Change Your Life. Ride A Bike!

Loaded

2012-02-12T23:54:00.000-08:00

While we have a really wonderful cargo bicycle...OK, while we have two really wonderful cargo bicycles in our family we sometimes strip it down a bit on shopping day.

Where there is a need for silly amounts of breakfast cereal there is a way to get it home on your fixie. No excuses, go shop on your bicycle!

love: it all starts here.

2012-02-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

i don't know who this "burinboonvisut" person is, but i rather enjoy their pictures over on instagram.

they posted picture the other day, and it made me feel warm fuzzies everywhere.

please go and hug someone you love today. i know i will be.

muchmuch love to all of you, and thanks for reading.

CTX

video of SF bike thief

2012-02-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

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

Meanwhile...

2012-02-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

Outside Europe...

We got it goin' on, too!

three is the magic number

2012-02-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

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

the man who lived on his bike

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

i came across this video in my RSS feed. my favorite is when he's doing the crossword while riding.

the director, Guillaume Blanchet, writes, "I love being on a bike. It helps me feel free. I get it from my dad."

THE MAN WHO LIVED ON HIS BIKE from Guillaume Blanchet on Vimeo.

enjoy!

via laughing squid

Sunday Drivers

2012-02-05T23:38:00.000-08:00

I took the picture on Saturday, but the day of the week is inconsequential where my friend Deep and his fiancée are concerned.

I am almost more impressed by how many people do not give them a second look than I am by the fabulousness of Deep's one off Public bike/Indian rickshaw hybrid.

bay area readers: bike nonprofit fundraiser this saturday!

2012-02-03T10:18:00.005-08:00

hi there. work has been absolutely nuts this week for me, and i have like 5 posts floating around in my lil head. four will remain locked up for the time being, but one escapes to tell you about....

THE UPCYCLE BALL this SATURDAY 2/4 at the RICKSHAW STOP!

friends of the blog are starting up a community bikey non-profit y'all called SAN FRANCISCO YELLOW BIKE. it is based on the idea of austin's yellow bike project and they are bringing it to the bay.

please come out to support their first fundraiser!! bring in bikey parts or tools for donations. sounds so right on to me! see y'all there.

have a great weekend everyone. back to typetypetyping for me.

lebron james rode to work, wins game.

2012-01-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

i'm sure you all heard that lebron james rode his bike to work yesterday. he rode his way to a miami heat win over the bulls. coincidence? probably not. those who know bball better than i do (go spurs go!) say he had a good game. probably from warming up before by riding to work.

was this all a staged photo op? maybe. from my 10 second research with google and james, i found he does a charity bike ride each year. rad! also, if a marathon snarls traffic, and one is already into biking, why the hell not ride in to work? everyone wins.

this pic might get some people into riding, "if a ginormously famous bball player can ride to work then....maybe i can?" and as you know, we are all about changing lives by riding bikes over here :) of course, you don't need to customize yr bike to say "king james" on it or anything. also, why not be original and say "king lebron"? i hear there's a pretty popular book already with the former name.

Blocked, Again!

2012-01-29T23:19:00.000-08:00

San Francisco has miles of bicycle lanes. We fought long and hard for them, in and out of court. Nice to see them being used by those who need them most.

They would be so much nicer if they were not blocked. All the time. Perhaps I will start a catalogue of what I have come to think of as "San Francisco Airport's Most Amazing, Extended Cell Phone Parking Lot and Delivery Zone".

poetry

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

saw this lovely pairing the other night. i love the juxtaposition of these two objects. joined together in love of stickers via a lock.

in other news, someone stole my free SFMTA lock provided to me by the SFBC as part of their light up the night campaign. i was caught offguard one night when my basket xmas lights were not enough, and they pulled me over to provide a free light.

my rationale for leaving it on my handlebars is that it was free to me, so if someone wants it that bad, they can take it. and that finally happened, about 2 months later. oh well. at least i have more lights where that came from!

Bits and Pieces

2012-01-22T22:57:00.000-08:00

Just a few things I saw riding around this weekend.

From behind, La Ballena looks like any other bicycle.

While we were parked I noticed that the bicycles very much resemble their riders- long, skinny and carrying all the groceries or more than a little wide in the rear with a propensity to wear orange.

SFPD monitoring a large right to life march. It was a pretty calm event, especially as the night before had been quite a bit more hectic with an Occupy SF protest. It isn't SF if there isn't someone protesting something every 24 hours. It is our secret industry after tourism.

This, however, was the winner of the day. I love my City!!!

What did you see this weekend?

black and white saturday

2012-01-20T19:55:00.001-08:00

yay, weekend! :)

share the road y'all

2012-01-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

some wise words out of texas. my uncle is an avid road cyclist. this is on his truck. i saw more than a few of these on all sorts of vehicles when i was there.

have a great day y'all! speaking of, maybe this fellow texan will get back to mountain biking instead of embarrassing himself on tv.

Further Adventures Of Declan

2012-01-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

It has been a bit since we had an update in the bicycle adventures of Declan. San Francisco is evolving daily when it comes to getting around by bicycle. We have a long way to go, but the streets have become so much better, especially in the areas of town with the highest concentration of bicycle riders, that I am comfortable taking Declan just about anywhere his two legs can get him to.

What do you think of that bicycle James put together for him? It is a light weight steel BMX frame with a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed coaster hub. We had to look for 2 months to find the right frame within 200 miles of us (it had to be steel so we could bend the rear forks to accommodate the S-A hub) but it finally appeared. One day I will put together a little piece on just how very cool this machine is.

Now that Declan is older (almost 7!) and has a bicycle that helps him keep up (he is so much faster than I am up hill!!!) we are able to have him ride his own bicycle when we run errands around town. If you were to see him riding you would be amazed. He chats away to us the whole time while watching for doors, keeping an eye out for glass and doing the left-right-left look at intersections. He rides way better than half of the adults I see riding around.

We have to borrow the Xtracycle from Cameron when we do this. That way, if the traffic is bad or Declan just poops out we can tow his bicycle and him home. It also works to make sure we have taco truck seating mid-ride.

James usually takes the rear because Declan is so used to riding next to me (I need a photographer to ride with us so I have pictures of it). I no longer have to give him many verbal directions . Today, I took the rear and let the boys have some fun. Declan likes to chat while he rides. I love it, I figured James might enjoy it, too. They talked about the difference between catapults and trebuchets, how to build a more destructive arctic ice breaker and their plans for the next homemade air powered rocket launcher.

a different day but I had to put this picture in somewhere

He is really growing up! It just amazes me (silly as he is the youngest and I have lived through this stage many times before!). My City is growing up, too. It takes a lot of trust and a deep breath from time to time, but the fact is my little boy rode his bicycle through 4 neighborhoods (a total of about 7 miles altogether) almost entirely in bicycle lanes. He was just another rider. OK, he was way cuter than any of the other riders and people kept pointing at him and smiling, but you get the point. Now we just need to get more kids out there!!

this happened.

2012-01-15T02:01:00.001-08:00

rode with my nephew yesterday and saw this. it made our day! plus, we got free ice cream.
i feel like i need to share this with you guys!
happy sunday! :) :) :)

bike never die

2012-01-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

i was listening to alt latino from npr earlier this morning. i woke up to too much sunshine at around 6:45am and decided to listen to some music.

i discovered, lê almeida, a band from brazil doing some lo-fi sounds that sound reminiscent of the indie labels kill rock stars and 1990s era matador records.

music and bikes. what a great way to start off the morning. enjoy.

