two for tuesday: basketball and bikes take II

well, we are now on the other side of the nba finals. the heat has another ring under its belt. took me a few days to finally be able to write this post. ugh! :)

i'm very proud of the effort that san antonio spurs put forth (fun fact: they will be playing the timberwolves in mexico city this december...road trip anyone?), but they were just one or two free throws too short.

so my advice to pop during the offseason: get your guys on bikes already!! next year i want to be able to google them and find tons of pictures of them on bikes.



heh, i just can't help myself...can ya blame me?

anyway, rainy here in our (weather) offseason. time to bust out the rain gear that remained virtually unused this past winter. also there might be a bart strike. which should be...interesting if it starts today.

critical mass riders in NBA playoffs, CTX does not root for them

how can this be? not when they are of the MIAMI HEAT! as you may recall a few months ago that lebron james, dwayne wade, and mario chalmers rode critical mass not too long ago. he threw up those pics on instagram with the hashtag #bikelife. brought to you by meliBROsa.



normally i would be rooting for the bike...but, well, they are playing my SAN ANTONIO SPURS.

i didn't easily find any pics of the SAN ANTONIO SPURS on bikes...but as you all know i'm from texas. and i want them to BEAT THE HEAT.



so it's all well and fine that critical mass participant and bike commuters are in the NBA playoffs, and hell, maybe their bike helped get them there...but this time, i hope they lose. cause really, we're so close to winning the NBA FINALS!

GO SPURS GO!!

just keep playing like this!

7 angels on a bicycle

last night i went to the east bay, a rare event indeed. why did i do this? to see a woman i've grown up with perform. her name is carrie rodriguez and she is on tour promoting her new album. when we were growing up, she was studying classical violin, and now she plays the fiddle. heh. she's now grown up from that 6 year old girl i first met all those years ago into a talented, and lovely, female americana artist.

she was born into an artistic texas family. her dad is songwriter david rodriguez and her mother is fine artist katy nail. fun chisme fact: mama texican ran into katy nail the other day, and then two weeks later the daughters were reunited.

so i'm glad to see carrie is carrying on her family tradition. and to see she's also representing austin well. we're all so proud to be from austin! it's ingrained in our veins.

anyway, she wrote a song for a friend that she knew since she was 2 years old who lost his life too soon while commuting to work in manhattan. she says she plays the song every day to her dear friend. her friend had bike toured from seattle to austin, backpacked in patagonia, chile, and succumbed to a commute in manhattan at the age of 25.



what a nice way to be remembered and to heal.

i've included a video of lyle lovett covering one of her dad's tunes, just for fun.



have a great weekend everyone, and hug your fellow bicyclist. one day we will not be killed going to work.

obama's new chief of staff rides a bike to work

the league of american bicyclists has a post describing that current bike commuter and new obama administration employee, denis mcdonough, may have to stop riding his bike due to the security involved.

foto by daniel greenfield

the league posits top five reasons the new CoS should be allowed to ride his bike to work.

• the fitness of his security detail will set a new standard for the entire White House
•he’ll never get stuck in traffic in times of emergency
•there’s always plenty of bike parking space on the White House railings
•he’ll never have to leave a critical security briefing “becasue my carpool is leaving now”
•didn’t you sign an Executive Order on Sustainability that encourages this sort of thing?

they are asking to fill out 5 more reasons as to why he should be allowed to ride his bike to work. what would you say?

the times article i listed above says probably one of the most poignent reasons he should be allowed to ride his bike: "(After scrapes with motorists, he now mostly drives.)"

so one of my reasons would be: "the visibility someone in his position bike commuting to work will set a nationwide trend." the trend will be less dependence on foreign oil and also combat obesity, setting a role model for our nation's children. basically things we like about biking anyway.

what would you add to the list?

lebron james rode to work, wins game.

i'm sure you all heard that lebron james rode his bike to work yesterday. he rode his way to a miami heat win over the bulls. coincidence? probably not. those who know bball better than i do (go spurs go!) say he had a good game. probably from warming up before by riding to work.



was this all a staged photo op? maybe. from my 10 second research with google and james, i found he does a charity bike ride each year. rad! also, if a marathon snarls traffic, and one is already into biking, why the hell not ride in to work? everyone wins.

this pic might get some people into riding, "if a ginormously famous bball player can ride to work then....maybe i can?" and as you know, we are all about changing lives by riding bikes over here :) of course, you don't need to customize yr bike to say "king james" on it or anything. also, why not be original and say "king lebron"? i hear there's a pretty popular book already with the former name.

Rush Hour

For the first time in ages I found myself Downtown at quitting time. In just the year that I have not been working, the number of people riding on Market St. has sky rocketed!

I spent three minutes at one spot and shot whoever came by.

I couldn't get them all.

