bike to work day 2013

took some photos on the way to work today. energizer stations and bike counters oh my!



this guy recognized me from my organizing with SF bike party.


wrenching.


intersection of market and van ness


through the foggy (non-purple) haze, you can see SF's very own new bicycle counter.





this guy just wanted to be number 1000, but he was really one of the cheerleaders near the bike counter.



from standing near the bike counter, public bikes' dan and i both noticed that the counter seemed not to be very good at counting when groups of riders passed by the counter. it also doesn't count them if they are NOT in the bike lane. the sensor is just near the bike counter.



baby steps but BIG baby steps for SF's very own bicycle counter! happy bike to work day everyone.

friday fun times: we cycle SF (on a tandem)!!

there's a new event in town kids. the people who put on the SF marathon are now truing their bike wheels on a new concept: Cycle SF. it is a nice fun ride to benefit SF parks & rec. there are options for 13 mile or 24 mile rides. both of those options might seem either super "easy" or super daunting to people, but just know this FUN ride is to benefit the parks! more bike parking! more infrastructure! more costumes! more tandems! register here, and we just may see you for the costume competition.



more from their website:

The mission of the event is to promote cycling as part of a healthy lifestyle, and to highlight and celebrate the role of our city’s Recreation and Parks Department in providing a healthy living environment. CycleSF aims to build civic unity through an event that invites bicycle riders of all levels to traverse our city together, and communally experience San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods from the seat of a bike. Thousands of bicycle riders will raise funds to support the programs and infrastructure of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. We are proud to have San Francisco join other cities around the nation and the globe that also host city-wide, community supported cycling events.

as KT mentioned over on velo vogue, last friday we went to the photo shoot. if all goes well, we just might be up on a muni bus. or a bus stop. or the website. who knows.

on our way to the shoot...



blogging preparation



and finally....KT! hehe.

friday fun times: sf (via nyc) video shoot

apologies for the quietness, but we've been hard at work over here in SF. just tryin' to make a livin'.



and in the spirit of that, a couple of days ago i happened to see there was a tweet laying for me to pick it up as the sun shone in my eyes begging me to wake up and face the day.

Xtras needed for SF video shoot. 12-1pm Thu. in South Park, 3-5pm Fri. at Windmill.Wear your interpretation of "Euro," Dutch bikes a +!

— Bike Snob NYC (@bikesnobnyc) February 4, 2013

well, being that i don't appear very "EURO," whatever that means (i've heard rumors that my ancestors surely have heard of these european fellas), i decided i'd go to people watch whether they would have me or not. i mean i've got to be at least 5-30% european. so my lips show and tell me.

oh, and also the place for the open casting was very close to where i work 9 to 5.

and this is a little bit of what transpired yesterday afternoon. it was lovely to see ladyfleur and bike pretty and their gorgeous bikes as well!



this afternoon there's more open casting calls for people that have flexi time schedules per the tweetie bird above. and yes, bike snob, we do work, but some of us are lucky enough to be able to do our work from wherever the world we may be, only if it is connected to the matrix. having reasonable supervisors helps as well...

so now where did i put my music bike?

friday fun times: panda shadows

well, this week started off with a bang for us. to my knowledge, the jerk still hasn't been caught. left it up here this week to keep the word out.

with lance confessing thrown in the middle of this crazy first week back in the states, let's just say we are dreaming of simpler times and ones where we are with our loved ones and they are safe and sound. what better way to be with those loved ones than on a nighttime bike ride?!



the weather is nice here in SF. went up to be in the low 70s as a high today? where are YOU going this weekend?

much love and stay safe everyone! happy riding.

--CTX

Oaxaca es más bella en bicicleta!

CTX is still "OOO," but i have signs of being plugged back into the matrix.

here's a good group of people we rode with while we were in oaxaca city a few weeks ago. the website on the tote bag seems to be down, but we think we know where else to find them [link in spanish].

either way, we will be reporting much more of our mexico bikey adventures soon. hopefully we will have some guests posts too!



happy 2013 everyone!

