Get It Together SF Chronicle

  This is a photo of my family I took blindly with the camera behind my head back in 2009.

It is not a terribly good picture, just a snapshot.  But it is a snapshot of some of the people I love the most in this world doing something both terribly mundane and terribly important, riding our bikes through our city to do whatever it was we were doing that day.

Today, this picture was stolen and used without my permission in a vapid, stupid and insulting piece on the SF Gate blog.  The writer, Peter Hockaday, decided it was OK to just take something that was not his and use it to write about something he knows nothing about.  That something is the neighborhood I grew up in and always think of as home, even 20 years after I moved out of it.  This neighborhood was the birthplace of SF's current bicycle movement.  This neighborhood was the California birthplace of the Sanctuary Movement.    I could go on.

This is what I had to say to him about that.



To Whom It May Concern,

My name is Adrienne Johnson and I am the woman who took picture #25 in your blog post of Sept 23rd, 2013 entitled "You Know You Live In The Mission...". First off, I am sorry, but I never gave you permission to use my photo in your piece. As a member of the journalist community you know that is not OK. As this is a photo posted to my personal account on Flickr and is posted with a copyright that barres your use of it without my permission, I can see no reason for you to leave it there, or to have even used it in the first place. This is especially true as you did not contact me through  that account, or any other, to ask for my permission. FYI, it would not have been given, and here is why.

I consider myself a San Francisco native. I have lived here for all but 3 months of my life. From 1971 until 1983 I lived in the Outer Sunset- before Trouble Coffee, before Java Beach, even before Other Avenues, back when there was still a Judah Street tunnel to the beach. From 1983 until 1989 I lived in the Mission. I lived there back when Valencia St. was half boarded up and was populated mostly by the lesbian community. Back when La Rondalla was still open and you could get midnight chicken soup and underage margaritas while drunk female impersonators sang into their drinks at the bar. Back when Pancho Villa first opened and the whole neighborhood got food there after the '89 earthquake and took it to eat in Dolores Park, not because it was cool, but because everyone was afraid to be in their homes. Back when the Mission Theater was a shithole movie house the whole neighborhood went to to see B movies in while yelling at the screen (not in its soon to be fancy art house fashion which will only show Spanish language films when they win Best International Film awards for their brave portrayal of crossing the boarder illegally). My mother was the person who got stop signs at 20th and Capp and helped the police clear out the crack dealers in the mini park so that the kids could play there once again in 1984. The garage of the building I lived in was where the Carnival Floats used to stage from at the beginning of the parade. My first apartment when I left home at 19 was on South Van Ness between 15th and 16th in 1989, and so you know, at that time that area was considered to be the most dangerous place in California with the most rapes, robberies and murders of any part of our state. We moved there because we were  too poor to stay in the Sunset. We stayed because it was the best place in SF to live if you were poor and wanted a decent quality of living.

And I LOVED IT.

I moved out of the Mission during college and I now live in Sunnyside, in an apartment I have lived in for 20+ years. My four children, 2 of whom are in this picture with my husband, were all born at CPMC (one while I still lived in the Mission!). My husband was born at Chinese Hospital. We are not hapless "visitors" to the Dark Side of Town hoping to get back to our all Caucasian enclave of Noe Valley (your intimation, not mine). We are native San Franciscans riding through our own home town.

There are families in the Mission!!! Thousands of them!!!! They have lived there for decades. If you see a family in the Mission and your first thought is "how did they wander so far from Noe Valley", then you have no business writing an article about the neighborhood in the first place. Just because the wave of people coming into SF now is young and childless and stupid rich does not mean the City is, too. If you want to write an article about the neighborhoods of SF, then get off your butt and go talk to some people in those neighborhoods! Go find out about the family that started the Pancho Villa group of taquerias, or better yet, go find some of the people who owned older taco shops that went out of business or one of the older restauranteurs who don't make burritos and talk to them. Maybe try talking to the proprietors of the old watch repair shops on Mission street? How about the people that own Sun Fat Seafood so you can get a perspective on the Chinese population in the Mission (hint, it is big and has been there for a looooong time). Ever thought of learning the history of the Victoria Theater on 16th? How about the Anarchist Movement (much of which was recently booted out of the 17 Reasons Why building that houses Thrift Town) that still populates the area. Maybe you could go talk to Don Rafa's daughter about all of the fixed gear bikes she doesn't sell. How long before these businesses are run off because the landlord wants to charge more for the crap building that was paid off 20 years ago that he refuses to fix? Do I hear Jack Spade calling to take that spot? Oh wait, that already happened.