These are just a few of those who passed. I wonder how many of them were riding like this last year? How many of them are new to bicycle commuting? If I had been able to stay a little longer, maybe just 10 minutes, I would have been able to shoot the packs of riders you see at 5:15 PM on every intersection of Downtown SF. How many more will there be next year?

Night & Day

Day time. Riding out to get some work done, pick up kids, return milk bottles...

Night time. Mid-week Butter Lap around town. Gotta get better at the hill climbing if I am going to make it in August.

Mix it up a bit. Just because you commute does not mean you can not race. Just because you like the open road does not mean you can't hit the street.

happy bike to work day...everyday

we're smack dab in the middle of bike to work week, and hopefully this has propelled some of you to jump in that saddle and ride to work

or, in the alternative, bike to life.

for others who already ride, maybe you've volunteered, or told your workplace or encouraged friends to get on that bike and ride around.

community building is my personal favorite part of this week...

if you are in SF, please stop by to see our very own model blogger, meli, in a fashion show during the SFBC bike away from work party tonight at the rickshaw shop from 6-10 pm.

happy riding everyone!

Hey y’all, this bike changed my life.

hey guys, cali here. the following post is a guest contribution from one of my 2.0 friends, alex. he recently bought a bike, and i asked him to share a little bit about that with you guys. being the 2.0 kind of dude he is, he readily complied. here it is. enjoy.

Two weeks ago I bought a bike and y’all were right: my life has changed. I’m addicted to bike. Instantly, my commute turned into a joyously rowdy ride down Valencia and Market in the sun, rain and wind. I get on that bike and I feel like I’m riding around like I did when I was a kid, but now I’m rolling through streets I’ve never seen and stopping at places I’ve never been. Finding sweet short cuts, timing out stoplights and dodging doors and busses are now part of my everyday routine. And it’s awesome.

I’ve been reading this blog for a while, and should have expected that my life would change, but it happened quickly and thoroughly. The transition has been more like a reversion to myself as a little dude, getting into trouble, back in the day. Drenching myself in a torrential downpour on the way to work was a badass adventure compared to the drudge of being crammed down in a tunnel on BART. And blazing through the city up and down dominating hills with sandstormy headwinds is my new fave thing. Especially when finished with some cold beers.

So yeah, thanks for the inspiration, thought I’d share these photos. Say what’s up if you see me riding through.

Gazing lustily at the waves

Racing on some butter in Golden Gate Park

Chillin' with the homey Nature's Mistake on Page

thanks alex for submitting a post about your recent adventures. so much jam packed into two weeks of riding! and agreed, nothing better to top off some riding with a nice cold beer...or your beverage of choice, of course. ahem. sssssup.

Don't call me. Page me.

Because you will find me on Page street.
Silky smoothness, one of the latest additions of the buttery streets around our beloved wigglelands, here in SF. And many more to come.

Smooth pavement makes a ride very pleasant and great sunset light reflect up from the surface on your ride home now that the sun stays out for a tad longer. Have you been on a recently paves street? got any pictures? send them over :D
-happy riding!

Which Bike Today?

Over at EcoVelo, Alan has arguably one of the most drool worthy private collections of bicycles of all of the bicycle bloggers out there. He has articles on his Country and Commuter bikes. This has inspired me to share my own, impressive fleet.

First up, My Commuter-

You have all seen my Batavus Socorro. After my old commuter proved to be wrong for me, Hubby the Bike Man presented me with this wonderful bike. When I was still working, I used this to get me to work- 18 miles round trip (without child pick up) with a 20 mile train trip in the middle. I wore professional attire while riding it, and that basket in the front was perfect for carrying my purse, my lunch, my jacket... Where I worked in Richmond, CA , there was no car parking on the facility premises and the surrounding area was rife with crime. There was always space in my clinic to keep my bike, which meant no slashed tires or broken windshields.

Next, My Country Bike

With my heavy duty frame and front suspension, my Bat is great on rough terrain. I can use my bike on just about any road out there (except for maybe Downieville, but that's OK). Fire roads are no issue for me.

Now, we move onto my Kid Hauler.

Pick up at the preschool is easy. I pull up to the school, unfold my Bobike Junior, put Declan on the back and off we go. The seat has a folding rack in the back so I can carry the boy's backpack on it. It will carry him until he is 70 pounds, assuming I have not booted him off to his own bike by then. Because the Bat is so damn stable, I am able to carry my very wriggly boy home without feeling like we will tip over (although I am convinced that he wants to see if he can do the whole Thriller dance back there). I still have the Burley trailer hitch on there if I need to carry more than one kid or a big screen television.

Last, but not least, is my Everything Bike.

