In A Nut Shell

Here at the blog, we are all about bikes. We love 'em. We ride them everyday. But there is something else that drives us...


Get out there and ride off your coffee jitters, people!

bikes only.

view it large. you'll see this couple walking/ pushing a baby stroller in the middle of the bike lane. :D


James and Adrienne

Lego Disaster

Lessons from the Lego world, sent in by the Calitexican. At least he was wearing his helmet : )




Got anything else you think we should share? How about a story about where you go on your bike on Saturday night? Send it to us so we can share it with the world!

Deep Is The Word

Meet Deep. Full name, Amandeep Jawa. Owner and operator of the loud and playful "Trikeasaurus". Creator of the always fun "Flashdance".



Trikeasaurus? Flashdance? What are these strange things? you ask. Well, they are cool, which is enough said as far as I am concerned, but for those of you out there who require more info, here it is-

The Trikeasaurus is Deep's trusty tricycle/ movable sound feast. He rides it all over town, blasting the soundtrack of a completely awesome bike party you would not be able to help yourself but join in on. The "Flashdance" is a "flashmob dance party" that happens in various parts of San Francisco and there have been several since the first one in 2005. I tried to go to one a few months ago, but it kept moving faster than I could catch up to it (cops! urgh!).

Now, the music is bumpin' (I shouldn't try to sound current. It does not work for me.), and the energy Deep throws out to the Universe is amazing (he is also on the Board of Directors at the SF Bicycle Coalition, President of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco League Of Conservation Voters, all around nice guy...), but what impresses me most? How the hell he gets that behemoth around SF! He works hard for our entertainment! This day, only 2 of the 3 gears were working!


San Francisco has a long tradition of interesting people making a difference in unique and wonderful ways. Deep joins the roster. Not a bad thing to be able to put on a resume. I'd hire him to brighten up my day, any day!

Silly Is As Silly Does

Meli and I got to hang out on a fine, sunny, lovely San Francisco Friday. We haven't had a chance to just wander around and hang out for awhile, so today was pretty damn good in my book. While there were many pictures from the day, I will share this particular series with you for now.

My son, Declan, loves Meli. They are huge goofs together. So when she tagged along to pick him up from preschool with me, he was delighted with his "surprise". I had fun just watching.








Moments like this are what make me love riding my bike. Wandering around with my family and friends, stopping to climb on public art, taking pictures... It is a good way to get around.

YES

dude's beyond awesome. watch.

Help Wanted

Re-posted from Cycleicious . If you can help, get out there and teach some kids how to bike to school! -

I have a Bicycle Roadeo schedule for Oct. 10, 2009 from 8:30am-2p.m., and yes, that is a Saturday. I have put an email out to my usual volunteer list, and have had NO OFFERS. I am down to two weeks before the event, an I'm starting to panic. I need at least 6-8 volunteers and have one possible. The great thing about this particular Roadeo is that we had heard the Principal at this school, Noddin Elementary, would not allow any students to ride their bikes to school, because she had deemed it unsafe. She agreed to a sit down meeting with me to see what Street Smarts and DOT had to offer. When I explained everything, she agreed to a helmet giveaway, series of safety presentations, and a Bicycle Roadeo; students will now be allowed to ride to and from school.

If you or ANYONE you can think of would be so kind as to help me out, it would be so appreciated!!! If you're not familiar with a Roadeo, there will be four stations that groups of kids at a time will go through, and each station teaches a simple safety technique. For example, there is a station to learn avoiding objects in the street, or learning to check over your shoulder for cars. It's fun, and very rewarding. It just is impossible without help! So again, if you know any bike enthusiasts, people who need community service hours, or if you're bored, please let me know!! Thanks in advance.

p.s. we will probably pack up way before 2pm! And I'll provide lunch!

Tara Jones
School Safety Education Coordinator
Department of Transportation
City of San Jose
200 East Santa Clara Street
San Jose, Ca. 95113
(408) 975-3296

Commerce

Just the other day, this blog was approached (along with several others, I suspect) by Chrome, maker of very nice bike related gear, to possibly try and then review their new line of shoes. I was flattered by the offer, as it means that we are enough of a presence as a blog to garner some attention out in the bike world (meaning, people read our blog!!!! Hurraaayyyyy!!!!). My initial response to the offer was "Sure! Why not?"

Before I could hit the respond button, I started to think about it. Chrome is a great company, and I would recommend their products without reservation. If I needed a messenger bag, I would seriously consider purchasing one of theirs. But is that the direction this blog should take? Should we be reviewing products targeted to the cycling community and does this impinge on our ability to get our message out- namely, that all it takes to ride a bike is a bike?

