil based transportation (much like me at that age during the OPEC oil crisis in the 70's) we need better options for children's bicycles.

Anyone out there have any ideas for a kid's 20" 3-speed with coaster brakes? Please share!

market street bike lanes, an attractive nuisance?

attractive nuisance: (doctrine; lay definition): [a] landowner may be held liable for injuries to children trespassing on the land if the injury is caused by hazardous object or condition on the land that is likely to attract children who are unable to appreciate the risk posed by the object or condition.

i ride market street everyday. i don't particularly care to do so, other than it is the main artery of the city, therefore it is the way that leads me from here to there. so in order to get to where i need to go, market street is a necessary part of my commute and other errand type of biking.

as a regular market street rider, i can say that it has gotten better since the installation of separated bike paths, delineated with those green painted spaces or with those "safe hit posts" (oxymoron anyone?). within the past year, personal car traffic has been direct to turn left at two intersections, 10th street and 6th street. traffic earlier in the year was directed to turn right at 8th street and 10th street by traffic cops, but they have since discontinued that practice, presumably there in the first place to get regular drivers used to the new practice.

is this a "safe hit" post? foto by ade

in the past couple of weeks i have noticed a few things on my morning (aka pre-caffeinated) commute, two of which are disturbing to me as a daily commuter, and as a frequent weekend market street rider.

first, at 10th street, bike traffic is directed to the left of the mandatory right turn, with the bike lane sandwiched next to and to the right of to the F rail train. so it's muni tracks, bike lane, mandatory (car) right turn lane. like this (except now the bike lane is painted green):

foto by meli

this does not leave a lot of room for those mandatory right turners to go straight through the light, as they have to cross paths with east-bound bike traffic. which is exactly what has been happening in the mornings in the past couple of weeks, and can be pretty unnerving. apparently the sign saying "LANE CLOSED" has been down. today, thankfully, i noticed it was reinstated and that the mandatory right hand turners were obeying traffic signs.

which brings me to the second, and instigator of this whole post: seeing the below picture of two buses blocking the bike lane at 8th and market:

foto by adam

two wednesdays before this photo appeared in my feed, i noticed something very similar happen, but on a much larger scale, on my way to butterlap. sigh. there were at least 5 large tour buses in that very spot, NO DOUBT related to the big tech company convention that was all over the news. sigh.

a block away i was already busily thinking how to navigate around that nonsense with taxis in front of me, who are able to go straight through on market street until embarcadero. i must have worn the confused look on my face because the other cyclist turned to ask me with a wry smile, "how are we going to get past that?" "i have no idea, was just thinking the same thing myself," i replied.

foto by meli

i show this pic of meli cause i think it illustrates several of the obstacles of which i refer: grates, and those pinche muni tracks on either side of the double yellow line. UGH. i have seen many a competent (and newbie) cyclist get stuck in those tracks, then fall down, go boom, spawning this sticker:

the comments which started in the picture above with the buses were very interesting. adam, whom i know is a parent (thus familiar with the term), mentioned market street being like an attractive nuisance in that market street with its green lanes and "safe hit posts" thus creating the analogy that market street's new sporadic bike infrastructure may make it attractive to cyclists of all levels, including newer and other inexperienced riders, and get them encouraged to ride, despite its obstacles.

that conversation stuck with me for a couple of days, enough to for it to jump without me past the flickr picture and on to spark a lively facebook page discussion and then produce a vimeo video taken just yesterday (as of the writing of this post)

2010-10-04 Blocked, by Clear Channel from TyrellVoightKampff on Vimeo

so, are the newer bike lanes on market street like an "attractive nuisance" to newer riders?

i'm certainly not a new rider. i'm comfortable in trafficky conditions, as a frequent pedestrian (nyc baby) a frequent bike rider and an occasional car driver. i know i'm not the oldest hat at bike commuting, but i'm confident in traveling in urban traffic in my own patient way.

i cannot even fathom to promote what can be done with market street as i am not an engineer nor am i an urban planner. i am, however, a bike rider who commutes daily. i would like to feel safe in my designated and provided separated bike lane, and i would like to know that cars on market street will turn at appropriate intersections because it makes the remaining stretches of the commute for the rest of us (public transporation, taxis and bikes) more bearable and predictable.

but those buses...... those buses really are a problem for muni buses, passengers, taxis and bike riders alike.

for all of the obstacles shown above, market street now really is rather enjoyable, compared to what it could be, during the morning commute.

what about the afternoon commute west-bound on market street you may be asking? well, let's save that for another long post, shall we?