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.

AIDS LifeCycle 2012: Ming!

last year we featured a few of our friends who were riding from SF to LA for the AIDS LifeCycle ride, which benefits the SF AIDS Foundation and the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. (full disclosure: i had a family member die of AIDS in the early 90s. f!@k AIDS!)

we have a repeat rider everyone! ming is on his second year of training.

1. hi ming! you now have one aids lifecycle ride under your belt.
congrats! how was it?!
It was intense! I know sometimes that "intense" is used as a euphemism
for "bad," but that's not what I mean. I mean that I had so many
emotions while doing the ride last year. I was of course so hopeful
that this many people cared enough about this issue to volunteer their
time and energy and to fundraise for an end to HIV/AIDS. I also was
inspired and moved by the many HIV-positive people who were doing the
ride. Of course there were many moments when I was (extremely) crabby
about my sore legs, aching back, arms, butt, etc.. There were times
when I was struggling up a hill (or on a seemingly endless flat) by
myself feeling like I wanted to cry, then another rider would come
along and give me encouragement, or someone standing by the side of
the road would be cheering (just for me!) and hand me a little paper
flower or maybe a high five that would get me through. I also learned
a couple of important things. One, now I understand why people make
those faces when they are using the foam rollers. THOSE THINGS HURT.
Two, now when my chain falls off when I'm shifting to a low gear I
just shift back into the highest gear and keep pedaling. That chain
just hooks right back on - no need to stop and painstaking put the
chain on and mess with the derailleur etc.! I'm sure that's a metaphor
for life or something.

2. let's talk training. how has it changed from last year now that you
know what the ride is like? are you doing more or less?
I'm definitely less anxious about training this year, now that I've
done the ride once. However, I'm having a little more back pain this
year, so that's a challenge. I would say I'm doing the same amount of
training as last year, but am less _kan-cheong_ about it, taking my time to enjoy the scenery and rests.

3. fundraising! any fun dinners or parties planned? how can people contact you?
I've been kind of behind on fundraising this year! I'm hoping to do
one midweek dinner next week (Wednesday May 2nd) and maybe a brunch on
Saturday May 12th. They'll both be relatively low-key, I think. Or of
course, feel free to drop by my donation page, make a donation, and
send me a note with your donation that you want to come to the
dinner/brunch! :) [Insert crafty laughter here.]

4. now that this is your second time, how has your reason for doing
this changed? if it hasn't changed, please remind our readers why you
are doing this great ride.
HIV/AIDS is still something that marginalized communities (people and
especially women of color, LGBT people, the poor) are especially hard
hit by, and that's something we should all really be looking at and
working to make right. Doing the ride is just one small thing that I
hope helps to raise awareness and also provide some much needed
services in San Francisco. Also, similar to last year, my birthday
falls during the ride! First official year of my third decade, I will
be somewhere in the middle of California, hopefully going at 12 miles
an hour ;).

a big thanks to ming for sharing and please don't forget to donate to his page. i mean how can you refuse those sock monkey socks?!

friday fun times: shower cap edition

need i say more? checkered side mirror, patterned shower cap.

a reader of ours, el tejano, posted some more pics of golden gate park's parking woes. here are a few. go over to his flickr to check out the rest!

these pictures might illustrate a little more of what is confusing some people in my description in this post. sorry! is not the easiest to explain, which is probably why there is confusion surrounding it in the first place. i plan on going to the park at some point this weekend and see if i can get more pics of the confusion. but also more pics of empty spaces so you can see what it is supposed to look like.

have a great weekend!