Most of all, do not poach my photographs and assume it is OK to use them to ridicule anyone. The fact that I wake up every day knowing that at any time my landlord can and will sell my home and that I will be Ellis Acted out of it and out of the City I have called home for 43 years makes me sick. The fact that I attended F.S Key Elementary, Aptos Middle School, George Washington High and City College of San Francisco will not save me from being evicted. The fact that the very first burrito I ever ate was from La Taqueria 20 years before Zynga was even thought of will not change the fact that the people who think families only live in Noe Valley are the reason my old place at 20th and Capp is now listed at close to $4000 a month! This attitude, this cluelessness, is behind what is driving the families of the City out and I do not want to be associated with it.

You stole a photograph, whose subjects and history are unknown to you and put them into your story to make a stupid, racist, classist point. It is your bad luck that it was the wrong photo to steal. I am quite sure that wasn't your intention, but that does not matter. You didn't know that the Mission is what I consider home and I know I am there when I see mothers picking up their kids from school and carrying their backpacks home to change into their play clothes. I know I am in the Mission when I see the paleta sellers pushing their carts down the street. I know I am in the Mission when Spanish speaking evangelists are yelling into bullhorns at the 24th street BART station or when Mexico is playing El Salvador and Bolompié explodes in screaming. Want to talk to a local family? Go to any one of the funeral homes in the neighborhood and you will see huge, local, multi generational Mission families mourning their dead. You will see that those families are Hispanic, black, Asian, white... None of them are worrying if their clothes are cool enough (only people who come slumming in exclusive clubs in the 'hood do that). Or maybe try hanging out at any one of the soccer practices or games around the entire neighborhood. You will find out fast that they are all locals playing and that none of them work at Twitter or want to be pushed out of their own neighborhood. Maybe they can tell you about the days when the Mission was a Sanctuary Zone for political refugees from Latin America and you can tell them where the Sanctuary Zone is for them now that their presence is no longer welcome in their own neighborhood.

Stop playing into this ridiculous farce of "hip". The Mission is not the next up and coming neighborhood for the young and clueless. It is a neighborhood with a strong history and culture that San Francisco can not afford to lose. The Mission is a neighborhood that is being systematically drained of everything that brings people to it in the first place- the art, the culture, the diversity and the comfort of being in a place where families live their daily lives. It is the canary in the coal mine. My family, a native family, may not look like what you think the Mission looks like, but then you don't know what the Mission looks like because you chose the lazy route and bought into the hype. Start writing about the people who need to be written about to help them try to save their homes and businesses. Get off your butt and be a real journalist who asks questions and looks for answers.

And take my picture off your site.

Thank you.

Let the SF Gate (a blog published by The San Francisco Chronicle who should know and expect better) be put on notice.  I am tired of this crap.  When I published this article about being threatened by an SFPD officer in an unmarked car here on the blog the SF Gate chose to re-publish the article and then did nothing to stop the threatening, demeaning and offensive comments directed at me and my family on their site.  Now they are stealing my property to put in their silly, vapid, unresearched crap blog posts that reduce human beings into stereotypes that destroy any real conversation from happening before it starts.

There. Now go back to your lives citizens.

Blocked, Again!

San Francisco has miles of bicycle lanes. We fought long and hard for them, in and out of court. Nice to see them being used by those who need them most.









They would be so much nicer if they were not blocked. All the time. Perhaps I will start a catalogue of what I have come to think of as "San Francisco Airport's Most Amazing, Extended Cell Phone Parking Lot and Delivery Zone".

Mother, Can You Hear Me?

Installment 2 of my personal perspective on the silly things people do on their bicycles that can make things hard for everyone.

Not long ago, I was riding along Valencia St. when I noticed the rider just ahead of me was a woman I know. She was about 50 feet ahead of me, so I sped up and called out to her. She didn't hear me, so I picked up the pace a bit and called again. Nothing. I gave her my New York taxi yell (it is quite impressive, you should hear it). Nothing. Finally I caught up to her and passed to the left and said "hi!". She just about jumped out of her skin and nearly crashed.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!' she yelled at me.

"I didn't! I have been yelling your name for half a block!"

"I have my earbuds in. I can't hear anything."

"Then why do you wear them?"

"Well I can hear stuff, just not you."

Not my friend. Just someone with earbuds.

And there you have the issue that we will address in today's "How To Not Ride Really Badly" lesson. If you can't hear me hollering 50 feet away, you can't hear anything.

