Teach Your Children Well

Do you have kids? If so, I bet you remember the last time you took a look at your precious angel and thought "do I really need to be with you today?" as they sprouted a second head and whined about whatever the hell it is they decided to whine about this time.

For myself, that was today. All day.

After running errands and grabbing a snack, I decided to tag along with James and Cameron. James just finished building Cameron a road bike and they wanted to go ride and play at the big empty parking lot at City College so Cameron could learn about his bike (which is very different from his every day bike).


I figured that a few acres of smooth pavement, free of cars and open for bicycle speeding would help contain the beast that Declan had decided to emulate for the last several hours. James loaded up the F.U.B. with his bike and Declan's and off we went.



James wanted to ride his Miyata around one last time before he turns it into a fixie (I know. You don't need to point out to me just how much opportunity there will be for teasing here).



While James taught Cameron the joy of the "brifter" and how to pedal with one leg (bonding),



I played with Declan.

There is a path that runs the length of the reservoir and leads nowhere. It has a great view and is one of those places a little kid can feel like they are having an adventure without any real danger of anything happening. I let him lead me up there so he could show me the stellar view of the motorcycle class taking place (as well as the McDonald's he has never been in but always tells me is his favorite).


When everyone was done, Declan was in a much better mood. He has been wanting to ride his bike on the street with us ever since we took off his training wheels. The streets in the neighborhood were unusually quiet and I had James with me to play sweeper so now seemed like the time.



After firm instructions to stay on my right side and a promise from him that he would listen, we started off.



This is an ironic picture to me. This is Phelan Ave. and it is currently one of the most contested streets in San Francisco in the battle for traffic calming and bicycle infrastructure. This is one of the things that has caused my neighborhood to be considered the least bike friendly neighborhood in San Francisco and my neighbors to be the most anti-bike.

I am very proud to say that this is the first City street that my 4 1/2 year old son has ridden on his very own bike.



Declan was great the whole ride home. He listened, he kept his eye open, he watched for cars and he made sure I stopped at the stop sign : ) We couldn't do this most days in my neighborhood, but I am glad we were able to do it today.

Get those kids on their bikes! They will thank you for it : )

Black & White Saturday

Happy Saturday! ^_^

at the pier

Time To Put Your Feet Up

It is Friday, after all : )

photo by Iam Sterdam

Taxi Service

Every time I ride across town I notice more and more people with kid set ups on their bikes. The best thing is that for the first time I am seeing an increase in woman carrying kids on their bikes! So tonight, I present some of the wonderful pictures of people transporting children that have been sent to us through the Flickr group.

photo by Xander n' Dante (Toronto)

photo by efeb (Copenhagen)

photo by Iam Sterdam (Amsterdam)

bicyclesonly (New York City)

photo by Meligrosa (San Francisco)

photo by Cleverchimp (Portland)

photo by fnagrom (California?)

photo by ktieche (San Francisco)

How do you get your kids around? Share the knowledge!

Silly Girl

There is a lot of interesting commenting going on out there in the cyber world of late. The "I Hate Cycle Chic" crowd is starting to stir in places. CYLRAB is not a "chic" blog, but it is not not a "chic" blog, either. Meli, Caryl and I try very hard to find pictures and stories from all over the world about what the people who ride bikes as a means of achieving their personal ends look like and how they live.

So what is it that makes cycle chic so compelling? Aside from the fact that we have not seen any in North America since the late 70's, that is. It isn't the clothing, it isn't the sex appeal (those are a small part to be sure). From my experience, it is because "cycle chic" is about people. For the first time in decades, we are seeing the people who ride bikes before we see a bike that happens to have a person on it.



This woman is lovely, to be sure, but is that what makes the picture? Is this attractive because she is young and thin? For myself, I am drawn to this image because this woman is so obviously comfortable, happy and confident. She is gliding down the street and loving the light and the feeling of movement.


I took this picture a couple of weeks ago. This woman is stunning. She looks like she could be my friend, and if she were, this is how she would dress to meet up for coffee. Her bike could just as easily be her back pack. It is simply part of her day. Instead of it being the center of her public persona, it is just her transportation and who she is shows on her face instead of in her gear.



This is one of my favorite shots of Meli. She has the whole "cycle chic" thing going here. Not because she is rocking those fabulous shoes or flashing those red tights. It is because she is happy to be in that moment. There is no way that looking at this picture could be damaging to cycling culture unless you look at it through the lens of self-loathing. When viewed as it is intended, as a window into a positive person's life, the fashion becomes so very unimportant.



