Postcard greetings from afar

No matter where in the world those of us who write the blog end up, you can be sure we are looking out for bikes.

CTX is currently "out of the office" and traveling around Mexico. Being that I'm busy being a tourist and all that, I will keep this brief.

Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones, chosen or otherwise, and take in the amazing potential of this new year.

My holiday postcard to you and yours is this lovely wooden bike display seen outside a flower shop in Mexico City. Enjoy!

swimming in lapses.

or is it swimming in ellipses...?



take a step backwards in time.



or two to the beginning.



where does it all end?

furthering the dream

unwrap this.



we started here:



where oh where does the rabbit hole go?

please hug someone you love today

i was going to unfold the inception further today, but instead, in light of today's rather shocking and rather unfathomable news, i'll just post this picture instead found on neatorama. and please hug a kid, or someone you love, today.

foto inception series

why is this photo so close in on ade? and what are all those post-its behind her? and what is that helmet doing on her chest since one is rarely on her head?

all this answered, and more, or maybe not answered, soon.

friday fun times: female bike bloggers unite.

and have fun at the san francisco bicycle coalition's yearly fundraiser, winterfest.



CTX, ade and KT all having fun at the winterfest foto booth.



CTX, ade and ramona.

we also met up with a flickr friend. nice to meet you tarik!



more pics to follow. thanks SFBC for putting on a fun event once again.

Arthursday: Bicycle Film Festival 2012 Compliation

i've got video making on the brain lately. as such, i wandered to youtube/vimeo to see what i could find for today's edition of Arthursday.

here's a compliation of the submission to the bicycle film festival. we've talked about films we've seen there on the blog before. check it out if you are in a city where it is showing (it travels around the globe). last time i went to the festival, i heard the organizer said he's tired of coming to SF cause the gospel of the bike is already spoken. (hint: that doesn't mean you shouldn't show films here!)

either way, this is a nice compilation of bikes on film, digital or otherwise, a medium we rather love. enjoy!

Arthursday: Bicycle Sounds video

here's a video short that arrived in my inbox via the SF bicycle coalition earlier this week. this particular short is the winner of the Bike Short Film Festival Spring 2012 from NYC.

enjoy!

Bicycle Sounds from Stephen Meierding on Vimeo.

happy birthday paxton gate!

one of the most unusual stores to get ideas, knickknacks and other things to please even that goth teen hiding behind thick black bangs in your family. looks like they are turning 20.



so it's quite fitting they have this unusual and old looking tricycle outside their kid's store. don't forget to shop local, one of a kind few for those presents!

dingding.

story & image via mission local.

35mm Bikes

It has been a bit since I have been out shooting pictures of my lovely fellow two wheelers.  In truth, much of my riding and shooting has been sidelined recently.  Pro-tip-  don't get arthritis if you like being very physical.  So this Thanksgiving day, I give you a little view into my San Francisco and a few of the bicycle people who populate it

Remember, after you spend some time being thankful for all your blessings, go out and ride your bike so you can burn some of those blessings off!

the holidaze are here.

did they kind of sneak up on you like it snuck up on me? unfortunately, it is also that time of year for an uptick in bike thievery. h/t to jenny oh, who is quickly becoming a one woman behemoth of a bike savior for those bikes who have been snatched away from our precious bike locks in the bay area.



she sent out a reminder the other day about being extra vigilant, especially if you leave to visit loved ones, and i thought would be good to post here. if you are in the bay area, you can join the google group to report stolen bikes.

It's the Holiday Season, So Bike Owners -- Please Be Vigilant!

As my friend +Fred Moyer said to me online today, "This is the time of year Bad Santa and his evil elves make their rounds." He made the suggestion to remind folks to be on the alert when you're not at home and your possessions are left unattended.

So if you're going out of town, be extra careful about making sure your personal property is safe - and that includes your bicycles! There's been a rash of thefts lately with thieves breaking into garages and stealing unlocked bicycles.

If you don't have an alarm system, try and secure your garage so that no one can break-in without creating a lot of noise / attention.

If you have to leave your bikes in a garage, lock them securely. There's also been recent incidents of thieves cutting frames to steal bike parts, so be mindful of that as well.

Better yet, bring them inside while you're away and secure them in a safe place.

Let your neighbors know you'll be out of town, and ask them to keep an eye on your place if possible. Have them report any suspicious activity.

If you have any other tips, please share them!

gone fishing

:)

F is for...

a Fell street Full of possibilities. the Future is wide open.




rain is now back in the bay area. time to get a bike with Fenders, check on those brakes, and get those reflective rain poncho/skirt/pants/cape/jacket/boots out of the closet, dusted off and ready for the bikey runway.

have a great weekend everyone. give someone you love a hug today.

Get Out Your Bicycles, NYC!

The transportation system in NYC is hosed, people!  I hate to say it, but it is going to be awhile before that system is back, too.  Salt water and electrical systems do not mix and all seven tunnels are flooded to platform level.

Soooooo.....

