Let's change the world, one bike at a time.

Thanks to the interwebs, I have met people around the world sharing and connecting with the same passion: bicycles. It never ceases to amaze me the power of this tool, to interact with so many peeps out there. Here are some news around the globe, that have caught my eye, and wanted to share with you all. Let's change the world and ride bikes. ♥Cheers!

MEXICO CITY, MEX. via_news.com.mx
City government hopes new lanes will convice commuters to pedal. Mexico City, already a big proponent of bicycle lanes since the launch of the "Ciclovía" in 2004, is developing plans for dedicated bike lanes along four of the city´s busiest thoroughfares.

City officials say they expect to break ground on the first of the routes - along Paseo de la Reforma - by the end of the year, even as they continue to hurdle bureaucratic delays and flu-related setbacks that have pushed the program back six months from its previously scheduled start in the summer. [READ MORE]




BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA via_citytv.com /tiphat mcnamargo
[note by me:] This video is in Spanish, but is basically inspired by the ciclovía activities and also to pull women together as groups to encourage each other, gain confidence as city riders and debunk taboos and myths that cycling is a man-dominated 'sport'. One of the interview woman says that the rides are fun, that the city is great at night althgou sometimes there is glass on the streets. The rest needs no translation, it's all about taking it to the streets. Ride on sisters!





[From citytv.com] Bogotá - 94 women in favor of the cycle-routes in the city have been riding together for two years now, about 23 km. from 7pm-10pm every Wednesday night.


LONDON, UK. We received a note by Phillip J. sharing with us this lovely chap picture, from the epidemic of the Tweed Rides. Here in San Francisco we are proud founders of Critical Mass. The tweed ride I suspect will become (it is already!) a global new stylish way of taking the streets. Ride on London!!!

watachap by (P Jay)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. And here in our beloved city, you all know we had a tremendous bike to work day. I came across this nicely done sweet video from Julie over at nicely done+informative blog mission loc@al: (I couldn't link the video file, so click on image to view the video)

[Mission gets its bike on.]

Lisa Marie faires the bike

It is very often that bikes, internet and photos connect people. The phrase 'it is a small world' could be said about our 7x7 San Francisco world and be pretty unavoidable to run into people, as in bike people sooner or later. Honeychild is one of them. She found us via Flickr & simultaneously she was on the same ride I was last week from Rock The Bikes SF to Maker Faire ride. It was very sweet of her to drop us a line, with a lovely note. Make sure you also visit her wonderful site: hambonedesigns.com //♥thanks Lisa Marie!!

Group ride by honeychild

On Saturday May 30th Rock the Bike coordinated a group ride down to Maker Faire at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. A group of about 200 bikers converged on Dolores Park at 9am for the 19 mile ride. It was a thrill to ride through the streets of the Mission surrounded by that many comrades on bikes. Some had horns and shells to drum strapped to their bikes, and others had boom boxes, but everyone had a smile on their face. It took my brother and I two hours to get to the destination (though some people went much faster than we did). We had toyed with the idea of riding up to skyline to get back to the city but by then the fog was super thick up there. Streets in the suburbs are definitely not as bike-friendly, especially without the safety of a big group. We were without a bike lane and being honked at by huge trucks all through San Mateo on El Camino Real (I saw a few middle fingers flying as they whizzed past us too). We ended up taking small side streets up to Millbrae and caught Bart back to the Mission. Home sweet home!

Group picture by honechild


cyclecide by honeychild

Four San Francisco "Supermums"

One of the people who has been influential in my bicycle activities has been Mikael Colville-Andersen over at Copenhagen Cycle Chic and Copenhagenize. His pictures of Copenhagen life are beautiful, but it is his sharp wit that brings me back for more ( I am a sucker for quick come backs).

One of the frequent subjects of Mikael's camera is what he calls the "Supermum". I would be lying if I said his pictures didn't have some influence on how I ride with Declan. His recent visit to Tokyo is well documented at both sites, but his most recent series of Japanese Supermum's is just begging for a response from us here in SF. While I have to work a bit to get these shots, I think that SF can hold its head up in the emerging world of the "Supermum" : )





Three on a match may be very bad luck, but three on a bike is just plain wonderful!