This guy above was a really nice guy I ran into one Bike To Work Day. His music was so loud I could hear it on my bicycle over the traffic of Market Street. He was quite startled by my presence, too. Entirely because he couldn't hear me next to him. I am pretty sure he was lip reading when I took this picture.

Just before I took this picture, this woman was passed by a frustrated bus driver. I am not convinced she heard the bus next to her as she flinched and swerved as it passed her. I am not sure how anyone would be comfortable not knowing a 60 foot long bus weighing 31,500 lbs (unloaded!!) with a frustrated driver who is late is coming up behind them.

In California, wearing headphones or earbuds in both ears, while driving or riding a bicycle is illegal (CVC 27400). Over an above that, it is stupid. When you can not hear anything other than Lady Gaga or This American Life it means you lose the one sense that can warn you ahead of time there is trouble. How many times have I not hit someone passing me on the right only because I heard their squeaky chain coming up behind?

People use the example of the deaf being able to do things without hearing. It is a silly example. Someone who is deaf has adapted to their lack of hearing and has found ways to make sure they know what is going on around them. Those who are totally into the Tupac blaring in their heads... not so much. They are distracted by the very engaging music and usually forget that the rest of the world is still out there. The woman above is a prime example- she didn't hear the car in cross traffic running the red light when it was time for us to go. It could have been really ugly.

While there is the argument that driver's should always assume that others can't hear them, or that they may hit a vulnerable road user, I don't think that absolves road users from paying attention to their own, and others safety. It is illegal to drive with headphones in Portugal, Spain, Germany, but I could not easily find information about its legality on a bicycle. The Dutch ask us not to when we ride there-

big, readable one here

James and I were talking about the issue of hearing while riding the other day. We have both taken up motorcycle riding again, after many years away. We had both noticed the same thing- we were each disturbed by our inability to hear the cars around us due to our full face helmets, road noise and wind. We have become so accustomed to being able to hear everything around us while bicycle riding that we were disturbed by our inability to do this on the motorcycle. Neither of us realized just how much we had come to depend on our hearing while riding around and neither of us felt safe when it was taken away.

So, if you want music on your ride, maybe you should just take the band along with you. Or sound up your bicycle and share the love! Hendrix is so much better when you can hear what is going on around you!

cross posted at Vélo Vogue

Are We Cultured?

I started writing this terribly long post awhile ago. I have decided to leave it as is, unedited and rambling. Read it and continue the conversation in the comments, should you chose to accept the challenge. I am sure that you all have more to say that makes sense than I do!

I think it is time that we all started talking about "bicycle culture". It is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but I am not sure that anyone could actually define what it is if asked. Can you? I can't. There is a lot out there about adding to bicycle culture and creating bicycle culture and defending bicycle culture. There are whole blogs about it : ) but what do we mean when we say these things?

So today I thought about it. Having lived in San Francisco for the vast majority of my life I have been able to see what bicycling in the City has been like for the last few decades. When I was a kid in the 70's and early 80's it was just what everyone did in my little beach community. We all got around by bike or train or Mustang GT. We didn't think about it, we just did it. The bicycles were just part of the landscape, and unless they were 10 speed road bikes (which were sooooo cool) they were just bikes. We parked them outside of the corner store to get a soda, we rode them to the other end of the beach so our parents wouldn't see us smoking, we took them to the park to play ball. We only thought about them when they were stolen. Our parents used them as a means of not having to pick us up from anything.

By the time the mid-80's came around, something started to change. It became strange to ride a bicycle for any other purpose than competitive racing or to storm the dirt trails of any planted area you could find. This was the beginning of bicyclists as a fringe element. Whereas just 5 years before when you got on your old Schwinn to go to the library, now there was neon, lycra clothing and knobby tires and flat handle bars and a horror of anything practical like fenders or baskets or kickstands. We started wearing helmets that looked like toddler training potties. Of course, if all the riding we did was jumping over logs, then this wasn't so strange, but there was still that trip to the Park & Rec that needed to happen to take a cooking class. The only way to do it by bicycle had become a lycra, chamois, helmet experience and if we tried to do otherwise we were ridiculed and driven off the road.

This was the beginning of "bicycle culture". When we allowed ourselves to be easily pegged, and thus, marginalized by donning more gear than the guys on the Tour de France did just so we could ride along the beach in the summer. Those who rode a bicycle became a deliberately visible group, defined by the activity of riding and the accouterments that we put with it. We came to a collective agreement that unless you walked away from your bicycle dirty and exhausted that you were not a legitimate bicycle rider. We read magazines with articles about maximizing pedal stroke and how to shave grams and most of all, we became afraid of our bicycles.