NYC it is time to pull your bikes out of you storage units and get pedaling!  No more squabbling over where to put a bike lane, 'cause your whole city is a bike zone now.

friday fun times: world series edition

yeah, yeah. you heard. the giants are in the world series. again.

you heard they won the first two games.

some of us were at game one. here's some pics. enjoy!

KT stopped by the bike parking corral, because getting to and from the stadium really is easier if you ride your bike.

it's fun being a tia/cousin, cause can get outfits like this for the little one.

sf giants advance to world series

in case you didn't hear or don't follow sports, san francisco's own giants are going to the world series. ade and our friend KT over at velo vogue are huge giants fans. i work giants games sometimes parking bikes, and the energy is infectious.



here's some photos of giants inspired bike shenaningans taken by KT and me. congrats to SF giants and their die hard fans.

Bike Fair!

If you want to know what a healthy city looks like, look to see how many kids and families are out on bicycles.  If kids are getting around on 2 wheels, chances are things in that city are pretty good.  For myself, I will never live anywhere where children can not ride a bicycle.

To that end, the elementary school in my neighborhood, Sunnyside Elementary School,  is having a Bicycle Fair, this Saturday!  This school already has an incentive based program to get kids and families to do anything other than drive to school.  This program is beginning to be copied at other schools in the area. 

The families and staff at the school all recognize that things must change for these kids to have a good future.  We have annual Bike Rodeos to teach the kids how to ride. We sponsor Bike To School Day (30% of our kids participated this year!)

So, if you are in San Francisco on Saturday from 11-2 and looking for something to do with your kids come one by!  If you have a old bicycle, any size, any shape, any style, you just do not want, bring it to us!  San Francisco Yellow Bike Project will be there to help turn that old clunker into something shiny and new for someone who needs it!  They will be ready to swap out old for new-to-you and will have a free repair station going for those nagging little things that are just keeping you off your bike! 

The San Francisco YMCA will be out with their fantastic rodeo and training wheels classes.  The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition will be giving its amazing Family Bike Class to get you and your kids out on the streets together!

And to top it off, bicycle based MamakSF and The Localist will be there slinging their wonderful food and showing us all you don't always need a delivery van to bring food to the people!

sights and sounds from the south

birmingham, alabama

i went to birmingham, alabama recently and one of the first things i saw was a large billboard showcasing some bicycle marketing we've talked about here on the blog before. this time was advertising a bank.



they equated bicycles with efficiency. heh. i can dig it. also glad to see that bike marketing is permeating a city infrastructure which basically supports no bicycles. i'm not trying to be sarcastic either. maybe the marketing will seep through and begin to have some sort of influence on the city, or not, but gotta remain hopeful that change is coming. all over the US.

austin, texas

i also went to my hometown of austin, texas. bikes are everywhere there, and i can't help smiling when i see bikes all over the streets.

i went to austin city limits music festival again, and as i mentioned previously, they recommended pedal power to get to the festival. we definitely took advantage of their bike parking. and also got to see some great bikes.

the little blue cannondale is mine. got it as a christmas present last year. if anyone knows about this era of cannondales, please share! says it's made in the usa.









i miss texas, and can't wait to get back for a non-working vacation sometime in the near future. had a great time, but it's time to head back to san francisco.

friday fun times: tall bike edition

a bunch of people came into town to critical mass a couple of weeks ago. including people who came from mexico city on a TALL BIKE. not a touring bike, but a tall bike.

image from johnny payphone.

as i shake my head at wondering how hard this must have been to do, they were quite the sight to see all over town. have you seen how to mount those things? not to mention stopping.

if you are not familiar with a tall bike, it is a bike that constructed out of two (or more) frames stacked on top of another to have the "tall" look and feel of it.

here are a few that made it to ocean beach from whereabouts unknown. requesting donations to get them shipped back to those places...

am not sure about if they got help to go back home, so if anyone reading knows, we'd love to hear about the continuing adventures of those tall bikes.

am in austin, my lovely hot and humid hometown for the ACL festival. we will be using pedal power to get to the festival. duh. also can't wait to be riding my austin bike again! we both have older mountain bike frames that we have converted to be more commuter friendly, but we also want to ride some trails while we're here! hope we have time to do so!

have a great weekend everyone!

critical points of view...

i meant to put this up last week, but i had to attend to some family matters.

i wanted to share some pics i took of critical mass from a couple of fridays ago. you can be en masse with your bikey posse one second, and the next second lose all of them completely as the slow moving molasses mass moves around you like lava, hot and with determination.

also, critical mass was not just one day of celebration, but a week long event with something new each day. the last day was on sunday, a bittersweet day for me, which ended with a lovely bike ride to the beach to hear some music from musicians using the rock the bike sound system.

ade already spelled out a few reasons why she hopes not to need critical mass in a few years, and i happen to agree with her. so this will just be a picture post.

enjoy.



kiddical mass showed up!







what do you call a bikey marching band.



you've got mail, chevron.





sunday's closing event took place at ocean beach.









sunset. and life continuing on.