Lastly, this is a picture of myself. It is a bit over the top, and admittedly, a little reminiscent of an old pin-up calender, but there was a point to it. After years of feeling completely out of place in my body and creeping closer and closer to 40, I finally feel like I have reclaimed my physical self. I wore a bathing suit for the first time in 3 years this summer, all because riding my bike around town instead of using my car has made me feel thousands of times better about how I look and how I feel inside my own skin. Despite what others may say out there, I do not feel exploited, I am not objectifying myself and I am fully aware that I am the equal of any person out there.



So if you feel this image damages the cycling world,

photo by bicyclesonly

or this one,

photo by Amsterdamize

or perhaps this one, then maybe it is time to deepen the conversation. If 20+ years of only seeing bicycle racers and urban bike messengers didn't get people out riding for transportation, then how exactly do pictures of people doing just that not count? If people are out on bikes, and their only reason for starting it is because they saw a photo of some beautiful moviestar on a cruiser why does that matter? If the goal is to get butts in saddles, then we need every sales pitch we can find, and for many Lance Armstrong and the X-Games just don't register.

Feel free to discuss. May I suggest putting on some high heels first so that you can get in the mood? : )

Circle Time

What do you get when you cross a 50's TV ad for a family getaway and bicycles?



Thanks for the heads up, Fritzy baby! (seen originally here)

Quick question- How did they find 7 women without visible tattoos for this shoot?

Day 1 Of The Copenhagen Invasion

This last weekend was very busy. I am not sure that I am entirely recovered from it to be honest. Over and above the usual craziness that occurs this time of year (my oldest son's birthday and Halloween with three kids), we were visited by Halloween Critical Mass and a visit by Mikael Coleville-Anderson of Copenhagen bike blogging fame. It has taken me a few days to decide how I wanted to write about this, especially as I was not the only local blogger at the talk, and there is plenty out there about the meat of the lecture. Suffice it to say that I came away with an even more firm conviction that bicycle advocacy needs to stay away from the bike (that is "bicycle enthusiasm", which is fun and I participate in personally) and stick to the people and their stories and needs if we want to grow this personal transport movement of ours.

That being said, I have one half decent shot from the talk its self-


I am unclear if these are poll results of the reason people cycle or if it is in fact a resumé (if so is Mikael good for 1% of the environment or good for it only 1% of the time?).


It was my hope that Mikael have fun while he was here and not be inundated by "bicycle infrastructure" talk all the time. SF was the last stop of his North American Tour, so I wanted him to see the fun side of American bike culture. The part that isn't obsessed with safety and how to make that happen (really, we all know how it works, we just have to decide to do it). Thankfully, the fun hit as soon as we left the lecture hall!



Waiting outside of the building was Eric Zo, of legendary SF messenger fame. Eric had his Bullitt with him and was able to give Mikael a lift back to the Hotel W so that Mikael could grab one of their free bikes


I wish I had got a shot of Mikael flying through SF streets on the platform of a cargo bike piloted by Eric, but alas, I did not and we will have to wait for Mikael to share those with the world. There is a picture of Lilia from Vélo Vogue hitching a lift from the hotel to the Ferry Building-

photo by Mikael

After lunch at the Ferry Building and drinks at XYZ, we all headed to Halloween Critical Mass. As we got closer to the crowd, we all got excited about joining in. There is something about being in a huge crowd of people who do what you do that gets the blood going!

Wildlife

Shooting Wildlife

Fast bikes, slow camera.

Why did the chicken cross the road? 'Cause the cow saw beer!

It was a great time. Mikael looked to be having a wonderful time amongst the cross dressers and the animals and the wigs and the fishnets...... I was happy to finally get my kids to CM

Declan in the red helmet.

Úna in feathers. Cameron was off being a teenager with his friends.

I was amazed at how well Úna rode through several thousand crazy people with utter ease. She was not in the least bit nervous or frightened by the crush or the noise.

Those who were left at the end (I did not get good pictures of our group. I think my camera hates me) all met up with KT and Meli at an Ethiopian spot in the Mission for dinner, after which a bunch of us ended up out drinking until 2 am (another event I have no pictures of so go here). I finally crawled into bed at 3:45 AM to be awoken at 7:05 AM by Declan, so we could finish his costume for later that day.

You would think that is the end of Eurobike SF, wouldn't you? Stay tuned for day 2.