There are a lot of bloggers out there in the cyber world that review goods at the request of companies. We have all read those reviews and used them to make purchasing decisions. Some have reviewed things they have purchased or simply been given, which I think is different than solicited endorsements (which I am not sure I have a problem with, BTW). Thom, of The World Awheel and I have talked about the pros and cons of sponsorship and product endorsement. We both question whether or not one can be objective when money or goods are part of the deal. Then again, is there anything wrong with reaping the benefits of all of the work that goes into creating a blog and its content?

Like all things, it depends on perspective and intent. What is the intent of this endeavour titled "Change Your Life. Ride A Bike!"? When Meli and I first started this project, I was just about to be unemployed and was looking for something new. We talked about the possibility of this being a profitable venture, but how that took shape was something we were not able to describe. We agreed that our greatest desire would be to support local business if we were to delve into sponsorship or advertising, but we both felt that our primary goal was one of advocacy and story telling.

Meli's take on it is this-

Having things sent or offered is nice, however as the blogger or exposed to an audience that follows your thoughts and daily posts, you have the power to accept or decline, as you feel like so, if that is the whole purpose of your writing/posting.

Adrienne and I do this for fun, we are not paid, nor expect any stipends, free stuff or sponsorship at all, anytime. We do it for the bicycle advocacy, the impulse to change your life around and get out there to discover the benefits of riding the bicycle in your city. We are both visionaries and we practice daily what we preach. Over at Bikes and The City I have been sent numerous things and they have always been highly appreciated, primarily because they have been from other fellow bloggers. That aspect of connecting globally by exposing your local efforts to make the world better, in my opinion is powerful and priceless.

Now because I praise coffee and coffee shops all the time does that mean that I would expect getting free schmuck from them? Not at all. I do it because I love my coffee. I post about coffee because it is part of my life and I don't have any expectations from that. Now if I walk into a cafe and the barista recognized me, Adrienne or my peeps, and has nice things to say about bikes, the photos or how they have found inspiration from our daily sharing, then yes - now that to me is awesome & very cherished!

What do you think about sponsorship and advertising? Would it change how you view this blog? Do you think it would compromise our simple message? We would really like to know what you think about this!

Riding With My Mom

The last time I remember riding a bike with my Mom, I ended up slamming into a huge pothole at 25 MPH and permanently damaging my ribcage. That isn't why we haven't been out on a ride together since 1989, just the facts of our last two wheeled adventure.

Over the last few years, my Mom has not been out on her bike very often. When I head down south to see my folks, I usually end up cleaning the bikes off a bit, they are usually covered in cobwebs and pine needles.


This last trip to Chatsworth, I was able to go without the kids, and Mom and I were able to hang out together for a bit. Mom decided she wanted to ride to the café with me (my regular ritual no matter where I am in the world). I was delighted to have her along for the ride, and even more so when she threw on a skirt and decided to forgo the helmet so she could have her picture taken for Vélo Vogue (not a requirement, BTW).


The best part of the ride, other than just riding with my Mom, was when she decided to go run errands without me (I was too hot to ride). She uses her bike for errands more, these days. I had to laugh when she out biked me! Go, Mom!!

Oh, and she crocheted the basket liner herself. She's making me one as I type!

Foreign Film

You know, sometimes we need to have a good laugh at ourselves! After all, people on two wheels are just inherently funny (which is why I am one of them!). Enjoy this little poke at the racer in us all.

Black & White Saturday

cycling in el lay traffic



happy weekend, you! :D

yayy friday!!

girl. bike. cool boots.

What's With The Unicycles?

I am seeing them all over the place, these days! Once, I saw a guy speeding down Topanga Canyon Road from the trail head into the canyon (I was driving, couldn't get a picture without hitting him)! As a departure from my recent rantings ( I am becoming quite the grump), I offer my own unicycle pictures-


This guy was actually part of a huge unicycle pelaton. None of the pictures came out!



The duct tape seat is impressive. As is the jersey. They were both really nice guys.




Don't drink and ride.

People Amaze Me

What is it about cycling that makes some people completely lose the ability to think or behave reasonably? While reading over at Cyclelicious, I came across a car review of the Tessla, written by James Martin. James Martin is a professional chef, and from his writings, a bit of a wanker (he is a British chef, thus the British slang. In American, the word "jackass" could be substituted). In his review, he writes that his favorite aspect of the electric Tessla, was how quiet it was. It allowed him to sneak up on cyclists so that he could honk at them and terrify them into running into a hedge.

I should be screaming mad over this. But to be honest, I am just sad, because this crap happens all the time. There was the firefighter that shot a cyclist in the head for riding with a child. Or the drunk who plowed through a pelaton of racers in Mexico (called a "terrible accident"). We covered the hit and run of Andrew Bennett and his son, here in San Francisco.