Underground Railroad Bicycle Route

Exploring the Route to Freedom, put on by the Adventure Cycling Association. "To further our goal of encouraging people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds to explore the landscapes and history of American by bicycle, Adventure Cycling began a partnership with the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh in 2004. With America facing a national health crisis, Adventure Cycling and the Center for Minority Health saw a natural alliance born from common goals."

february is black history month. while i might scoff at one month per year to celebrate any one group of history, had it not been, i might not have found out about that terrific bike project of ACA. there are several routes to choose from that follow the historic underground railroad route where slaves worked there way north to freedom before the end of the civil war and the awesomeness that is juneteenth.

there are two main routes. the first one travels from mobile, alabama up to ontario, canada. there's also a brand new, and how i discovered this 5 year old project, detroit alternate route which takes you from oberlin, ohio to owen sound on lake huron's georgia bay.

this looks like it was an amazing undertaking with a lot of people on the advisory board in order to get this route just right.

via ACA flickr page

here are some pics from the supported tour in 2007:

via ACA flickr page

many thanks to the many hands that had a say in this project. looks like an amazing route, full of history. history and bikes?! my two favoritessssst interests combined. pretty spectacular.

all other pictures are by dennis coello.

a big huge hat tip to the fine people over at outdoor afro, one of my favorite blogs ever. why? because it features african-americans in outdoor settings. if there's a US latino equivalent to outdoor afro and someone knows about it, please please please post the URL in the comments.

poetry

saw this lovely pairing the other night. i love the juxtaposition of these two objects. joined together in love of stickers via a lock.

in other news, someone stole my free SFMTA lock provided to me by the SFBC as part of their light up the night campaign. i was caught offguard one night when my basket xmas lights were not enough, and they pulled me over to provide a free light.

my rationale for leaving it on my handlebars is that it was free to me, so if someone wants it that bad, they can take it. and that finally happened, about 2 months later. oh well. at least i have more lights where that came from!

black and white saturday

the time...it is a'changin'

i'm sad to say it's that time of year when the light above hangs noticeably different in the sky.

a few sundays ago this was pretty apparent after i stood on this corner to get out my bike lights.

left.


right.


boooooooooohiiiissssssssss.

soon we are going to be forced to change our clocks and wake up to the dark. i don't like it, but it happens every year. can't do anything about it...

so i guess this means is time to work on bike projects in the comfort of the garage as we await rainy season to hit us full force.

PSA: ladies, pull your pants up

ugh. there was a sign going around the spacebook interwebs a couple of weeks ago that said pull your pants up.

well, that's exactly what i wanted to tell this young woman as i was riding behind her and her thong the other day. uggggggggh. i also don't want to encourage gross (i.e. objectifying) comments from anyone about it, but i just want to encourage her and others who may also have this problem to pull yr damn pants up.

that is all.

here comes the rain again...

falling on my head like a memory....

one of the things i like about riding a bike is the constant challenges it brings. if you are riding loaded, you have to think differently about all the junk in your trunk.

or if you are super late to work because you were looking for your keys AND THEN it wasn't raining when you were looking for them BUT WHEN YOU WERE READY TO LEAVE it was pouring out....and you have steel rims on your older bike...what do you do?

foto by ade, guest starring declan

one of my fears is going down a hill in the rain on joanie because one of the first times i did that, i crashed into a biker at the end of the hill. i was pulling my brake levers as hard as i could for most of the way down. so when i see rain and know i have to head out on my bike, i think i'd rather be doing this:

foto by sibadd

on my new commute, i have a rather large hill i'm sort of nervous to go down when it's not raining. i'm mainly nervous due to the car traffic and because not everyone who drives a car signals when they want to turn, not because of anything else. i love to bomb that hill when i get the chance. WHEEEEEEEEE....

well, today was running late, so no better time than to face that fear. rain + joanie, round one. no time to really ride in a roundabout way, so i took the plunge.

and here i am. i just went slow and steady. per usual. joanie - 1, rain - 0.

for more tips for riding in the rain, please see this video over on vimeo starring KT from velo vogue.

all fotos taken from our flickr pool! we love to see what you guys do with cameras and bikes!!

video: ramona's one minute ride

ms. wheelright, over at velo vogue and at wheelright, managed to be at the right place at the right time today to take some awesome spur of the moment footage of bombing a hill in SF with a bunch of bmx bikers.

this hill is part of my new commute. sometimes times i bomb it, other times it terrifies me, so i have to really congratulate her on the ability to capture this footage! you go grrrl!

oldest way to get around town...

i love this picture. we were hanging out on sunday streets in the mission a couple of months ago, and we found ourselves needing to go somewhere that was more efficient to travel by bike than by walking. our friend here didn't have a bike. the tall one has a large bike frame with extra space and the thigh muscles to match. yours truly had the know-how and suggested they do the below.

how cute. old friends, old way to get around town. now she has her own bike with fancy and friendly friends showing her how to ride. so awesome. much love!

