rain and rickshaws

the other week i went into exile after the giants won to new york city with the mama texican. we packed a lot into a short trip, maybe minus an afternoon tea date.

we had a SCHEDULE to follow one day. this day was to see carmen at the metropolitan opera. ok, so the only thing we really had to do was leave our hotel at 5pm in order to have dinner and get to the show. it was raining, and oh yah, 5pm is prime rush hour time during the week. maybe you've heard of this phenomenon. hotel was too far from lincoln center to walk and cabs were all full.

so what did we do? we looked at each other and hopped in a pedicab. dresses and fancy pants (literally) and all...

please excuse the quality of the pics. it was pretty bumpy back there.

here we go...


left side bike lane


van blocking bike lane. typical


aren't you cold?

would i recommend it again? depends on a few things. it was super fun though and an experience we both soon wont forget.

thanks for the birthday gift :) i will remember it always.

Baiku

Over at Cyclelicious, there is a November baiku (bike + haiku). Here is mine! Go post one in Richard's comments (he has the rules there). Or leave one here. Up to you.

Like the cold north wind
there is much to be thought of.
Space to ride along.

Into The Wild Blue Yonder

The other day I opined about how sad I was that my camera died just before I got to the jump competition at the SF Bike Expo. Well, I should have known that my friend Richard would have me covered.

Yowza!

Make sure to visit Cyclelicious for more of Richard's view of life.

Happy Saturday!

My bike lane actually professed its joy in being! Gotta love it.

It's All Greek To Me, Part 2

Onward and upward! What shall we talk about this time? Shall we tackle the "kid" myth? Let's jump in!

#2- You Can Not Ride In The City With Children

If you are a regular reader of this blog you already know this to be untrue. As I have posted about my own kid's adventures in San Francisco, ad nauseum, if it were true that one can not ride in the urban environment with children then my whole family would disappear in a puff of fairy dust.

I wonder if this gentleman knows that he and his children are figments of the collective imagination? This would mean that the martial arts class he and his kids are riding home from probably didn't exist either.

These children will be scarred for life when they find out they don't exist. I didn't really see them and my camera took a picture of ghosts. They seemed to be enjoying their imaginary trip across the Sunset District. Their fathers seemed to be happy, too. Perhaps it takes a great deal of pressure off the soul when you don't exist. It couldn't possibly be the bicycle ride in the sun.

A lone child on a bicycle in the Mission? Not possible. Who lets their children ride their bicycle to soccer practice?

My imaginary neighbor. He has three lovely boys that ride in the bucket to and from school.

You can tell this picture is fake. What Mom would ride with their daughter on the back?

Multiple Mom's, unrelated to one another, on Valencia Street with children riding on the backs of their bicycles? Never happened.

These last two pictures are proof that I have to be making all of this up. These families just do not exist in San Francisco. I mean, really. With the hills and the cars and the time constraints....

los angeles on $100 a day via nytimes

you guyyyyyys, the frugal traveler (seth kugel) went to LA and discovered that to be able to do LA on $100 a day, the best option was....(everybody now) RENT A BIKE.

a lil excerpt (emphasis mine):

WHEN I told people I was visiting Los Angeles for a week without setting foot in a car, one word came up more than any other: “impossible.”

There is the fact that the county covers more than 4,000 square miles. That it has seemingly endless, overlapping multi-lane highways versus a tiny number of bike lanes. And oh, yeah: that it is bisected by a mountain range.

Taken together — not a great place to get around on a bike.

But what if you can’t afford to drive? What if, in fact, you wanted to visit the city on about $100 a day?

so, go on and read more from the frugal traveler! so happy this article exists about el lay in the nytimes. :) i think i may just have to check out this bike in la business very soon. perhaps i can bring a partner in bici dingding crimes. ;)

It's All Greek To Me, Part 1

I am getting mighty sick of the myths surrounding bicycle riding. As I am not in the mood for diplomacy tonight I am just going to go out on a limb and call "bullsh*t" on the whole lot of them. For the sake of something to do other than watch TV or scrub my sink out I will now present several instances of why these myths are simply myths and why they should all be chucked in the rubbish bin.

For the next few days, I will present, in no particular order, the counter to several of the stupid myths that many people labour under. These myths prevent all of us from having better conditions and keep people from improving their everyday lives.

#1 Some people are too weak/old/handicapped to ride.

OK. Having spent over a decade treating some of the sickest and most debilitated people you could possibly imagine, I will concede that there are people in the world who can not ride. You would be surprised to know how few of those people actually exist.

This is the back of my step-father, Richard. I took this picture just a couple of months after he had a bi-pass. The bi-pass was performed to repair a previously bi-passed vessel that had collapsed repeatedly over the 13 or 14 years since it had been placed along with three others. I stopped counting how many joint replacements he has had two years ago. He has hearing aides in both ears. He was recognized as Permanently Disabled by the state several years ago because of these and other health issues.

On this ride, his first since before the last surgery, he rode 23 miles across the San Fernando Valley.

Richard can no longer ride a standard two wheeled bicycle because his balance is compromised. To compensate for this he has switched to a recumbent trike. He isn't as fast as he used to be and taking hills requires patience. But he rides. Does he do it exclusively? Of course not. He gets tired and has to conserve his energy, but he uses his trike when he can and tries to do his local shopping and small errands by pedal power.

He is also working to get better infrastructure in his town of Chatsworth, CA. Just because he can't use it all the time doesn't mean that others can't and he wants them to have better than the currently do.

This girl looked to me as though she may have Down's Syndrome. Her mother had to walk quite quickly to keep up with her. How amazing would it be if San Francisco had a bicycle network that was developed enough that this girl could ride around her neighborhood with her Mom everyday instead of just when we close the streets to traffic. She obviously has the ability to ride, she just requires the opportunity to do so. How much would that add to her life can only be guessed at, but I am reasonably certain it would be significant, for her and her family.

Bicycles are adaptable, much like people. We can add wheels, move pedals, change gearing... many of those who can not walk can, with simple accommodations, ride a bicycle in the same way that those who are considered "able bodied" can. I know for a fact that it would be easier for this woman to ride her adapted trike along the Waterfront than it would be for her to try and get on Muni in a wheelchair to go the same distance. Don't believe me? Try it.

Can't take a walk with you wife? How about a ride?

Don't tell these people they are too old to ride.

So there you have it. People in San Francisco who have mobility challenges can, and do, ride bicycles. I am quite sure they would all like a better bicycle plan to make sure they can continue to do so.

Myth further debunked here and here and here. and here