One Season In My City

2012-01-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

It is January in San Francisco. Usually a miserable time with much rain and freezing wind and very little sunlight.

Not this year. Zero rain. Zero wind. Zero fog. A whole lotta sunshine. In fact, more sunshine than we usually get all summer! It is freaking me out a little bit. I think I have to get used to it though.

Me in January of 2011.

January 2009

And this year, I am wearing SEERSUCKER! In the winter!! And it was too warm! This is just not right. The trees in front of my home have not been able to turn and drop their leaves. There were mosquitoes in my bedroom 3 nights in a row.

OK. Everyone. Drive a whole lot less and ride a whole lot more 'cause I want my winter back!

Then & Now

2012-01-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

We like to think we are creating something new here in the bicycle world.

But to to be honest, my Mom in 1954 looks an awful lot like my Mom in 2012.

Maybe we need to stop thinking about this so much and just get back to what we used to do.

pedal savvy fashion show

2012-01-06T10:41:00.001-08:00

the SF bike expo happened a couple of months ago. i was busy parking bikes so people could be bike nerds without worry. as such, i missed this fashion show. the show is produced by CYLRAB friends over at pedal savvy. also a lot of the models hamming it up in the video are part of the regular bike posse that we love so much.

so here's to SF, and as KT said over at velo vogue, "this is how SF does it."

2011 Pedal Savvy Fashion Show from SF Bike Expo on Vimeo.

much love to all of you. now get out and ride this weekend if the weather allows! i know i will be, well, because i live in norcal.

granny gets around

2012-01-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

Happy new year readers!

i'm still on extended work/vacation here in texas y'all. but i saw this on the spacebooks interweb today and just had to put it here on the blog. she rocks! looks so practical, yet fun. :)

and, AGAIN, many thanks to all of the people who have donated to WBR! we are helping to influence lives for the better here on the interwebs and making bikes accessible for those out in the real world. i cannot think of a better way to start the new year.

see y'all on the flip side! i will be back soon with regular updates. unofficial new years resolution is to attend less gawshdamn meetings and get back to writing (& riding) more!

Phase 3... Sooo Excited!!

2011-12-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome back! I hope you all had a good Chriskwanzica! I for one have been busy!

First off, we have sold three of our World Bicycle Relief fundraiser pictures! Thank you so much to our generous donors (we will have those off mid-January) and if you are still waiting for your scarves, fear not! They are finished and will be in the mail on Saturday.

Second, I would like to introduce Phase 3 of our fund raising challenge. From the very beginning of this blog, Meli, Melyssa, Caryl and I have been happy to keep this an ad-free zone. The few times we have considered the possibility of it, it has never felt right. Well, things are about to change. After testing the waters with a few local business people we know, we have started a program where local, small bicycle related/friendly businesses have been approached with this idea-

A $150 dollar donation made directly to World Bicycle Relief gets them 3 months of advertising on the blog! We already have 2 takers! This has put us in the over $1000 zone!!!!

Zero Per Gallon is a small company owned by our friend Kit. He makes all kinds of fun shirts and stickers. The sticker on my Bobike seat is one of his. It is a small business run by a man who truly loves bicycles and the people who ride them.

My Dutch Bike is a growing family-owned shop that specializes in sales and repair of Dutch bicycles of the upright, practical, cargo/kid carrying, dignified style. MDB proprietress, Soraya is a wonderful woman with a passion for getting anyone on a bicycle.

That's Soraya on one of her Workcycles. As lovely as she is on the outside, she is more so on the inside and her business is a reflection of that!

So, in the next few days look for a side bar with company logos that will link to various businesses here in the SF Bay Area, but hopefully also from other spots around the country! All of us here at the blog would love to just shout THANK YOU!!!!! to Kit and Soraya for helping us jumpstart this project! If this goes well, just imagine all the good that could come from it!

Also, let us know what you think!

Upside Down, and Round, Round

2011-12-26T11:42:00.001-08:00

It is Boxing Day! Hope your Christmas was lovely! Time to start thinking about the new year. Maybe try to see things a new way!

Photo by Brenton Salo and submitted to the CYLRABFlickr group

black and white saturday

2011-12-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

one reindeer, two reindeer, three reindeer...

:) :) :) :)

Phase 2

2011-12-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

The donations keep coming in! We are over $450, which means $900 with the dollar for dollar matching at World Bicycle Relief! Holy Cow!!!

With that in mind, we have come up with, what I hope is, a great new incentive to give to this amazing organization. Caryl and I have each chosen some of our photos to have professionally printed in a very limited addition with just 5 of each available. Each will be signed and numbered by Caryl or myself. Each will be printed to a size compatible with an 8x10 frame.

Change Someone's Life. Buy Some Art!

$20 gets you one, $40 gets you 2 and $60 gets you all three! Every penny of that purchase goes directly as a donation to World Bicycle Relief. And if you donate before Dec 31st, WBR is able to match that donation dollar for dollar. Twice the bike love, people!

Interested? Donate here, write "Change Your Life. Ride A Bike!" in the box for "In honor of", and the blog address in the little box provided (cylrab@gmail.com). If you wish to have one of the photos then forward the thank you email they send you with the amount you donated so we know how many pictures to send you along with an address of where to send your photos.

Photos will be shipped mid-January and we will ship overseas, so if you are on the other side of the world, don't be shy!

happy holidays!

2011-12-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

we here at the blog want to wish all of you a happy holiday this 2011/2012 season. there's a lot to be thankful for, especially all of you who have helped with our world bicycle relief donations. i can't wait to find out the results of how much we've donated. many thanks to ade for the great idea!

we hope you have a great time with family as 2011 comes to a close. maybe some newer family members of yours will receive presents like these so they can change their life by riding a trike.

i normally have more lights on joanie's basket, but wasn't feeling completely into the spirit of things this year. so i kept it to merely two strands. heh.

i tried to keep the foto old school when i realized recently that this bike is older than me.

much love from all of us here at CYLRAB!!

We Did It!

2011-12-20T12:08:00.000-08:00

We have reached 10!!! Not only that, a couple of our readers gave way more than $15 so we have exceeded our initial goal (I am working with WBR to find out exactly how much we are raising!) Thank you so much!!!!

The scarf giveaway is done (I can only knit so much!), but I think we can keep this going in a different way. World Bicycle Relief is matching all donations dollar for dollar through the 31st of December. Maybe I can come up with a new giveaway (I have some surprises up my sleeves).
If you are still on the fence about sending a donation think about this- girls in Africa are expected to complete all household chores before doing anything else, which frequently includes heavy animal care and fetching water from wells far from home. This all has to be done before going to school, usually several miles from home. Imagine fetching enough water for a family of 5 from 5 blocks away by foot everyday. Imagine then walking 4 miles to school . All before 7 am. All when you are 12 years old. Could you do it without help? A $15 donation could make that help happen.

In the meantime, I am off to knit!! Maybe someplace like here!

Half Way

2011-12-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

3 of 4 colour choices (cream not pictured)

We are more than half way to our World Bicycle Relief goal! Six wonderful people have come forward and sacrificed a week's coffee budget for the purpose of getting someone in Africa a life changing bicycle. A huge thanks to you 6! Your scarves will be going out this week (the first 3 today, the next three over the next few days as I finish knitting them!) .

One of our donors was able to get her employer to match her $15! So while I don't count that to our goal, it is still fantastic! And even better? Now through Dec 31st, all donations to WBR are being matched dollar for dollar!!! So everything we do goes twice as far!