AIDS LifeCycle Series: Bad Babysitter

Next up in our AIDS LifeCycle Series is our butterlap friend, David.


foto by melioh hai there.

david, along with his team, bad babysitter, have been holding super fun events around san francisco in order to meet their goal of raising $14,000 (!!!) for ALC.

the following is taken from their ALC web page. 'tis very cute.

Welcome to Team Bad Babysitter.

4 midwestern transplants who moved to San Francisco and fell in love with biking in the amazing surroundings of the Bay Area.

While to my knowledge none of us are actual babysitters (good, bad, or otherwise), for some reason we rally round the somewhat bizarre/funny rap song "Bad Babysitter" when the legs start to hurt many miles into a ride. Just before the point we start seeing double and are compelled to eat another Clif Bar.

What started off as a group of friends riding around town in San Francisco and bike commutes to work, developed over the years into doing rides of 100 miles in Napa and Marin. The AIDS/Lifecycle presents a whole new challenge tho at 545 miles over the course of a week. It is sure to be the ride of a lifetime.

The ride is in June 2011, but there is much to be done before then. We have several training rides planned and as a team have committed to raise over $10,000 towards AIDS support and research initiatives.

While we aren't asking everyone to bike the 545 miles with us ;) you can still be involved in this adventure by supporting the team with a donation. Any amount is greatly apprecaited!

if you live in the bay area, they are having one last group fundraiser TONIGHT (5/20) in north beach at mojito from 7-close. GO THERE ALREADY. or at least stop by on your way out or in for the evening.

for more fotos and fun, go over to their team tumblr page! heh.

UPDATED! FLYER!

Slideshow!

Time for an update from the Flikr group! There is always room for more and we love to have new people join in!

We all love to see what goes on in your world so share with the group.

Happy Tuesday!

photo by rperks 1 @ Ocean Air Cycles

Fad Or Fab?

I was recently asked by a news reporter if I thought cargo bicycles were a fad. I answered that I felt it was more an expression of how utility cycling is evolving as people become more comfortable with leaving the car at home for more and more tasks. But the question left me thinking, when is something a fad and when is it something more? I think it is less about how many people do something and more about how diverse the group is that participates.

photo by Claudio Olivares Medina in Mexico City

If everyone who does "x" looks the same, is the same age, speaks the same language and only copies the last person they saw doing "x", that is a fad. When the people don't all seem the same, if there is variety in type things start to get more interesting and have a better chance of lasting.

photo by Slow RPM in Melbourne, Australia

Fads are something that gives fleeting pleasure but quickly become passé and silly. When we start to share these things with the people we love the most to bring us closer together they are no longer frivolous or temporary.

photo by baudman in Australia

I can not think of any fad that made my life easier, can you?

photo by Greg Raisman in Portland, Oregon

Who is comfortable putting their child in a fad?

photo by Cold Iron in Alameda, California

Maybe that is the surest clue to this question. Children. Living life in a way that teaches our children what we feel is important is not a fad, it is life.

photo by henry in a'dam in Holland.

For myself, cargo bicycles are not a fad, not at all. They are the answer to what had become an increasing problem for me- how to live my life the way I want to. That there are so many options entering the market around the world is simply proof that there are many people in the world who have the same needs and aspirations that I do.

Just because it is fun does not mean it is frivolous. For those who are choosing these bicycles, it isn't because the neighbor has one. How about you? Do you think cargo bicycles are a fad?