The Dying Of The Light

According to the weather report, today was the last day of lovely light and long shadows. This last week has been spectacular, the kind of weather that makes you thrilled to live in Northern California. These may be my last pictures of Autumn.

When next you see me, I will be ready for near freezing rain.

Our Farmers Markets in San Francisco are year round. They may not produce quite so inviting a pannier tableaux by Saturday morning.

Here we go, people! The long, dark months are upon us! Get those lights on your bicycles (now! Stop reading this and go put some damn lights on your bike!), shake out the weather proof gear, make sure your panniers have adequate drainage, lube your chains and stop worrying about the extra weight and get some fenders already!

It's All Greek To Me, Part 3

#3- You Can Not Teach Kids How To Ride In The City.

It is time for the last of the kids to learn the streets. Cameron and Úna both learned at about the same time and were older when we started teaching them. Between the changes in the City and getting our Xtracycle we have been able to start early with the wee monster. Declan is so proud of himself. He tells me it makes him feel like he is 6!

This last weekend was so lovely and quiet in the City we decided to give Declan a chance at a longer than usual street stint. We were able to let him ride with us for about 2 miles before we had to put his bicycle on the Xtracycle because of traffic. Declan was not happy about it, he wanted to keep riding. He gets very frustrated with all of the traffic in the City. He always points out when it is quiet out and the cars are absent. He always remembers which streets are the least trafficked and always asks that we use those streets.

It is funny how something so simple could make something like teaching a five year old the rules of the road easy and convenient. Once we got through Stonestown and the crazy traffic, Declan was able to have his bicycle back to ride on Ocean Ave. I was surprised how far he was able to go and how positive the people who drove by were when they saw him riding his little bicycle.

Declan has been learning the rules of the road for a little while now. A couple of times a week we ride down to the library or the grocery store together. We have been riding on the sidewalk so that Declan gets the feel for his brakes and listening to directions. Doing this he has learned how to ride in a straight line, stop at intersections, stay with me at my side... by the time he is in 3rd grade I am sure he will be able to ride almost anywhere in the City with us without a problem.

We are not the only people in SF who are teaching their children how to get around. More and more I am seeing people get their kids out on bicycles. Even if it is just on the sidewalk it is the beginning of these kids learning how to be independent.

Did you know you can sign up your kids for classes on how to become a bicycle commuter through the YMCA in San Francisco? A little myth busting group-style. Maybe by the time these kids are teenagers they will have a completely transformed city that riding a bicycle in will be simple fact of life and not something to blog about.

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....