By the early 90's we were all convinced that our bicycles would kill us if given half a chance. If we rode on a city street, we would be immediately struck down by a car. If we rode on the sidewalk we would get hit by a car pulling out of a driveway. It was indisputable. If we rode on a trail we would get thrown by every pothole or stick in the forest. If we did not wear a helmet, Satan would find us and it would be our own fault that we were dead. In response we became one of three types of riders- non-riders who looked at their bicycles in the garage and thought "I would ride it to the beach but...", weekend sport riders who drove their bikes to points of embarkation away from the crazy streets of death, or urban street warriors who would "live free or die". That was the next step of "bicycle culture". Those who didn't disappear became almost superhuman in the eyes of the non-cycling world (whether that was super-humanly stupid or super-humanly strong was up to the changing interpretation of society at the time).

The 90's were also the beginning of what we see in San Francisco, today. The 90's were the time of the bicycle messenger and the beginning of Critical Mass. While both were, and continue to be, somewhat controversial, they were nonetheless, the only non-sports related bicyclists any of us saw in San Francisco for a whole lotta years. They were almost all male, almost all young, almost all completely broke, and many of them were drawn to the drama of the daily fight for survival in streets that no longer welcomed any thing with less than 4 wheels and 150 horsepower. They looked nothing like the Bicycle Girls of Copenhagen. Hell, they didn't look like the Office Girls of the Financial District (remember the big hair and the skirt suits?). They were brash, confrontational, brave and fast and the people of San Francisco could only ever see them through the haze of bicycle fear that had engulfed the nation.

Until recently, this was the status quo of San Francisco. That has changed quite a bit. The people on the bikes look like the people walking on the sidewalk. The bicycles are no longer of the mountain type. More than that, there are lots of them. Everywhere. And they are all going to work or shopping or lunch or school...

Still, what is our current "culture"? I am not sure there is an answer to this question. There are so many different kinds of people riding and so many different kinds of groups that they could fit into that I do not think that there is a way to define it simply. Nor do I think it would be good to be able to do so. Back when just about every cyclist on the street was a kamikaze messenger we could define the culture very easily, and subsequently, very few people wanted to join in. Without firm definitions anyone can find a place.

Yeah, Baby! Run 'Em Over!

Maybe you have seen the Mayor of Vilnius (Lithuania) running over a car parked in the bike lane already. Maybe this is all over the internet. I don't care! I would vote for him if I could.



As I have stated before, San Francisco has more of an extended cell phone parking lot than it does an extensive bicycle network.

So, Mr. Mayor, if you would like to run to be the next Mayor of San Francisco I will be your campaign manager for free!

Dear, Sir

Dear Mr. Bianchi,

Today I encountered you under, what was for myself, a very odd circumstance. I was in my car, driving to the tire shop. This in its self was odd as I rarely drive and take absolutely no responsibility for the maintenance of my car (I leave it to my husband who insists that I keep the silly thing despite the fact that the only thing I do with it is get parking tickets). You were on your terribly shiny and aggressively Celeste coloured road bike, which looked a lot like this-

You were so confident in your all navy blue wool, vintage inspired riding kit. Your helmet was so snug over you curly dark hair. Your IPod earbuds and wrap arounds fit so perfectly into the ensemble. The only thing amiss in your profile was the 15 pound bicycle chain you were carrying, although you do get points for wearing it stylishly around your terribly athletic waist.

I first saw you as you were approaching the red light that was shining for you. It was a very convenient red light for me, as it allowed my light to be green thus enabling my entrance into the intersection to make my left turn. Imagine my surprise when, after making sure that the oncoming car, who also had a green light, was far enough away to allow my turn there you were! You and your brifters and your Chris King bottom bracket* and your coordinated SPD's, right there where I was supposed to be turning. I stopped, I looked at you as you continued to drift in front of me, I put up my hands in the international sign for "Dude! What the f*ck? Really?" Your response? "You have your signal on, there is room for both of us!". As the reality of how much room I had to make my turn was certainly a point of debate (I hold that when someone on a bicycle is in a particular space that it is not wise to try to insert my car into said particular space), it was of equal interest that the, formerly, oncoming car was now waiting his turn to enter the intersection and had the same hands up communication that I had employed.

