video of SF bike thief

people. how many times do we have to say lock up your bike with a ulock?! a few friends of mine had bikes jacked recently. and yes, they used a cable lock.

this video shows a guy cutting through a cable lock fairly quickly.

not long ago i was struck hard by the economy and using my bike was a good way to get around for cheap. i didn't really have $30 to spend on food, much less a bike lock. i justified it this way: buying a ulock is cheaper than getting a new bike.

do you think you are too poor to buy a lock? then check your local craigslist for ulocks. i took that route and ended up paying $20 for a lock i still use. that was 4 years ago. guy was moving out of town, never rode his bike thus didn't need his lock anymore either. i'm sure similar situations are still happening here in SF or wherever you live too.

obviously knowing how to lock up your bike is crucial too, no matter how many ulocks you carry with you. ulocks are not fail proof, but they certainly are great deterrents.

by the way, SF police are still looking for this guy. anyone with information is asked to contact Inspector Pomatto at (415) 558-5400 or by email at steven.pomatto@sfgov.org.

via streetsblog sf

three is the magic number

let's start off this wednesday with a game: what is wrong with this picture?

i apologize that not all of the clues are in the picture, but you can probably take a wild guess what is missing.

three is the magic number. but only sometimes.

bonus points: if you are the owner of this bike, prove me & the big V wrong! <3

some fun with bikes in austin

so last week i was fortunate enough to be able to go home to the motherland for a couple of days. here are some of the bikes i saw when i was down there y'all!

tandem cruiser?! i can safely say i've never seen a tandem cruiser before. each set of handlebars had its own bell too. just in case, ya know? i've seen a tandem cargo bike, but not a tandem cruiser. radness. and on a SUV. well, that part isn't so rad, but what can you do?

free gary fisher anyone? sigh. the myriad of ways people lock up bikes for the taking really astounds me.

tomorrow will have another scene from austin, but this time involving the bikes we actually rode around on.

Thwarted Again!

This is a picture of S.A.M. nicely locked to a parking meter. In this case there is a potato sharing the space with me. This particular bike/potato parking spot is outside of Four Barrel Cafe where I went for coffee and company with friends. It was a lovely hour spent in good company with fellow bikey folks who were locked to other meters near by.

The inside of Four Barrel

My friends in Four Barrel

Being able to lock up your bicycle outside of where you are going is way more important than finding out where people are via Facebook or Twitter.

This is the parking I was hoping to place S.A.M. this evening so that I could see a movie with my friend Kristin. We have been trying to see this movie for weeks. We ran into each other on the way there on Market St. Other friends awaited us at the theater and I hurried to put my cable through both wheels and my seat. I reached for my u-lock, pleased that I would most likely come back to a bicycle with all of its parts still present...

I forgot my keys!

No movie for me.

friday fun times: one of these things is not like the other

as seen in a parking garage in downtown san francisco:

um, yah. free bici. be careful while parking your bike out there. m'kay?

happy friday everyone!