using d.c. bikeshare

when i was in DC a couple of weeks ago it was humid and hot. oh and with that humidity came some drizzles. i didn't let frizzy hair stop me. i was on a mission.

i had a couple of hours to spare before i needed to be en route to catch my flight, so i, of course, thought of only one thing to do: DC CAPITAL BIKESHARE. luckily the hotel i was staying in was merely 1/2 a block away from the nearest station.



as you can see, most of the bikes were already checked out. there was someone behind me in the process of checking out a bike, leaving two bikes remaining.

i went up to the sign to see what i needed to do. thankfully, it was very informative.

i needed to put down a $100 deposit to use a bike for 30 minutes which costs $7 total. it did take awhile for that $100 to be returned to me, but such is life i suppose. that was their day pass rate.

while i was reading these signs to make sure i got everything down correctly, some frequent user hopped on one of the remaining two bikes. i figured i needed to hurry up before there were no bikes left to choose.

i put the seat down to a comfortable height for this shortie, put my bag on the front and i was ready to go.

i had no idea where i wanted to go, so i just decided to follow some bike lanes around. i figured they would take me somewhere i would have wanted to see.

i noticed some things never change. empty bike lane. full car lane. full curbside parking. typical.

i also noticed that DC (in this neighborhood at least) appears to have done what JFK drive wants to do in golden gate park. DC's is possibly more effective due to their "soft hit posts" which separate the parked cars from the curbside bike lane.

then i just rode around and noticed signs and the riders.

i also saw a vandalized bay area original.

and when i was done wandering around, i parked at a station in front of a grocery store and got me a sammich for the plane ride back to SF.

it was a pleasant and easy experience to use the bikeshare. i can only hope that SF has been taking notes on their WAY long and overdue bike share system. time to get with the program already. stop the politickin, and get people on those bikes already!

Townsend Means Bicycles Begin

Making sure to capitalize on the momentum, today the City of San Francisco started striping the first of the, tragically, delayed bike plan lanes at Townsend and 4th St. I hear the Mayor was there, as were several other notable folk (I was not among them). It is only a symbolic start, just a few feet long, but it is the beginning of a lot of painting.

Cameron and Úna were the first kids to be observed on the lane, and just to make it an official San Francisco bicycle lane, they were stopped by the first person to double park in it.

I am really looking forward to the day that the kids will be able to get all the way across San Francisco in a bicycle lane. They may not be the safest form of infrastructure available to us, but they are the beginning of the change we all really want to see.

update on mayor villaraigosa

an update on los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa's bike accident from the mayor himself:

If there's one thing everyone now knows after my recent accident, it's that I like to bike in Los Angeles. The City's landscape, climate, and neighborhoods offer a cyclist's paradise. Biking in Los Angeles should be a natural.

Unfortunately most of our City was built with cars in mind. It's time to recognize that bicycles also belong on L.A.'s streets.

We're working on enforcement of traffic laws and improving the City's bicycle infrastructure. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has reached out to the cycling community and is actively working to make the streets safer.

Last month the Planning Department released its latest draft of the City's bicycle plan update. While it's still a draft, it includes a citywide network and neighborhood network, to provide safe and convenient routes for both serious and casual cyclists. ...

Thanks for all the good wishes since my accident. I will be back on my bike as soon as I'm able, and I hope to see more Angelenos out there with me.

it's nice to hear that the mayor is not going to let his accident be a platform for the bicycles are dangerous crew, but rather for one that brings out into the open his plans for bicycle infrastructure improvements throughout los angeles.

imagine los angeles as a bikey city. i LOVE it. let's make this into the new l.a. story.

article via here.

silver lining perhaps?

the mama texican alerted me to a latimes blog post that states the mayor of l.a., antonio villaraigosa, was in a bicycle accident.

from the article:

The mayor was riding in the bicycle lane on Venice Boulevard in Mid-City at about 6:50 p.m. when a taxi abruptly pulled in front of him. The mayor hit his brakes and fell off the bike.

He was transported to Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center, where he was treated for [his] broken [elbow].

By 10 p.m. he had been released and was resting comfortably at Getty House, the mayor's official residence.

The mayor's accident comes as bicyclists in the city have increasingly been complaining about safety issues and pressing city officials to do more to make cycling safe.

now i hate to speculate on the unfortunate events of another, BUT, i wonder if this will bring about change to bicycling infrastructure in los angeles? one can only hope that if it would, if it can soften the blow literally brought upon the mayor.

do any of our los angeles readers have any insight as to what is going on down there?

get well mayor villaraigosa!!

article found here.

Greenology.

Here is our Change Your Life, Ride a Bike - post for riding on the greeway.

June 28-July 18: New Territory
* Ride a greenway

3 out of 4 from this blog (the 3 here in San Francisco) ride this path quite often. It has been the first step on (insert potentially long city-wide politics injunction here) moving forward with a friendlier pedestrian + cycling San Francisco.

At any rate, here are our photos. We have all (synchronized, not kidding) immediately texted each other the second we came across this. And since then, riding on the green lanes, makes you wonder - how come the whole city is not painted like this.
In the meantime, here are some of our green pictures.

So you can imagine the thrill. Here are some pictures of this green milestone. Cheers!

I recently talked to one of my favorite baristas around town. He was telling me about the time (long before the blogesphere) when he visited his boyfriend in the ealry 90s in Europe, they had such easy routes for people on bikes, he said he biked there all the time. What happened when he returned to the city?, I asked.He is a San Franciscan and told me that since then, he has not ridden a bike much. I have been keeping him posted on the Sunday Street dates and he has had tons of fun with them. I asked if he was scared of everyday traffic, he said he was hit by a car shortly after his European trip, and that since then he became a happy pedestrian. Anyways, thought I'd share that story.

'you taking a picture of me and the frenchie?!'


smelly you

bus. bikes. only.

Vauban, Berlin.

Vaubam in Berlin, I had no idea. Is your city, here in the states or around the world, taking a stand for change?
Here is an interesting link my friend Brian sent in.
Let's keep on riding!! «image from worldchanging.com»
via Brian M: Car-free cities: an idea with legs

One Block At A Time

San Francisco just got its first separated bike lane. It is on Market Street. It is one block long. When first I heard of it, I was terribly unimpressed. A single block. Meh. Then I saw that it was put on one of the stretches that bothers the crap out of me every time I ride on it- it is a stretch that always has mail vans and UPS trucks double parked in it! Hah! Double park on that!

So while I want more, at least we get this for now!