There is an argument that could be made that I could display "Righteous Indignation" at this point, but honestly, you Sir, were just to damn funny. Your bewilderment that I might find it unacceptable to run you over while you stormed my position was very amusing. While I may find the entrance into an utterly unoccupied intersection by a cyclist at a red light acceptable, it seems to me that doing so when the intersection is occupied by a moving car weighing 2701 pounds is a Darwinian Act.

And thus we come to the next odd part of this encounter. When I was finally able to clear the intersection, not because you had stopped but because you had drifted far enough along to allow me movement, I was pleasantly surprised to see you in my rear view mirror. You were standing in your saddle, pumping those legs for all it was worth to catch up to me. I lowered my window in heightened expectation of what you may have to say to me when you would inevitably catch me at the next intersection. You did not disappoint, not in the least. You removed your ear buds, which was a polite thing to do but would have held more power had you removed your mirrored sunglasses, too, and proceeded to tell me about all the room you had back there, enough room for us to share. Sure, you admit, you ran the light, but.... You assured me you were not trying to be confrontational, that you only wished to inform me. My response?

"You f*cked up, dude. Eat it and learn. Have a good ride!" It was hard to get the words out, as intelligent and considered as they were. I was just laughing too hard, and no, I was not laughing with you. My passenger, a fellow cyclist, sat in her seat saying "What the hell was that? Did he think he was right? Was he actually trying to explain that away?"

Mr. Bianchi, should you read this, please understand that I have no ill will toward you. You seemed a perfectly decent person and I am sure your mother raised you well. It is simply this, Sir- crap like that is what makes people in cars angry at people on bicycles. It is behavior that you have complete control of and is not caused by poor infrastructure or a lack of awareness by the driving public. Entering intersections with moving cars in them when it is not your turn is stupid, dangerous and just really bad manners.

If you do choose to take this action again, please don't try to explain it away. It makes us all look silly, selfish and self absorbed. Just apologize and keep moving keeping in mind that the pissed off driver you leave behind you will most likely take out their frustration on the next cyclist they see.

Have a great ride, Mr. Bianchi!

*OK, I have one of those, too so I will give you a slide on that one.

We Have Nothing To Fear, But We Do It Anyway

I noticed today on the blog "Road Gap" that friend to the blog Mikael Colville-Andersen's speech at TED was up and ready for sharing! It is always fun to hear his thoughts on all things bicycle. This speech is about one of my favorite topics to ponder- the Culture of Fear. In this case he relates it to bicycle helmets, but it could really be about any number of things. When we do things for our "safety" without really finding out if it is indeed "safe" we become less.

The post below is one I wrote in 2009 and is from my more personal blog. More fear, less thinking as something we can teach our children seems to have become the norm. Even when the intentions are good the damage is the same.

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Today was 'Bike Rodeo' day at my daughter's elementary school. The YMCA brought out a ton of bikes and helmets for the kids to ride, and spent a couple of hours teaching the kids riding skills they can use on the streets- looking over your shoulder without swerving, sudden stops, right of way... Overall, perhaps one of the more potentially useful lessons these kids will learn this week. I was so happy to see them learning something practical and basic, something kids learned just by being on the block when I was a kid.

Despite my joy at seeing the kids riding around, there were more than a few moments in the morning where the kids were being fed fear rather than knowledge. Right at the beginning, the helmets went on. While I do not wear a helmet (please don't write me to tell me I am crazy- I have my reasons and they are fine for me), I have no problem with others wearing them and insist that my children do, if for nothing else than to keep them from scraping up their faces when they stack- I do not think they will provide any protection in the case of major collisions (again, I have my opinion on this, you have yours- leave it at that). As the instructors fitted the kids with various helmets, I heard one of them telling the kids "this helmet will save your life". Not 'could save your life' or 'will keep you from scraping your face if you fall'- the kids were told, with absolute conviction, that their lives would absolutely be saved. By implication, the instructors sounded as though they knew that today would be the day that death came to visit my daughter's class and that these plastic buckets would fend off the scythe of the Grim Reaper.

So right off the bat, the kids are being conditioned to accept other people limiting their choices and ability to reason through situations by instilling fear as the basis for decision making. As my presence in this class was to take pictures of the kids learning how to ride, I was not in a position to say anything about it, nor was it an appropriate forum for that discussion. But it got me to thinking about how often our kids are controlled by fear, mostly because the adults are all living in fear. Fear of pedophiles and trans fats and lead paint and underachievement and delayed speech and public schools... have turned parents and teachers into peddlers of fear and anxiety. Children who are never allowed out of eyeshot of an adult grow up to be teenagers who can not be off the electronic leash of phones and computers with everyone they know for fear of not being connected to everything at all times.