This is the Bay Taxi cab driver that tried to push me off the road so he could make a right turn. His excuse- there was no bike lane, so it was my fault for being in his way. His boss at the taxi company felt much the same way.

This kind of thing happens all the time, to people on and off bicycles. With the proliferation of electronic communication we get wind of it way more often. So I find myself shaking my head quite a bit, these days.

Having written this, I would like to share a positive story, and I encourage you to do the same (after you contact Tesla about your feelings of the above review)-

I was riding home with my 40 lb monkey, the other day, and of course, this being San Francisco, I was riding uphill into the wind (cue the violins). I had started out tired and I wasn't getting any less so, which means a lot less stopping if I can help it. As I came to an intersection with a stop sign, I saw there was a couple about to start crossing the road in front of me, so I started to slow down to stop for them. The couple saw me at this moment, stopped crossing, and the man waved me on with a smile, yelling over the wind "Don't stop! Keep your momentum!". This was a couple of months ago and I still remember what he looked like and how greatfull I was at that moment of exhaustion.

Remember the good times and keep riding, people!

beach graffiti

cruisers. ladies. cruising.

puppy!


rolling.


floating.


happy monday, you! :)

Getting Nowhere, Fast!

Just because it's Monday doesn't mean we can't have a good laugh!

Stop spinning your wheels! Go ride a bike rack! : )

La Vie C'Est Si Bon

This scene makes me very happy.

How To Change Your Life

Stop parking your car!! I am not anti-car, in fact, I quite like mine. My car, however, has no right to exist. It is not a person, and its physical space needs can not trump what another needs to live.

Streetsblog, San Francscio has an article titled "When Parking Spaces Are More Important Than Homes". It brings up the idea of limiting the number of people in a neighborhood based in the number of parking spaces. Reading it, I was reminded of how much I hate the words "parking space"!



We are surrounded by cars everywhere we go. We are swamped by the noise and the fumes and the speed. We chose where to live, where to work, how to get places, where to shop, where to camp, which school our kids should go to.... based on our cars. Even when we think we don't. The quiet neighborhood is chosen because there are fewer cars. We work 50 miles from home so the kids can play in the street without getting hit by a van.



I spend my time teaching my kids how to avoid being doored or hooked, instead of taking them off trail to learn how to bunny hop dirt bikes.

The biggest event in San Francisco this year is Sunday Streets- a car free event where miles of street are blocked to cars to the delight of tens of thousands. People in the City act like children at Christmas simply because there are no cars.




When the cars are gone, the people grow.




I know we are learning. I preach patience all the time. Tonight, I am impatient.

Change your life! Ride a bike! Stop parking the damn cars!

Bike Greening

Remember how when you got your first car you had to put your mark on it? A "Ralph Nader For President" bumper sticker (or one of those "mean people suck" ones that I have always hated), or a dashboard hula girl, or a pink haired troll doll... same goes for bikes. I love to put silly things on my bike.

My latest, and most necessary new addition- a tilisandia plant!



The basket it is hiding behind is new, too. I am not as happy about its addition. It was a pain in the ass. We had to undo my break cables and route them through the basket to get it on (so much for the quick release aspect of my basket ).




My commute is just a bit greener, now. Perhaps, greener than yours : )

Bike Snob Speaks

One of the reasons I have not given up my car completely, is that I love to listen to public radio while I drive. Today's story of interest was about bike commuting in New York City ( something I would one day like to try as NYC is my second favorite city after SF). What was interesting, was hearing the voice of Bike Snob New York, who was interviewed for his perspective on cycling in NYC.

I love BSNYC's acerbic sense of humor and think his unique perspective is a valuable one. He is usually right on the money and he makes sure that none of us takes ourselves too seriously. True to form, he had some interesting things to say in the interview and is worth listening to.

Now Where Did I Park?

Now that I have managed to learn how to successfully embed video (hold the applause), I may just have to start making some movies! Until then, Flickr group member, gregraisman, sent us this video of his wanderings through a bicycle parking facility in Leuven, Belgium. While it is modest compared to the massive bicycle parking structures of Amsterdam, it is a helluva lot bigger than anything we have here in San Francisco! It also shows that this kind of infrastructure is being created outside the most well known cycling cities of Denmark and the Netherlands.



Of course, we could just keep resorting to parking like this

A Monster Has Been Created

He is on his way to being the next Tony Hawk. I hope we keep our health insurance!

Labor Of Love

Today is Labor Day in the United States. It is supposed to be a day of rest for the workers of the country. Of course, there is always work to be done. Like teach your kids how to ride a bike!


Declan took to his bike a bit earlier than my other two children. Probably because we ride as a family more than we did with them. He is the last child I will teach to ride. He is the last one to earn his wings. A good day.

Go teach your kids to ride a bike!

chat. run. bike. keep the ocean clean.

it's sunday! S M I L E. :D !!!