While I do not work these days, I am always out running errands, meeting people, working to slow traffic in front of my home.... and usually put at least 10 miles of errand riding on it daily, filling up the front basket as I go. After that comes picking up Declan. His school is a 6 mile ride from my home. We usually need to stop for groceries on the way home and pick up as much as will fit on the back rack (we go through half a gallon of milk a day and about 60 pounds of produce a week).

I would be lying if I let you think I have only the one bike, I do not. But I could. It is telling that this bike has about 5500 of the 6000 miles I have logged in the last year and a half. All it takes is one bike that you love to get you riding- until I was given my Bat I couldn't dream of riding like this because I had the wrong bike (too big, not appropriate).

However, if you are looking for a fleet, I can recommend Alan's as one to wish for!

Monday Means Two Wheeled Women

Everyone wants to know where the women on bikes are? They are out there getting to where they are going. It is Monday, and there is stuff to do!

image by Amsterdamize

image by Bart Omeu

image by anglomex

How Your Monday Could Look

I was coming home on Thursday last, for the first time in days, by bicycle. Between time constraints, bad weather and knees in a lot of pain (turns out my seat on SAM was too far back by an inch and I was suffering for it) I had not been for a real ride in a couple of weeks. There were several errands that I needed to run (one of them dropping off my Minolta x-700 for repair! I can't wait to shoot with it!) and so, decided to take the long way to pick up Declan.

I got to ride along the beach. The sky was beautiful, and the surfers were out.

The young folks threw off their shoes and jumped in the surf.

Kids just out from school ditched the books and jumped on.

I'll take this moment for a little video show off.

On the way home I got to meet my favorite kind of fellow commuter. People who ride with their children in the City get a bit more courtesy from drivers, sometimes, but we get a lot of criticism from people, too. It takes a lot of patience to be a successful kid hauler in an urban environment. So when I meet them, I like to make sure I give the parents props (although we usually can't figure out what the big deal is).

With just the very limited improvements in infrastructure that San Francisco sees these days we have seen an increase in bicycle commuters. I really notice it when I have been off the bike for a few days.

Bicycle commuting can be a challenge, but it is just about always worth the effort. The things you see and experience make the day so much better.

Will You Be My Neighbor?

This is my neighbor. I don't know his name, but he rides his Madsen through our crazy, hilly neighborhood with his three kids in the bucket! My kids had seen him around, but it wasn't until today that I was able to get a picture. For a few minutes, my street looked the way I wish it always did- a Madsen with kid, Xtracycle with teenager, 10 year old on her own bike, Dutch bike with groceries, trail-a-bike with son behind Dad. A healthy street. I hope the rest of the neighborhood got a good look : )

In other fun news, Mr. Rogers has a song about just getting on with it and trying (featuring a bicycle). I wish I could find a download or something on YouTube, but no luck. Sooo, click here. It should be the theme song for the entire North American bicycle movement.

Change Your Life. Ride A Unicycle!

This always makes me laugh. Especially this rider. Valencia street, pictured here, is in the middle of massive design changes. The end result will be great, but the construction phase is challenging. This is one of the busiest bicycle corridors in the City and with great, huge chunks of the bike lane dug up everyone has to be patient and really try extra hard to share the very limited space. So what do some people do to make it all work? Ride a unicycle!!!

This Is Why I Ride

The Friday Commute Of A "Modern" Shearer

image from the Powerhouse Collection

The week is done and this guy has shaved every sheep he could get his hands on! Time to ride into town and get a beer!

We hope your week was great and your ride was smooth!

Lee 2G

Another contribution from one of you out there in the world! It's like getting an early Christmas present. Or a late Hanukkah gift, your choice : ) Lee is one of the folks out there in the San Francisco Bay Area that rides all the way from SF to Cupertino (38 miles, one way!) at least once a week. I love how this group has turned a bicycle commute into a way to socialize and encourage one another! Would you commute by bicycle more if you had people to ride with?

"I met the SF2G gang at last year's Bike-to-Work Day, where they
traditionally assemble large rides out of San Francisco down to
various workplaces along the peninsula. Although I was a little
anxious, I found them to be friendly, encouraging, and enthusiastic
cyclists, some of them advanced, and some the everyday-type, spinning
along like the rest of us. I learned that these rides occur just about
every working day. Some of the rides may be faster paced than others.
But, the group usually hosts a pleasantly paced, super-social ride at
least one Friday a month. After my bike-to-work experience, I started
participating in their morning bike commute rides more often. And,
after learning the routes, going on them myself or often, with other
friends.

There are a number of reasons why I bike the 40-plus miles to work on
some mornings. Some reasons are easy to understand, like the feeling
you get from the fresh air and the exertion, having your workday start
with you in a good mood, getting to see the Bay Area in a way you
wouldn't normally, and so on. But overall, I think for me it's simply
just about the adventure and the spirit of camaraderie that that
adventure can bring out in you and the people riding next to you."