The worst part is we have marketed this as cool. Fear of the world has become fashionable! Instead of facing our demons we have made them the fodder for talk shows, the basis of indoor play spaces with monitors at the ready with antibacterial wipes, the warning label on matchboxes telling us the contents are flammable. We have made being weak and frightened the epitome of 'fitting in'. We have allowed something as simple and basic as riding a childhood bike to become an activity that calls into question our parenting if we do something as radical as let kids just get on with it and have fun.

How do we turn back the clock on this? Is there a way to teach others the joy of simply allowing the moment to be what it is without catastrophizing it? To 'go with the flow', so to speak. Can we stop this before we paralyze our children's future, a future where they will need to be creative and fearless and brazen on a level most of us have never known? My goodness, I hope so, because we have fallen off and we need to get back on the bike of life without fear for the sake of our kids and ourselves.

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I leave you with this terribly funny video introduced to me by Todd of Clever Cycles.

It's All Greek To Me, Part 2

Onward and upward! What shall we talk about this time? Shall we tackle the "kid" myth? Let's jump in!

#2- You Can Not Ride In The City With Children

If you are a regular reader of this blog you already know this to be untrue. As I have posted about my own kid's adventures in San Francisco, ad nauseum, if it were true that one can not ride in the urban environment with children then my whole family would disappear in a puff of fairy dust.

I wonder if this gentleman knows that he and his children are figments of the collective imagination? This would mean that the martial arts class he and his kids are riding home from probably didn't exist either.

These children will be scarred for life when they find out they don't exist. I didn't really see them and my camera took a picture of ghosts. They seemed to be enjoying their imaginary trip across the Sunset District. Their fathers seemed to be happy, too. Perhaps it takes a great deal of pressure off the soul when you don't exist. It couldn't possibly be the bicycle ride in the sun.

A lone child on a bicycle in the Mission? Not possible. Who lets their children ride their bicycle to soccer practice?

My imaginary neighbor. He has three lovely boys that ride in the bucket to and from school.

You can tell this picture is fake. What Mom would ride with their daughter on the back?

Multiple Mom's, unrelated to one another, on Valencia Street with children riding on the backs of their bicycles? Never happened.

These last two pictures are proof that I have to be making all of this up. These families just do not exist in San Francisco. I mean, really. With the hills and the cars and the time constraints....

Take The Lane Or Make A Better One?

In many cities across North America, bicycles are making a comeback. This is an amazing thing, in my book. For the first time since the 1960's people in the United States, Canada and Mexico are truly making an effort to live life less destructively. Unlike the Hippie movement, today's crop of social experimenters look like everyone else (there is most certainly a lot less patchouli, thank goodness) and choose to work from within the system instead of dropping out to create a new one.

The public hallmark of the resurgence of the bicycle is the bike lane. We lust for them, we beg for them, we cheer them when they are finally painted along the side of the road.

As much as I love seeing them, I have to admit that my feelings about most bicycle lanes are mixed. While many of the newest lanes in SF are well placed and very much needed to get people on the street on their bicycles, much of what we have is substandard by any measure out there. The above lane is fantastic for showing all road users where they should be to move in certain directions and has made this stretch of bicycle route a whole bunch better to ride on. In spite of this improvement, the lane is still either squeezed to the right of, or smack dab in the middle of, 30 mph traffic. No measure of traffic calming was employed here, no reduction in traffic speed, no physical separation of bicycles and cars (there is a buffer zone on the straightaways, but that can feel a bit flimsy when there is delivery truck straddling it). During rush hour, when this stretch is packed with people in cars who are late-late-late, you have to be pretty centered with a healthy dose of trust in the ability of others to drive in a straight line.

This next picture is of Valencia Street. The three most prominent bicycle routes in San Francisco are The Wiggle, Market Street and Valencia. Of these, Valencia St. has experienced the greatest change recently with huge traffic calming and reduction planning, removal of parking and turning lanes, widening of sidewalks and conversion of unused bus stops into bike corrals. These measures have helped to increase the number of cyclists greatly in the last few months and every time I ride there I see more and more people cruising along to get where they are going. Every inch of bike lane on Valencia Street is planted firmly in the door zone and while it is a showcase of new bicycle infrastructure for SF it is also some of the most popular double parking and cell phone space in the City. Having a large police station and many parking enforcement officers to monitor the meters makes no difference either as no one ever issues any tickets.