Sometimes, when all there is is a line of paint between you and the world, you have to be Super to give your kids the freedom to ride themselves.



Time to go to the museum? What better way than by riding through the Park to get there?



If you want your kids to be joyful, you have to be joyful in what you do. I think this Supermum has figured this out.



And in the interest of shameless self promotion, I offer up myself, following another Bikey SF Mom. When we start riding in packs, the world will be a better place!

Caryl Rocks The Camera

Someone asked me what makes a good bicycle picture. For me it is an easy answer- any picture that makes me want to jump on my bike and go is a good bicycle picture. One of our Flickr group members, kinamari (Caryl in real life) takes exactly those pictures. Every time I see one of her shots, it makes me want to jump on my bike and go! Caryl manages to consistently capture that exact moment we all want to have in life.

I Get Around

Before Declan was born, I had to drive to Hayward everyday for work. It took 45 minutes into work in the morning, and an hour and a half on the way home because I had to drive through San Francisco twice to pick up the kids. I hated it. My back always hurt, I was always late and the road was really bad. On very rainy days, I wouldn't go to work because 580 through Oakland does not have adequate drainage and I had seen several cars flip over in the rain over the years. The final straw was the day I saw a car flip over and the kids in the back seat get ejected out of the back windshield.




This is my commute, now. It takes just about as long, but I am way happier than I was. Eighteen miles round trip, with a BART ride in the middle. The best parts of my commute are the time I get to read on the train,



the glory of the Ohlone Greenway,






and my fellow commuters, on bikes, of course! I passed 28 cyclists on the Greenway! That is more than ever before, and I was riding after the commute hour was over!









I still would like to have a job closer to home once the Summer is done. Until then, I will enjoy my occasional commute across the Bay. It is my time to myself. My time to plan. My time to read. My time to ride!

San Francisco Sunday

Other than during the PM commute, the time I really see people out riding is on Sundays. You see them piled outside of restaurants at brunch. If anyone wants to walk in front of a café in the Mission, you have to dodge and climb over all the bikes locked to every stationary object in sight.

Funny things about bikes, they are like dogs. People always stop to see what kind of bike it is or what kind of panniers are on it or to ring the bells to hear what they sound like. This fascination with the onslaught of bicycles means there is almost always a conversation to be had a bike rack (or a parking meter).

This very phenomenon is my favorite part of bicycling- the community that is springing from it. Maybe because we all spend so much time dodging traffic together we are brought to a more open and friendly place? When I hear people talk about how no one really thinks about their bikes in parts of Europe, I sometimes feel a bit sorry for them and their lost chance at community .

On this Sunday, I pulled out my camera to see what I could find. As it turns out, a lot of smiles from the bike lanes!

Ramona Wheels Right

We met Ramona Wheelright during the Ride of Silence, San Francisco 2009. It was a nice quiet ride to honor those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways. The ride brought together a small sized-but good group of riders to pay the respect. Amongst them, we were happy to meet the organizer of the San Francisco ride, Ramona Wheelright. At the end of the ride, we chatted with her about bikes, the city and many things that SF riders can chat about for hours. She had a beautiful bicycle with her the day of the ride, has a wonderful smile and her mellow solid energy is contagious. We're looking into more rides with her in the near future. Ride on Ramona!! It was a pleasure to meet you.

Ramona by Busbozo

The found fish looks good by warbin k

Ramona writes in SFGate for SFenvironment:
Approaching an age that could fairly be considered mid-life, I often wonder if I will ever stop riding a bicycle. I figure that it's not age that will determine whether I ride, but rather the ride-ability of the terrain or the town in which I live. In San Francisco, bicycling just makes sense. Whatever the destination, biking is mobility; and mobility can equate to freedom. For me, bicycling means increased quality of life. I venture that bicycling might mean the same for you. /Read more [here]

See a few of her pictures as well as Adrienne's from the ride:
✖ BATC Ride of Silence, San Francisco