If you have been thinking of giving, now is the time! $15 donated in honor of "Change Your Life. Ride A Bike!" and verified to our address (cylrab@gmail.com) will not only get you a hand made by me scarf, it will be turned into $30 by WBR and it will help change someone's life in ways we can scarcely imagine.

For more info read here and here.

And So It Begins!

2011-12-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

We have 4 contributions in our World Bicycle Relief Giveaway! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! That makes us almost half way to a bicycle in the hands of someone who really, really needs one. For this Holiday season, we can give someone dignity, opportunity and independence!

We only need 6 more $15 contributions to make this happen. Remember, a $15 contribution made in the name of "Change Your Life. Ride A Bike!" and confirmed to our email address, cylrab@gmail.com, will go way farther than that same $15 could ever get you in the coffee shop you would have blown it in anyway! And for those who contribute, we have a gift- a hand knit, and quite useful if I do say so myself, scarf from one of us here at the blog!! I will be posting pictures of the various colours in the morning, so keep a weather eye out! And if you want to give and not get, let me know and we will make sure that scarf gets into the hands of someone who needs it here in San Francisco.

lessons learned from bike thieves

2011-12-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

'tis that time of year. the air turns chilly, more ugly sweaters surface at parties, and the scramble for presents begins. for some, that means maybe stealing to get what you need to give to others. or maybe they are just an asshole who steals bike parts.

the title of that picture is "what is wrong with this picture?" my response was "nothing, unless that is your bike and you are missing a seat post/saddle."

sigh. our friend to the blog, TDN, had this unfortunate experience the other night on market street. i have mentioned before on the blog how i've outsmarted bike thieves before who coveted my saddle i worked very hard to pay for with my own money. i'll be goddammned if they are going to take that saddle without a fight.

TDN updated his network by saying, "Urban Cyclist Protip: Your local bikeshop has tiny ball bearings and plumbers putty to jam into allens of things you don't want stolen."

agreed. or you can take it a couple of steps further and make sure you also strip the nut that can also be taken off.

there is indeed a ball bearing in the place where the hex/allen wrench goes. we didn't use putty, but rather hot glue. and also notice that the nut is stripped. is it a pain to adjust? it sure is. and you have to make sure you do it in the two places (for saddles at least, but this is applicable to any place where an allen wrench can be used) where it attaches to the bike. for saddles, this is where the saddle attaches to the seat post and where the seat post attaches to the bike in what sheldon brown calls "the seat cluster."

dont have those tools yourself? find someone who does, or go to your local community bike shop with work tables and DIY. or just ask your LBS if they will help you strip the nut. they will think you are a lil nuts, but you say it's for theft prevention, and who knows, they just might say "sure, why not?"

it just takes a little extra and added patience to work on the bike. but you know what? i still have my saddle. that's worth protecting to me.

Scarves For Bicycles

2011-12-14T15:44:00.000-08:00

So, with much trouble and frustration with my camera (!!!!!!!) I was able to get a couple of shots that are in focus! The WBR Giveaway can begin!

These scarves are large triangular ones that button at the throat. Instead of wrapping around a million times, coming undone, getting caught on the handle bars, these wrap around once and fasten shut. They taper down the front and fully cover your chest (or back if you wear it backwards).

They can be tucked into a jacket with minimal bulk, they keep out he wind and I find they let me shed a layer easily and still stay warm. If worn with arm warmers they make a great way to layer on and off in the crazy micro-climates of places like San Francisco. They come in gray, dark blue, dark red or cream. They are made of a wool/acrylic blend that can be machine washed and dried, they are completely hand made (most likely by me, but it is possible yours could be knit by one of my bikey friends).

All it takes is a $15 donation to World Bicycle Relief! If you make a donation to WBR in the name of "Change Your Life. Ride A Bike!" (and have them email us a confirmation to the blog address cylrab@gmail.com) I will mail you a hand made scarf. Should you chose to donate to WBR and not take a scarf, I will donate that scarf to a local program to help clothe the homeless!

If 10 readers donate $15 each that will be enough money to build one bicycle and train one bicycle mechanic somewhere in the world where that kind of thing can completely change a person's life. So come on people! Let's change someone's life with a bicycle!!! That's what this is all about, after all!

ATTENTION PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

2011-12-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

Which part of this says "Parking Space"? The posts, the green paint, the sharrow markings, the "No Stopping" signs or the sidewalk? Hey, United States Postal Service, YOU CAN'T PARK HERE!!!

And while I am at it, San Francisco Department of Public Works, just in case you didn't get the memo, YOU CAN NOT PARK IN BIKE LANES, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ADJACENT TRAFFIC IS DRIVING MORE THAN 50MPH!

Just because you are "official" does not give you the right to be "officially" blind, selfish and discourteous. Enough said.

Aaarrrrgh!!!

2011-12-13T16:16:00.001-08:00

I have spent the day trying to get my digital camera to work so I can take pictures of the giveaway but my camera is not co-operating. In the meantime, a photograph taken with my 35mm awhile ago to remind us that some people rely on their bicycles for a whole lot more than just getting to work.

Stay tuned! I will prevail with my technology!

bike hacks for the rain

2011-12-12T10:03:00.001-08:00

SF is not quite the pacific northwest when it comes to rain, but we do get our fair share. the SF rainy season is on the tiptopverge of starting, and as such, has apparently kept some riders unprepared, or some who have long adjusted to the rain and have accommodated their bikes.

unprepared, yet creative!

this homie knows what time it is in SF:

i love that umbrella placement!

as i've discussed before on the blog, this year my rainy season preparation has started with swapping out my steel rims for some aluminium ones. they are a noticeable improvement.

what do you do in order to prepare for the rain? what do you do if you are caught unprepared?

Me And My Shadow

2011-12-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you wait alone.

Although, a shadow can be more than enough company.

Monday is my last final for the semester, so I will be able to catch up! Look for details of our little World Bike Relief Giveaway on Tuesday!

You Just Know

2011-12-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

We don't even need to see the whole thing anymore. Instant recognition.

Is it?

2011-12-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

Is it what you think it is?

Happy Friday! Go do something on your bike that makes people look twice!

Photo by Hubby the Bikeman

more fun with fotobooths...

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

to follow up on KT's post from yesterday over at velo vogue, here's another one from winterfest's always fun fotobooth.

i love that foto! i like our camera one too over at velo vogue.

here's a fotobooth foto from a couple of years ago. i tell ya, that fotobooth rules!

la cumbia de la bici

2011-12-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

ahhh!! i love me some cumbia y'all! and here's a youtube made by mexican musician david aguilar in May 2010 about la bici!

i LOVE it. <3 also in finding this video, i found more tributes to la bici en espanol, so i'm sure i'll be sharing those with you in the upcoming weeks.

until then happy wednesday y'all. i'm fighting some lame sick thing. you know you are truly not feeling well when you're still not tired of being in bed after 2 days. i'm not even stir crazy. imagine that. weird. i'm sure i'll be back to my 10millionthingstodo-self in a couple of days. :) and that's when i will have to show y'all joanie's holiday lights upgrade!

via here.

Drop 'Em

2011-12-06T10:12:00.001-08:00

Not everyone needs a bike rack.

I prefer a kick stand. I think it provides my bikes with more dignity, but I am open to other ways.

A Dream Realized

2011-12-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today I utterly failed to complete the San Francisco Super Market Street Sweep. I had $200 and a cargo bike and hill 3 killed me and left me no recovery time to let me finish in time.