This lane is on Cabrillo Street and is one of the oldest lanes in SF. It is a fantastic lane as it is firmly established outside the door zone and is striped on both sides to clearly show this to riders and parkers alike. There are many out there, like myself, who wonder why the new lanes are not planned as well as this. We also wonder what will come of this in the long run.

New riders who do not have a great deal of experience on the road frequently see bicycle lanes as a promise of safety from traffic. They don't have the experience to recognize the door zone or the reflexes to dodge doors while not getting hit by passing traffic. Or better yet, be comfortable enough to be able to recognize the cars with the potential to have a door open into them. New riders think they have to stay in the lane to be safe and then become targets for the dreaded right hook. They frequently do not know how to get out of the lane to either get around right turning vehicles or to merge with traffic to make left turns themselves. Many people feel uncomfortable taking the lane because they feel they are getting in the way (not a problem I have) and will not come out of the bicycle lane even when they recognize it at as substandard.

A lot of energy goes into discussions of how bicyclists should behave. There is a lot of discussion about the need to stop at signs and not ride on sidewalks and be polite... and while I agree that riding predictably and with the needs of others recognized makes for a much more pleasant experience for all, unless we address the true problem, total lack of infrastructure that makes it impossible to ride in something other than survival mode, we will always have unpredictable riders.

Between doors and pedestrians in the bike lane, even pedicabs have to take the lane.

If delivery trucks and people checking their GPS systems insist on doing so in the bike lane then we will have to resign ourselves to cyclists darting into traffic to get around them.

If bike lanes are placed in the door zone then we will have to resign ourselves to more aggressive riders because they can not safely use the space that has been allotted to them. Want to see a really frustrated driver? Then watch them get upset when they get stuck behind a cyclist who has to take the lane instead of using the substandard bike lane that has been given them. Who will get blamed in that situation? It won't be the institutions that put in the badly planned lane, it will be the cyclist who is trying to keep from getting doored.

If the only standard of street planning is moving the most cars as fast as possible then we can not complain when some cyclists behave in what feels like aggressive or erratic manners. The lack of infrastructure is the cause, the cyclists are just the symptom. If you maintain a road system that encourages drivers and cyclists alike to behave like the Running of the Bulls then you can not get angry at the users for doing so. There will be those who take the part of "the bull" and those who take the part of "let me get the hell out of the way".

When bike lanes work, people are happy.

If we want to stop the "bad behavior" we need to start building like Portland. If we want new cyclists to join the ranks then the need for articles like this or today's article at Streetsblog need to be eliminated by building better bicycle accommodations.

Close Encounters

It would seem that I am a police magnet, which is kind of strange as I left my wild days behind a while ago. The only other explanation would be that upright bicycles ridden by women in skirts are some kind of threat that needs to be addressed in the penal code.

This is a picture of San Jose Ave, the section known as the Bernal Cut. It is to friendly, usable roadway what Wild Irish Rose is to a fine Bordeaux- both will get you there, but one will make you hurt way more than the other. The problem is that despite the fact that the entrance to this bicycle lane forces riders to tangle with 50 MPH traffic exiting a freeway while trying to turn right, it is the only topographically reasonable way to get from my home to any part of the Mission or Downtown. The entrance to this street looks a lot like a freeway on-ramp, and is, in fact, right next to one. At the beginning of the ramp is a large "Bicyclists Allowed Use Of Full Lane" sign, complete with the California code number that makes this law.

Once I got used to using this route it wasn't a big deal to go this way. It requires being very alert and assertive, but over time drivers have become accustomed to seeing cyclists in this area and know to look out for us. There is also quite a lot of space to move around in before hitting the marked bicycle lane so it is not hard to find your spot to get through. I ride this route many, many times a week and, sometimes, several times a day. It is not unusual for me to have one or more kids with me.

Today, as with most days, I jumped on the Bat with Declan on the back, and headed to San Jose Ave. on my way to a meeting at City Hall (ironically, a meeting about traffic reduction and calming in this area). As soon as I hit the overpass, just after passing the big yellow advisory sign giving me the lane (one of two lanes, BTW), I found myself being shadowed by an SFPD cruiser with an officer yelling at me through the passenger window (as I was doing 20 MPH down a rather steep hill). The "conversation" went like this-

Officer- (in incredulous and annoyed voice) Hey! Do you know where you are going?

Me- Yes. I do.

O- You can't be here!

Me- Yes I can.

O- This is a highway! You can't be here!

Me- No it isn't. This is San Jose Ave. and I can ride here whenever I want.