Stop?

Lately, people have been making a big deal about stop signs. Everyone wants to know "do you stop at stop signs?". The frequent lack of stopping is used by some as a reason to stop bicycle infrastructure being developed- why should we give these law breakers anything?

I will state, quite publicly, that I do not. I hate stop signs. If there is no one coming, if there is no right of way issue, I will go right on through. The single greatest suck of my energy, after large hills, is the constant stopping and starting at the stop signs that are at almost every intersection through out town. The ones at the bottom of hills (going up the incline, not down) are of particular frustration and difficulty for me as I not only have to get my heavy monster bike going again, the added 50 lbs that Declan and his seat add to my bike mean that it is not uncommon for my bike to pop a very unstable wheelie just as a car is passing too close to get through the intersection ahead of me (it happened today except it was a bus coming at me and the back end of the bike started to go out on me, too).




As I rode through town today, I was thinking about this. When driving a car, stopping for signs and lights is only as inconvenient as we make it. No energy is expended on the part of the driver. The only problem is when we don't have enough time and perceive that stopping will make us late. For me, coming to a full stop and putting my foot down is the same as a car coming to a stop, turning off the engine and engaging the parking brake. Every 1000 feet. What driver would put up with that? How does it make them, or anyone else, more safe?

The argument that cyclists should obey all motor vehicle laws presupposes that motor vehicle laws are appropriate to non-motorized vehicles. I, for one, would love to see the common sense approach to stopping that Idaho utilizes developed all over the country. In my view of things, if there is a law that a majority of otherwise law abiding people fail to comply with, then perhaps it is time to review that law.


There are many stories about the perils of failing to stop. I have seen people suffer greatly for not, but in both cases, the cyclist was being either completely clueless or was totally out of control. There have been way more incidents that I have witnessed where drivers have failed to stop and caused great mayhem and yet, we do not insist on more stringent regulation of drivers to ensure that they always stop. We do not delay the creation of new roads or fail to investigate the collisions of drivers because they fail to stop. We do not call the millions of drivers who roll through stops signs "lawless" or criticize them as "bad parents" or "hooligans".

Feel free to agree or not. What do you think?

Addendum- Thanks to Calitexican for the link to this video! I couldn't find it when I was writing this.

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

Budgets

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to drive a car? Not the monthly payments, although, that is a part of it. I mean all of the things that go into driving- gas, taxes, road maintenance, insurance, depreciation, parking fees....... it adds up super quick!

I started to think about this the other day when someone couldn't believe how much my bike cost. She was even more startled to find out I would buy my bike again if it were stolen. I have, as many of you know, a Batavus Socorro.


The original MSRP was $1799! I got lucky, and through a decision made by Seattle Bike Supply to not be the North American distributor for Batavus, I was able to buy my bike, new, for $999. I have since put about $350 worth of modifications on it (Brooks saddle, Bobike seat, Basil panniers, various other things...). When my husband bought the bike for me, he had just started a new job after 2 years of consistent work with inconsistent pay and we were pretty much broke. My old bike was no longer meeting my needs, so James decided our first splurge with a real pay check was my beautiful Bat!

Despite its price tag, and there are bikes out there that are way more expensive, it was a deal. Looking at my average daily riding since the beginning of the year, about 15 miles a day, I can expect to ride 5460 miles this year (my goal in January was 15oo!). After cruising over to Commute Solutions and using their calculator, I learned that to drive those miles would cost me $7403.76!! I still own a car, and so, I can not mitigate all of the expenses involved with ownership. However, according to the numbers on the calculator, just the savings in gas and maintenance for those miles, $1037, will pay for my bike!

None of this is new information, but it is illuminating. In this time of financial uncertainty, we would all be way better off if we rode more and drove less. Anyway, there are no snuggly moments in cars, which are priceless!

A Little Bike Music

Sometimes, you just want to sing to the one you love : )

What Are People Saying?

There are some interesting questions going on out there in the blogosphere right now-

EcoVelo is discussing helmets. Not my favorite topic, and most likely, one I will not enter into on this blog. Especially as I think it is an exercise in circular reasoning, on both sides. However, if this is a topic that peaks your interest here it is.

Thom, of Old Bike Blog and The World Awheel, addresses the question of what it means to "be a vehicle" and is looking for thoughtful conversation on the topic.

A blog that never fails to stir up some discussion, Copenhagenize, keeps the pot going with an historical comparison of the divisions that cyclists seem to love to participate in. Looks like they are the same ones we have had since bicycles first crossed the continents. Seems that even in cycling, all that is old is new again.

Cycleicious brings up legal red light running in MO, bobby trapped trails in Marin (!!!!), and politicians hitting cyclists!!

Go read and discuss! Then go ride your bike!