finding joanie

well, was pretty devastated to be leaving for work on thursday morning to find my bike wasn't in the apartment entryway as it has been on and off for years. my roommate said he noticed the door was propped open, but no one moving anything in or out. that must have been when it happened.


i wrote this and posted it everywhere i could think of on social media. facebook, twitter, google +, flickr, pinterest, stolen bike registry, craigslist, filed a police report. set up an IFTTT.com account and had 5 recipes "spamming" my inbox and texts. i also went old school and took a picture of her to local bike shops. went to flea markets in sf, friends went to east bay flea markets. i looked around homeless encampments for chop shops and random bikes. and then i got numb and started to plan a life without joanie.

and of course i tagged Jenny Oh, that amazing reuniter of stolen bikes. she's basically the 6 degrees of kevin bacon for bike thievery. we had a few false starts out there, but it was awesome to know that eyes are out there and we're keeping a lookout for bikes to return to their rightful owners.

sure enough...someone saw her post on fb and this is what happened:

Well, basically, I woke up in the morning last Thursday and found a red bike in my front yard with the seat post sawed off and immediately said, "FUCK! Some random bike in my front yard, where the hell is mine?!" And mine was gone. Whoever stole hers, traded it out for mine. I think someone definitely scoped me out and knew that I had a bike. My friend Kelsey Simmen reached out to Jenny Oh to post about my bike and on Jenny's page, I saw a picture of Melyssa's bike and said, holy shit! I have that bike! I hope Karma pays me back.

so in order to pass that karma on forward, i'm posting a pic of Meryl's bike. you can contact us here, leave a comment, and i'll get in touch with her.



joanie did not escape unharmed, but she's back. and i can't believe it. power of social media and taking matters into our own hands is incredible!



it does not fix the inherent real issue of inadequate bike parking in apartment buildings, nor does it solve the issue of bike thieving jackholes, but it's something. it's community. and i'll take it.

thank you so much to everyone who retweeted, reposted, commented or just even thought, "wtf, someone stole joanie?!" a special shout out to those who went flea market and division street hunting with me. also to those two that bought me chocolate, it was much appreciated. as last week in america proved there are bad people in this world doing unheard of things (or just being a bike thief), but there are far more good people to counteract those actions.



also, 1/2 of her namesake is joan jett. don't mess with joanie.

one bike with a broken bottom bracket

well. the day has finally come to upgrade joanie's bottom bracket. she's a late 60s era raleigh, and this will not be an easy feat. but it must be done.



this will mean since i got the bike, i've updated or upgraded the following:
• added upright handlebars
• replaced wheels from steel to aluminium
• replaced seat
• added fenders, basket, lights
• replaced pedals
• changed rear cassette



all in the life's work of owning the best city bike for oneself i suppose. i have slowly made her very customizable for me, and i wouldn't have it any other way.

joanie has these pesky old school cottered cranks. ever since i got her i've been dreading the day i need to make an upgrade. well, here it is. must face the music head on. i'm ready for the challenge...it just means a new PROJECT! :)

it was sort of scary to ride down division street feeling like i was pushing pedals into a bottom bracket made of mud. luckily enough for me, i was close enough to work, so i got off and walked the rest of the way. i was able to drop off my bike at a bike shop nearby, so i can decide how best to get her home.

in the meantime it seems like i'll be getting more use out of the she-devil. hope she's ready! heh. of course she is. i just don't like locking her up anywhere in the city, so that fact makes her a less desirable all-around city bike. but at least this way i can take the butterlap route home.



anyone have any cottered crank replacement ideas, or done the upgrade themselves?

joanie met her twin. mixte love ensued.

this past sunday a few friends and i were going about our sunday routine to the farmer's market and to get chocolate cherry bread from our local co-operative bakery. i can write sentences like that because i live in san francisco.

anyway, as we passed the de young museum on our way to these aformentioned places, i saw the most beautimous thing i've ever seen. a pristine twin to my dear joanie baby.



light was not totally on my side that day, but i did what i could.



i left a love note.


and gasped in (sort of mock) horror when i saw this beauty was locked up with a CABLE LOCK! i wrote on the note for the person to pleaseplease get a ulock. note that person also has the same helmet as me. WHO IS THIS PERSON?!



i left my calling card so they knew i was serious. maybe they are reading today?



i've modified joanie quite a bit from the drop down bars when i got her, but i made her undeniably MINE. i ride her every day and i love her dearly. by extension, i love her twin dearly as well.



have you ever left a love note for a bike?

two for tuesday: joanie's got a twin!

spotted by chinstrap...

is Joanie day drinking sans @calitexican and sans basket?



hmmph, well, i never would miss a date to drink during the day, but mama's gotta work to pay them bills.

i love seeing a twin, but she's missing a very important thing....



also i have plastic fenders and joanie's twin has metal ones...and the twin has springy seat which helps over bumps and potholes and the like.

can't wait to see you around joanie's twin!

joanie's resting, i am not.

while i was bike parking last week, joanie decided to take a rest along a wall for her closeup.

the other day someone asked what the ride is called that i am doing on saturday (there is also a populaire to point reyes that day as well). it's called the "cinderella classic" and takes place in the east bay. unfortunately, the skies look grey and wet for that day. while the ride is rain or shine, i am not. it is a female only ride and the metric century we're doing sounds pretty mellow. i am doing this in preparation for riding the marin century (100 miles again!). this saturday's ride is with my alumni group! how exciting.

friday fun times: ode to la frenchie

joanie baby tries out being frenchie for a minute.

ode to la frenchie

with a familiar face in the background that is...

tuesday injection of fun: red and roger

i was talking to someone earlier today about the name of my red bike.

some of you may know my red bike is called joanie baby. half of her namesake comes from this:


if you watch mad men, you know that this character's name is joan.


if you watch mad men, you know this character's name is roger. roger's nickname for joan is "red."

and i guess roger, or rather the actor who plays roger, john slattery, rides a bike while holding what appears to be a script. meowwwrrrr. oh heeeeey there roger. nice bike.

so now you know part of the story of the name behind my bike. :)

via here.