However, I did live out a dream with a complete stranger! Bike surfing!!!!

It wasn't easy, but we worked it out. He was a complete stranger and when I told him what I wanted to do he was ready right now! I hope to find his card because he has come up with a really great way to carry adults on the back of your bike. All I remember is his name is Gerard.

black and white saturday

2011-12-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Vintage View Of Vintage Activities

2011-12-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

A little view from my old Pentax. It is more difficult to shoot people riding with it because it is a 100% manual camera of the 1970's variety.

These two were really cute. They had matching folding bicycles and her helmet, sweater and shoes were all pink.

He just looked so peaceful sitting there. A lovely view at twilight.

The never ending flow of traffic along the Embarcadero.

Because I have been having to focus manually, I have been spending more time looking for the less mobile moments in bicycle life I encounter on my travels. I find those to be equally beautiful subjects.

So here is my question to you all out there, how do all of the images of people in the world that you can find on all of these blogs effect you? Do they make you want to ride more, or work for better riding conditions where you are? Do they make you want to travel with your bicycle? I know they make my trigger finger itchy!

nyc bicycle balancing act

2011-11-29T09:19:00.001-08:00

whoa. i opened up my inbox today to see this glorious photograph taken by stanley kubrick, better known as the director of the shining, a clockwork orange, and full metal jacket, among others.

and you thought you had balance when you ride your bike with no hands. whoaaaaaaa.

also...what composition! amazing.

happy tuesday everyone! SF is expected to get gusts of wind up to 50-70mph (if a certain local news outlet is to be believed). not sure if that means i'll be muni-ing it or braving it out there. get ready for it y'all...

foto via here.

Relief Is A Bicycle

2011-11-28T22:23:00.000-08:00

Times are hard around the world these days. No one knows where the economy is going and jobs don't fall from the sky like they used to. But let's face it, if you are reading this blog post chances are you do not have to get water from a well you had to dig in the first place. My guess is you were able to go to school without difficulty as are your children. I bet malaria does not plague many people in your community. I could be wrong, but I bet not.

With that in mind I would like you to watch the following video from World Bicycle Relief.

It does not take much to help. It really does not. 15 readers donating $10 each gets one person a bicycle that could bring them, and their families out of a kind of grinding poverty that those of us with reliable internet connections can not imagine.

To further entice you to donate to this cause, I will have some kind of giveaway for those who can prove they have donated. I am not sure what it will be, but it will be bicycle related, probably made by me and sent to you free of charge (other than your generous donation to WBR). I will announce the giveaway by the end of the week, so keep a look out!

Who will be first?

22nd St & Valencia

2011-11-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

Lazy Day

2011-11-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

Today is feeling more like an observation day than a doing day.

There is always someone else riding to make me feel like I am participating.

bike basket tgiving bounty!

2011-11-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

last night i did some thanksgiving shopping for the veggie sides i'll be making tomorrow with my family. i give thanks for my bike basket that is able to carry around the awesome groceries! it took a minute, but there's a jacket, two bike locks, my personal bag and a bag's worth of groceries in there.

have a great tofurkey day everyone!! be sure to ride off that feast over the long weekend. i'm sure i'll be doing that if the weather cooperates. if not, well, i'll probably be riding anyway!

Danger Panda!

2011-11-22T23:38:00.000-08:00

I have never been this cool in a bicycle.

Panda shot + danger + ghost riding + galoshes + fantastic smile = !!!!!!!!!!!

(pic by Hubby The Bikeman)

Bike By Dads

2011-11-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

From back in June

From this afternoon

Lookin' good San Francisco!

Grab Your Camera!

2011-11-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

We don't do a lot of product endorsement around here. None of us here at the blog are gear people. For myself, one messenger bag is really not much different than the next and the one I won in a raffle 3 years ago works just fine the three times a year I use it. Saying that, when I saw the press release below in my in box the other day, I didn't think much about it. That is until I saw it was a film contest! Your fixed gear adventure could win you something you might like (or that someone on your holiday list might like!) while entertaining the rest of us!

So what do you think? Should I film me learning how to ride the Mid-Life Fixie? It could be amusing to see a middle aged mother making a fool of herself!

From Chrome-

"Here's your chance to earn some bragging rights!...Chrome presents the "Hey, Check Me Out!" fixed gear freestyle video contest. Log on to Chrome and upload the link to your best 60 seconds of footage for a chance to win the one of the largest prize packages ever from Chrome. Submissions close on November 23rd at which point Chrome's own Ed "Wonka" Laforte will spend his Thanksgiving weekend reviewing all videos and will announce the winners on Monday, November 28th. Get out there and get some clips! Good luck!"

Good luck and let us know if you enter!

Shake It Up

2011-11-14T11:33:00.001-08:00

I find that riding my bicycle everyday has brought it into the circle of all things we find indispensable. Invisible and ubiquitous. Although, tied with my camera as my most indispensable and treasured possession, I give it little thought, neglect it's maintenance and expect it to simply work no matter what (my camera receives much the same consideration). So now, like in all long standing relationships, things need to be shaken up and a new way to see must be found to maintain a proper sense of appreciation.

Now I am looking for new ways to "see" so that I can find ways to share with you. New ways to appreciate what I have and all the beautiful changes that are coming to my City and the rest of the country.

How do you keep from forgetting how lucky you are to ride your bicycle? How do you stop yourself from not seeing what is around you? 'Cause things are just starting to get interesting!

ciclavia 3.0

2011-11-13T15:32:00.001-08:00

happy sunday!

Dark Is Upon Us

2011-11-11T23:47:00.000-08:00

Time to light up, people!

Not only is it a safe idea, it makes for great photographs!

fall weather means fall outfits

2011-11-11T11:41:00.001-08:00

it doesn't really ever get COLD cold here in sf, but there is definitely a chill in the air.

a couple of days ago, on one of those chilly days, i was riding behind a woman and her great outfit...

tweed jacket, rad bag, jeans and boots?! love it.

btw, she's doing one of ade's bag and foot down (AKA the SF STAND) observations.

happy friday y'all!

--CTX

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

as you already know, we love reader submissions y'all.

sent in by a reader. via this lovely french fixed gear blog.

Domingo En Merida

2011-11-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

Just last week an old friend of mine returned from a trip to Mérida, in the most wonderful part of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula. While she was there, she snapped some shots of the locals and their bicycles out for a Sunday ride about town. She knows I love this stuff (both Mexico and bicycles which I would happily combine any day of the week as they are two of my favorite things!).

What a lovely place to just putter around! I would ride all over the place all day long. I wish Guadalajara had been this accommodating when I lived there in 1992. I hear it has really changed since I was last there. Copenhagenize has ranked it on a global scale and it beat out SF! That blew me away! Viva México!!

I wonder if these are part of a bike share? If so, they put Mérida firmly ahead of San Francisco on that front (we still can't get it together here!).

I love those recumbent pedicabs! Power assist, nice seating, comfortable for the operator... I would ride those all over the place instead of a taxi any day! I don't know if they are for rent as they have no signage, but man they are cool!

The city of Mérida closes some of its streets every Sunday for several hours to allow the public to frolic in the peace. Nice for the tourists, but even nicer for the locals who get a regular break from the cars and the fumes.

So now I want to get back to Mexico even more than I did before! How about you? Ever ridden a bicycle along Mexico's cobbled streets? Do you commute in a city of my southern neighbor? Tell us about it!

*Stupid Blogger won't let me upload any more pictures right now, but when I can I will put up the shot she sent of the local plaza wit bicycles lying about waiting for their riders. A truly civilized scene, I assure you.