O- Pull over!

I pull over, right at the busiest and most dangerous part of the avenue, before the bicycle lane begins and right where the worst speeders drive by. Not by choice. This is where I am forced to pull over. I say nothing about this because it is pointless and I know I am going to be fine.

O- You can't be here. This is considered a highway.

Me- No. It is San Jose Ave. and I can be here. The sign at the entrance lets you know that I get the full lane while I am here.

O- You can't ride here.

Me- Yes I can, and I do everyday along with a couple of hundred other people who use this official bicycle route.

O- I am just going to have to call this in and see.

Me- You have to call to find out that this is a city street and that I am allowed by law to ride here?

O- I am just concerned about your son's safety.

Me- If you are not used to driving through here I am sure seeing me here is a little unnerving.

O- Yes. It is!

Me- I can understand that, but I ride through here with my children almost everyday. It is the recognized bicycle route through this area as you can see by the bicycle lane and signage at the beginning of the ramp.

O- Just because you do it everyday doesn't make it right.

Me-I can understand why you feel that way, but the fact is I have the right to be here and am no less safe here than most parts of the City. I appreciate your concern, but we are fine as long as people like yourself keep your eyes open and allow us our right of way.

O- (starting to calm down)- OK. I just don't want you to get hurt.

Me- I appreciate that. We will be fine. Thank you for your concern.

With that, he got back in his cruiser and left me to my own devices. Part of me wanted to be annoyed with him. I hate it when police officers make crap up to get you to do something assuming you do not know your rights. I also really hate it when others try to protect my children from me, mostly because they give the most patently ridiculous reasons for doing so. The times that I have complained about the dangerous drivers on this route, I have been told by the SFPD that "you shouldn't be there anyway. It is way too dangerous and there is nothing we can do about it". In spite of these things, this encounter just left me sad.

Why do so many of the encounters that we have with police officers when we are riding have to be like this? Officers who either do not know the law or don't care and make things up. Officers who endanger my safety by driving too close to me while yelling out windows about how dangerous my riding is ( which in its self is pretty funny as I am a Grandma rider). Officers that threaten me and call me names they would never think of if I were not on a bicycle. Do they take a special class in this? When will it ever get better?

We can put in all the lanes and signs we want, but until we get our police departments better training in bicyclists and bicycle law we will all end up having these silly disruptions in our everyday transit. Until these departments are willing to learn the lessons (and there is a fair amount of evidence out there that this is not the case in departments all across the country), we will have to endure pointless lectures, unfair moving violations and discrimination in accidents that injure us .

At least I didn't get a stupid ticket for doing nothing wrong. For that I am grateful.

Perspective

After seeing this every day for a year,

it makes me so much happier to see this

Is it any wonder I want to get rid of my car? I know there are times cars are the best way to get "there", but 95% of the time, for me, this is not so. I rode 45 miles, partly in the rain, over mountains, on a 25 year old mixte on Sunday and it was better than the, uneventful, car ride home after.

One day, I will be car free. It is getting closer.

Why Today?

Why do you ride a bicycle? That is a pretty common question, and there are a lot of answers that you can give. I suspect that in most cases, the reasons change pretty frequently. They do for me.

I like to watch people.

I like to do things on my bicycle that others need minivans for.

I like spending time with my family doing something purposeful and fun.

Today, though, I ride because the Gulf of Mexico is being chocked to death. I ride because there are whole swaths of the ocean that have no oxygen. I ride to try to change my own life so that I am not contributing any more than necessary to the disaster that oil and power and corruption and greed and ignorance and apathy have in killing the Gulf.

Why do you ride today?

The Most Boring Bike Conversations Ever

Can I just say I am sooooooooooooooooooooo tired of hearing from either side of the Critical Mass conversation? The "We/You All Need To Stop At Stop Signs" conversation is also entirely too overdone to be of any interest. As to the helmet horse some like to beat? Booooooorrrrrring. Please do not get anyone started on the "separated bicycle infrastructure" line either, because there is just not enough time in life to have to listen to the people who like to ride fast in traffic spar with the people who can not tolerate a car anywhere near them for whatever reason. As to who pays for roads and are they the same people who park for free on the 30% of the American landscape covered by asphalt.... aaaaaargh!!!!!

It isn't that I think that these conversations are not important, it is only that everyone needs to go to their happy places and come up with a better way of talking to each other about this stuff.

In the meantime, Lady Gaga did not get the warning about choosing your seat colour carefully-

Via Digitally Blonde