The 300

2011-11-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what 300 people on bicycles look like passing you at night?

Now you know.

happy friday! panda style...

2011-11-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

these two pandas were spotted recently riding in SF.

watch out. they are ready to have fun in a place near you!

happy friday y'all. have a great weekend.

celebrate el dia de los muertos

2011-11-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

today is el dia de los muertos. there will be scenes just like this one over parts of north, central and south america(s). this is a picture from chiapas taken in 2003 from flickr user jjjttt.

consider bringing your bike to a dia de los muertos celebration near you.

enjoy the day, remember how those who have passed on made you cry, laugh, scream, and most importantly, love. celebrate and embrace it all...

c/s,
CTX

Normal

2011-10-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

I find myself in a strange position. At this point in the game, I think I can safely call myself a "bicycle advocate". To be effective as such, I strive to "normalize" the act of bicycling everyday. As I live in North America, part of that "normalization" is showing people what riding a bicycle has looked like all over the world for most of the last century.

I take pictures of people moving through an urban environment just as they would on foot or by bus or car. Hopefully the pictures show people on bicycles, not bicycles with people on them.

The small moments are what make the act of cycling "normal". Interactions between people, small movements, eye contact... these are what make anything we do seem familiar and attractive.

By now, in San Francisco, bicycles are just part of the scenery. We don't notice them, except in their numbers.

The conversation continues in the bicycle lane, just as it doe sin a car in the fast lane. Those who participate in it do not think anything about it. A normal conversation in every way.

We watch the world go by and the world pays us little attention back.

We blend in like anyone else.

Even in those more flashy, broken down moments we are just a part of the environment.

There is still so much work to do, not just in San Francisco. Not everywhere has achieved what we have here, and we have a long road ahead. But for today, I want to think about what we have made happen to this point- we have become ubiquitous, normal, part of the scenery. Go us!

powered by the people

2011-10-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

we over here at the blog think that bike-powered things are pretty cool. if you've ever ridden a bike to power something, you really notice how much energy it takes to do something via electricity. whether it be powering some light for an art exhibit, to make some blended smoothies, or even to power amplified sound, all of it takes some muscle power and sweat to do.

in that vein, i've been seeing some bikey powered things that are popping up at occupy protests in SF and at the one that started it all, wall street. i also heard from friends of mine that were in oakland on tuesday, that there were a LOT of people on bikes. presumably to quickly get away from the chaos.

foto by RTB

i also recently found this video on the spacebooks interwebs about the occupy wall streeters talking about how they need bikes to power the movement in order to be off the grid. word.

have a great weekend y'all!

in solidarity,
CTX

Coffee Break

2011-10-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

It is getting kinda serious out there, folks. Time for a coffee break.

Make sure you take your own seating. Happy Friday!

in what world is this ok?

2011-10-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

oh, in nyc i guess. my former home for 8 years. work has been nuts for me lately so i can't completely go into what i would like to say to this, but perhaps the quote below will suffice.

from gothamist

In April of last year, 18-year-old cyclist Jake McDonaugh was killed in a collision with a van at the intersection at Flatbush Avenue and Beverly Road. Witnesses say the driver of the van, 28-year-old Michael Oxley, ran a red light and was speeding when he killed McDonaugh. "He got stuck under the van, and the van [dragged] him about half a block against the asphalt," witness Brian Lorde told the Daily News after the 9:30 a.m. accident. Oxley was driving with a suspended license, and the NYPD took the rare step of charging him with criminally negligent homicide! Yesterday, some sort of "justice" was served.

The Post reports that a jury acquitted Oxley of homicide, and his attorney says a video from outside a restaurant "seemed to sway the jurors that Oxley had the light." But the jury did find Oxley guilty of speeding and driving with a suspended license, for which Justice Raymond Guzman sentenced him to 10 days in jail. Driving over the speed limit and killing somebody while your license is suspended? Slap on the wrist, as long as you have the right of way!

i would just like to know in what world is that ok?! ugh.........ok, back to work for me. please let us know what you think in the comments.

return of the tandem cargo bike

2011-10-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

i saw this tandem xtracycle over at sf bike party and the bicycle music fest a few months ago. i thought it was awesome. they are often seen schilling for a local politician who is running for mayor.

well, looks like they get around town, and definitely make a statement...OF FUN!

and look, they've got roller skates! and they are locked to the frame! heh. cause you never know.

so this party of two or three certainly gets around sf. i also love that you can take two people around and also just carry things. practical! do you all see some practical party bikes all around your town?

reflections of my city

2011-10-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

happy saturday! ^_^

guest contribution: with my own two wheels

2011-10-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

this was a post passed on to us over by KT over at velo vogue. thanks KT!!

For many Americans, the bicycle is a choice. For countless others across the globe, it is much more. For Fred, a health worker in Zambia, the bicycle is a means of reaching twice as many patients. For Bharati, a teenager in India, it provides access to education. For Mirriam, a disabled Ghanaian woman, working on bicycles is an escape from the stigma attached to disabled people in her community. For Carlos, a farmer in Guatemala, pedal power is a way to help neighbors reduce their impact on the environment. For Sharkey, a young man in California, the bicycle is an escape from the gangs that consume so many of his peers.

My Own Two Wheels weaves together the experiences of these five individuals into a single story about how the bicycle can change the world - one pedal stroke at a time. Find out when it airs at linktv.org.

ViewChange: With My Own Two Wheels Airdates

(Times in Pacific time zone)
Friday, October 21st
05:00 pm
Tuesday, October 25th
08:00 pm
Thursday, October 27th
02:30 am
Saturday, October 29th
05:30 am

DIRECTV Channel 375 | DISH Network Channel 9410

crossposted over at velo vogue

the time...it is a'changin'

2011-10-20T10:21:00.001-07:00

i'm sad to say it's that time of year when the light above hangs noticeably different in the sky.

a few sundays ago this was pretty apparent after i stood on this corner to get out my bike lights.

left.

right.

boooooooooohiiiissssssssss.

soon we are going to be forced to change our clocks and wake up to the dark. i don't like it, but it happens every year. can't do anything about it...

so i guess this means is time to work on bike projects in the comfort of the garage as we await rainy season to hit us full force.

Any Given Tuesday

2011-10-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

or Thursday, you can find me here

having a cuppa before I pick up the boy from school.

2 Wheels > 4

2011-10-17T11:26:00.001-07:00

Getting kids on bicycles is a lot of fun. They get to explore the world under their own power, simple tasks turn into little adventures, they get stronger and more confident... As anyone who reads this blog regularly knows, my kids spend a lot of time on their bicycles, especially my youngest, Declan.

Declan is quite the monkey.

Not long ago, I posted about Declan's first real foray into the bike lane on his own bicycle.

Even with all of the benefits that I see that come from my kids riding everyday, sometimes I am surprised by something new I hadn't thought of. The first thing on two wheels that ever changed my life was my motorcycle. I haven't been on my Honda in 11 years, mostly because the kids were too young to ride on it. Now that all of the kids are older, and everyone is either self sufficient in the transportation arena or is big enough to ride whatever I show up on, I have been able to start riding my motorcycle again.

Declan asked me if he could ride with me over the weekend. He had never been on a motorcycle before, so I had to give him a lesson in how to be a good passenger- don't wiggle, don't stand on the pegs, don't grab my shoulders, don't panic when the bike leans into a turn... "you mean like when I am on the back of the xtracycle?". Exactly!

So there he is! I was worried about putting him back there thinking he would be frightened or do something silly. I thought I would have to start him out in a parking lot or something like that, until he got used to it. As it turns out, we have been teaching him how to ride a motorcycle for a long time already. He was a perfect passenger, and now we have a way to get to his doctor's appointments without taking a 90 minute long (one way) bicycle ride or having to spend 30 minutes finding a parking space when we get there.

One more step toward car freedom, all because I put my kids on bicycles. Pretty cool.

Take Your Posse

2011-10-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

When you go riding you should always take a repair kit for those unexpected moments.

It does not hurt to have several people who know how to use the kit along with you, too.

this!

2011-10-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

uphill? no problem!

Mother, Can You Hear Me?

2011-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Installment 2 of my personal perspective on the silly things people do on their bicycles that can make things hard for everyone.

Not long ago, I was riding along Valencia St. when I noticed the rider just ahead of me was a woman I know. She was about 50 feet ahead of me, so I sped up and called out to her. She didn't hear me, so I picked up the pace a bit and called again. Nothing. I gave her my New York taxi yell (it is quite impressive, you should hear it). Nothing. Finally I caught up to her and passed to the left and said "hi!". She just about jumped out of her skin and nearly crashed.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!' she yelled at me.

"I didn't! I have been yelling your name for half a block!"

"I have my earbuds in. I can't hear anything."

"Then why do you wear them?"

"Well I can hear stuff, just not you."

Not my friend. Just someone with earbuds.

And there you have the issue that we will address in today's "How To Not Ride Really Badly" lesson. If you can't hear me hollering 50 feet away, you can't hear anything.

This guy above was a really nice guy I ran into one Bike To Work Day. His music was so loud I could hear it on my bicycle over the traffic of Market Street. He was quite startled by my presence, too. Entirely because he couldn't hear me next to him. I am pretty sure he was lip reading when I took this picture.

Just before I took this picture, this woman was passed by a frustrated bus driver. I am not convinced she heard the bus next to her as she flinched and swerved as it passed her. I am not sure how anyone would be comfortable not knowing a 60 foot long bus weighing 31,500 lbs (unloaded!!) with a frustrated driver who is late is coming up behind them.

In California, wearing headphones or earbuds in both ears, while driving or riding a bicycle is illegal (CVC 27400). Over an above that, it is stupid. When you can not hear anything other than Lady Gaga or This American Life it means you lose the one sense that can warn you ahead of time there is trouble. How many times have I not hit someone passing me on the right only because I heard their squeaky chain coming up behind?

People use the example of the deaf being able to do things without hearing. It is a silly example. Someone who is deaf has adapted to their lack of hearing and has found ways to make sure they know what is going on around them. Those who are totally into the Tupac blaring in their heads... not so much. They are distracted by the very engaging music and usually forget that the rest of the world is still out there. The woman above is a prime example- she didn't hear the car in cross traffic running the red light when it was time for us to go. It could have been really ugly.

While there is the argument that driver's should always assume that others can't hear them, or that they may hit a vulnerable road user, I don't think that absolves road users from paying attention to their own, and others safety. It is illegal to drive with headphones in Portugal, Spain, Germany, but I could not easily find information about its legality on a bicycle. The Dutch ask us not to when we ride there-

big, readable one here

James and I were talking about the issue of hearing while riding the other day. We have both taken up motorcycle riding again, after many years away. We had both noticed the same thing- we were each disturbed by our inability to hear the cars around us due to our full face helmets, road noise and wind. We have become so accustomed to being able to hear everything around us while bicycle riding that we were disturbed by our inability to do this on the motorcycle. Neither of us realized just how much we had come to depend on our hearing while riding around and neither of us felt safe when it was taken away.

So, if you want music on your ride, maybe you should just take the band along with you. Or sound up your bicycle and share the love! Hendrix is so much better when you can hear what is going on around you!

cross posted at Vélo Vogue

PSA: ladies, pull your pants up

2011-10-11T10:18:00.001-07:00

ugh. there was a sign going around the spacebook interwebs a couple of weeks ago that said pull your pants up.

well, that's exactly what i wanted to tell this young woman as i was riding behind her and her thong the other day. uggggggggh. i also don't want to encourage gross (i.e. objectifying) comments from anyone about it, but i just want to encourage her and others who may also have this problem to pull yr damn pants up.

that is all.

"don't ride on handlebars...exexexcuse me"

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

what's the most important rule of all?

oh man, i found this in my RSS reader on friday afternoon. i couldn't help but to share!! heh.

via jezebel

In Case You Didn't Know

2011-10-09T21:43:00.001-07:00

Just because you have a bicycle hanging off the back of your car does not give you enough street cred to run me over as I ride down the street.

End of lesson.

3rd ciclavia tomorrow!

2011-10-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

hand love!

see you there LA peeps!

Big & Small

2011-10-07T00:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday, from those both near and far!

It seems to be that when I ride around I am always finding things to remind me of those I love. A good reason to ride!

here comes the rain again...

2011-10-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

falling on my head like a memory....

one of the things i like about riding a bike is the constant challenges it brings. if you are riding loaded, you have to think differently about all the junk in your trunk.

or if you are super late to work because you were looking for your keys AND THEN it wasn't raining when you were looking for them BUT WHEN YOU WERE READY TO LEAVE it was pouring out....and you have steel rims on your older bike...what do you do?

foto by ade, guest starring declan

one of my fears is going down a hill in the rain on joanie because one of the first times i did that, i crashed into a biker at the end of the hill. i was pulling my brake levers as hard as i could for most of the way down. so when i see rain and know i have to head out on my bike, i think i'd rather be doing this:

foto by sibadd

on my new commute, i have a rather large hill i'm sort of nervous to go down when it's not raining. i'm mainly nervous due to the car traffic and because not everyone who drives a car signals when they want to turn, not because of anything else. i love to bomb that hill when i get the chance. WHEEEEEEEEE....

well, today was running late, so no better time than to face that fear. rain + joanie, round one. no time to really ride in a roundabout way, so i took the plunge.

and here i am. i just went slow and steady. per usual. joanie - 1, rain - 0.

for more tips for riding in the rain, please see this video over on vimeo starring KT from velo vogue.

all fotos taken from our flickr pool! we love to see what you guys do with cameras and bikes!!

do you remember when you CYLRAB?

2011-10-03T09:01:00.001-07:00

this bike does.

and the owner decided to write it out on the bike to celebrate. it's put on by black enamel paint, the kind you can find at any art store.

and...take a closer look at this bike box hack job. it's pretty sweet.

this person also recently told me their partner also got a bike recently. seems like riding around is contagious!

what about you? do you remember the exact day your life changed because you rode a bike?

Park It Here

2011-10-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

Bicycle parking. It can be challenging to get a good spot and more often than not, you have to get creative. I have no problem taking up car spaces when needed.

Neither did this rider! One very long recumbent with trailer needs just as much space as a pickup sometimes. Seen outside McDonald's in Sand City, CA. It is nice to see a little SF style guerrilla parking outside of the SF Bay Area.

scenes from the bikey lane: bike with history edition

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

i recently went over to that awesomeness that is spur (sf planning and urban research associations), to look at their exhibit on reclaiming market street, where they featured one of our friends as one "project [that highlights] the many ways in which cities, nationally and internationally, are engaged in reimagining their public spaces through experimental urban planning." ooh, que fancy speak. and here i just thought it was people using the physical urban space they have to work with to make it fun and livable for them. oh wait, that's the same thing ;)

anyway, outside there was this awesome bike. not even parked to anything. after looking at the chain, seems to me only one person could ride it.

makes me wonder about the history of that bike. who the person is, where the bike and the person met, etc.

do you also feel that way when you see a bike that has an obviously fascinating past?

reader submission: sacramento bike racks

2011-09-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

we love submissions from our readers! here's butter bill in sacramento, looking rather excited to see these bike racks!

i'm not sure how practical they are, but hey, i'm willing to try them out! i do like how unusual they are and how much attention they command.

anyone in sacramento have experience with these racks? please share your stories in the comments!

Step Up

2011-09-25T00:34:00.000-07:00

Just a little step up

makes a much better wait.

more fun with bikes in austin!

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

we were able to acquire bikes while we were in austin for a few days last week. we got a hook.up! on a rental bike for me. i'm short, so finding a bike that fits me is really difficult. there was one road bike at the rental place that fit me pretty well. i was happy to go with the normal hybrid variety, but the temptation of an extended test ride with a road bike that is nicer than my road bike was too much. sure enough, i'm now in crush with that bike...

as you can see, the other one was the practical bike, much like my joanie baby. that bike hauled stuff around in its very handy basket. i LOVE baskets.

we didn't really go for too long a ride, and austin is pretty flat compared to SF (at least the areas we rode around in). thus, i didn't get a chance to completely test out that climbing gear, but whoa, i do know enough of riding around on that bike to know i want to try it out some more. my birthday is coming up sometime in the next 364 days, so if anyone wants to get me a present, i'll take the lexa slx in size 47cm please. kthx.

in other news, i was impressed with the volume of bikes that were being parked at acl, and here's a tiny taste of it...

bike parking before:

bike parking after:

it was fun navigating around austin on bikes and figuring out bikey ways around the city thanks to the trusty austin bikey map. i can't wait to go back and do it again!

some fun with bikes in austin

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Green

2011-09-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

It means "go", right?

So does Wednesday. Go!

priorities people!

2011-09-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

beer.

41

2011-09-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

The march of time rides a bike around here.

Celebrate by getting on your bike!

Bay Area readers: Give BART's bike survey a piece of your mind!

2011-09-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

I got an email from the sf bike coalition that BART is taking a bike survey. I also happen to agree with their recommendations, so here's what their email said:

"A new opportunity has come up to help improve BART's bicycle service.Please take BART's bike survey within the next couple days, before theyclose the survey. It takes about 5 minutes.

Please tell BART:
1. No black out periods for bikes on BART.
2. Bikes allowed on escalators at all times.

Both these proposals were floated by a BART director, but BART staff shothim down. Let's raise our voices in support of no black out periods andbikes allowed on escalators!

Here's the survey link:http://www.research.bart.gov/se.ashx?s=6011868E259E952C

To help even more, send your comments to BART's board of directors atBoardofDirectors@bart.gov and copy us at bikesonboard@sfbike.org."

so if you want to BE THE CHANGE in you want to see in your infrastructure, please fill out the survey.

anecdote: as i have a new basket on my bike (pics to come!), i really wanted to use the escalators on friday night on my way to east bay bike party. with two u-locks (yes, TWO), and that new basket, it adds probably a good 5-10 pounds on an already heavy bike. i'm able bodied, but those who may have less upper body strength might also see the bikes on escalators as a nice and viable option to maneuver around the bart station. using the escalator with a bike is, and should go without saying IMO, after most of the riders have already used the escalators to prevent animosity and to avoid people bumping into your bike if they are in a rush and walk up on the narrow escalator on your left.

We Will Fix It With Glue, Glue, Glue

2011-09-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

About 5 days after I got The Bat, it was knocked down by a drunk woman in the Mission. The fall managed to crack one of the hand grips, and over the next few weeks, it completely fell apart. After looking around at options for replacement (I hated the "ergo" grips it came with ) I decided upon the cork grips they sell at Rivendell. I really liked them because they were not the composite cork grips you find in most places. Rivendell cork grips are made in rounds and glued together to form the grip.

Why don't I want composite cork grips? Because, when they get smashed they turn to little bits of fly away powder. There is nothing to do but replace them. In my case, that would mean replacing them fairly often as the Bat gets blown down in the wind all the time. I would have to order them by the case. This seems silly to me. With the Riv grips the only part that gets broken is the ring that gets hit, and if it gets hit right you can fix it!

So, as you can see here above, the end of my grip was completely knocked off when it smashed into the ground (my front rack was bent, too). The end piece came off cleanly so all I had to do was glue it back on.

All I had to do was glue the ends that would make contact with one another. I use Super Glue. Never use Gorilla Glue. It expands as it dries and makes things all wonky.

All you need to do after that is press the two pieces together for a few minutes and then let it dry.

Now my grips are pretty disreputable right now. They get smashed and scraped all the time. Sometime soon I will sand them down a bit and re-shellac them. They will look completely new with about 15 minutes worth of "effort".

This is the third time I have repaired this grip. The other side has been put back together many times, too. I have only had to replace one of them once but that was after a bicycle that was hanging from the garage ceiling fell and crushed it.

You don't always have to buy something when a part breaks. If you chose the right things you can make them last a good long time, usually with a little bit of glue.

Going Somewhere

2011-09-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

From the corner of my eye
you flash by
before I can tell you
I love you.
So I whisper it
to the ghost wind
you leave behind.

Ring It, Baby!

2011-09-07T23:49:00.001-07:00

The best thing on any bicycle for helping to keep you safe, other than common sense, is you bicycle bell.

Some of them can ring and show the way. This particular one was a bit like Captain Jack Sparrow's compass and was more interested in pointing me to where I wanted to go than it was in pointing North. Probably better that way.

I have been known to choose a bell to brighten up the day while it also tells others "Hey! I'm coming through!". Not only is it a polite way of announcing my approach, it is sunny and cute.

As I have shared previously, Meli, the vegetarian, has a strange fondness for cheeseburger bicycle bells. This one looks a bit like the beet burgers she is especially fond of. Ask not for whom the burger tolls. It is telling you I am coming up the left!

image from Double Cheeseburger Blogger

Perhaps food themed bells are better at letting others know we are passing? Maybe because they remind us we are hungry and need to get home?

image by Gerogie_grrl

Bell peppers work, too.

photo by the Goat Whisperer

For more bells than you thought possible, check out Flickr contributor Georgie_Grrrl's mild obsession with said object.

All of this pictorial splendor is brought to you in the name of our last post. Use those bells! If you don't have one, go get one (along with some bicycle lights, gosh darn it!).

Words To Ride By

2011-09-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, Students! Welcome to the first in a series of articles on some of the basics of courteous, and safe, urban bicycle riding. I should probably mention that this is a set of guidelines that KT of Vélo Vogue and I are hashing together and that they are 100% biased and based in our desire to no longer be more frustrated with our fellow riders than we are with the silly drivers who insist on getting behind the wheel with a latté and an Iphone and a lap dog after getting 2 hours of sleep each night for a week. When we realized we were complaining more about bicycle on bicycle interactions lately than we were about vehicular traffic we decided it was time to write something about it.

Today's lesson is about my biggest frustration with other riders on the road; passing on the inside. One of the things that those of us who took Driver's Education learned early on, before we were allowed behind the wheel of a car, is that it is illegal and dangerous to pass another vehicle on the right. This applies especially to bicycles in the bike lane.

The usual configuration of a bicycle lane in the United States is to the right of the car lane and to the left of the parking lane. In San Francisco, where there are many one way streets with the bike lane on the left side of the road, this could also mean passing on the left so I will just call it passing on the inside. Most bicycle lanes are not wide enough to ride two abreast. To pass a rider who is ahead of you, you should make sure it is safe to leave the lane and enter the car lane to the left. From there you can accelerate to pass the forward rider and then re-enter the lane ahead.

The rider with the green backpack is doing the right thing. He exited the lane, entered traffic when safe and accelerated around the riders in front of him before reentering the lane.

It is NEVER acceptable to force your way forward by squeezing between the forward rider and the parked cars! This is a guaranteed way to push someone into traffic. The female rider with the polka dot helmet would be in the wrong if she tried to pass the rider with the black backpack on his right.

In this bicycle lane above, just don't pass. Unless you can safely get into the traffic lane yourself, trying to squeeze through in the bicycle lane will push the forward rider into traffic. This is not OK.

In the above picture, you see something really common, and really awful, that happens all the time in San Francisco. The guy in the white shirt is riding on the inside of the lane. If he decides to overtake the woman in the brown jacket she will be forced to move to the left into traffic. Especially if she does not know he is there. If she is an inexperienced rider she will most likely overcompensate and swerve quite far into the car lane without looking. Many times I have found myself actually being touched by the shoulder of someone suddenly passing me on the inside!

Enough for today. I think you get the picture.

cross posted at Vélo Vogue.

it's time to get back and bike to work!

2011-09-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

it's time to get back and bike to work!

seen on the morning commute. s/he's got a lot of places to go, and things to do! being chauffeured by bike looks like its preferred mode of transportation.

happy day after (usa) labor day everyone!

Change Lots Of Lives. Build A Bike!

2011-09-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting things about blogging, to me at least, is getting the chance to see where our readers come from. I use a stats program that can give me a world map of readership over a specified period of time. When the world map comes up, there are little dots for where each visitor's general area is.

Today, when I looked there were dots in Finland, New Zealand, Rio de Janeiro, Ghana and Turkey all within the same time period. What a global spread!! It got me to wondering what kind of information I could easily find about bicycling in some of these places, starting with Turkey.

There isn't a lot of easily findable material from a first person perspective about bicycling in Turkey. There are a few stories about people having a bicycle vacation in Turkey, but I didn't find (with a very limited search) anything written by a Turk about riding in Turkey. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. Lucky for me, I wasn't disappointed for long!

In my search I found this story about De Fietsfabriek, The Bicycle Factory, in the Hurriyet Daily News. It turns out that De Fietsfabriek was started by a Turkish immigrant to the Netherlands, Yalcin Cihangir.

"Cihangir discovered that he liked fixing bicycles and wanted to make his own bikes; after six months, he started his own business in Amsterdam. Teaming up with a local colleague in 2004, he started the Bicycle Factory (www.defietsfabriek.nl)."*

The best part of this story is that Cihangir has his parts manufactured in his small hometown in Turkey.

"Bike parts are produced in Büyükcamili, creating jobs for almost 30 men in a small place in danger of being abandoned. Cihangir opened the factory in his home village in order to give something back. People working at the factory have reasonable working hours and get a decent salary, between 1,300 and 1,700 Turkish Liras. Next to the bicycle factory, an atelier has been created where women make special clothing that is sold in the Netherlands and returns the revenues to Anatolia.

Cihangir is also financing a local agricultural project to grow products in an environmentally friendly way. His final goal is to make his home village an attractive place for young people to stay and make a living."*

Here are some of the people who make his bicycles in Turkey

and here is a wonderful little documentary of the opening of his factory. It is in Dutch and Turkish but you will get a very good idea of how big a deal this factory is and just how much good it is doing.

I have never met Yalcin Cihangir and I probably never will, but I would be very proud to own one of his bicycles. He proves through his actions that there is so much more to bicycles than any of us think of when we jump on them to go to work or play. Bicycles can save your home town! Maybe Flint and Detroit, Michigan should get on the bandwagon, too. After all, Henry Ford built and sold bicycles before cars and now Michigan is suffering the after effects. Maybe those same bicycles could help repair some of that damage. I know I would buy an American made bicycle like we usedto be able to.

I would certainly buy a De Fietsfabriek bicycle. I may not be from a tiny village in Turkey, but it doesn't mean I can't help one out!

*excerpt from "The Turkish Bicycle Factory" by JOOST LAGENDİJK and linked to above.

figuring it out together. biking in LA with babies.

2011-09-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

guess who has a new haircut? and a big smile. why is that smile so big?

cause someone is now on the back of the bike.

this story is as much mateo's as it is his mom's. she's been trying to figure out how to ride a bike in LA, with not as many friends that are as into bikes like some of her friends back in SF, her hometown.

so, being the smart and tough cookie that she is, she just dived into it headfirst and now has the bike and the trailer that works for her to go with it.

look at that smile. i asked his mom how he liked it. these are her words: he liked it, and was laughing! he was also a little confused, like WTF is this contraption?

heh. indeed. looks like there's room in there for two. bike party time! EL LAY kiddo style. yah, he might have a sticker. or three. time to add music to that bike. elmo sound system anyone?

Bikes Around The World

2011-08-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

Knowing full well there is a world outside of San Francisco, I decided to put up some of the recent shots from around the world that have been posted on our Flickr group. We get some fantastic pictures from all over the globe. Every kind of bicycle imaginable, ridden in every conceivable way. Visual proof that there is no one way to ride a bike other than just getting on one and going!

image by RocketDog at A Pic A Ride (UK)

image by Greg Raisman (Portland, OR, USA)

image by rperks1 at Ocean Air Cycles (Ventura, CA, USA)

image by Claudio Olivares Medina (Chile)

image by Iam Sterdam (Netherlands)

image by a.pic.a.day

image by Chris.0917 (Maple Springs, New York, USA)

image by AlainG (Montreal, Canada)

image by y.hayama (Japan)

image by Ian of Slow RPM (Melbourne, Australia)

barnard and bike rides!

2011-08-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

a new chapter of my alma mater's alumni group has sprung up. the school was the big reason i was in for nyc for 8 years before heading on out here to the wild west. when i heard about the new group, i jumped at the opportunity to join since i truly loved my college experience.

i rode my bike in nyc a little bit, not during school, but when i lived in brooklyn. funnily enough, that bike was bought here in san francisco post-graduation, traveled with me up to seattle and portland and then to austin to brooklyn. then back to berkeley. phew. then it got stolen. sad face. although now my bikes better suit me than that one would if i had it now, i STILL look for it. it was stolen out of my padlocked shed. sad face. (side note: padlocks don't work in california)

anyway, this is all going in that my two loves, bikes and barnard, are going to intersect. i'm hosting a bike ride y'all. it's gonna be short and sweet and involve coffee and beer. yum.

did you go to barnard and live in the bay area? if so, please join us! facebook event here. don't do the FB? well, there's eventbrite tickets available too. see you and your guests on the ride!

Ride To Belize, Ninja Style

2011-08-29T12:07:00.001-07:00

Excuse me. Can I have five minutes of your time? Could you watch this video?

The Ginger Ninjas have done something truly amazing here. It is the kind of thing the rest of us dream about and never do. Let's help them finish this film so we can all live vicariously through their incredible adventure. I know I want to see what happened along the way- the road from Todos Santos to Guadalajara is something I have only experienced on a bus, and that was something else!

Visit the Ginger Ninja's Kickstarter page. Give them a couple of bucks instead of buying a latte today. Bicycle community isn't just in the lane!