4.29.2009

SF Tweed Ride TOMORROW (Thursday)

Get ready to toss your tweed caps in the air because SF Tweed Rides again!

April 30th Thursday Tweed Ride II
6:30pm — Gather at Union Square
7:00pm — Join with East Bay Tweed at Powell St. Station*
Ending — The Majestic Tosca Cafe!

Be Cool avec bicloo ! (Nantes' bikeshare program)

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4.28.2009

In Denmark, Police give out helmets and hugs.


Thanks, Treehugger.

it's a bird! it's a plane!

There were all these people stopped looking at someone in the roller derby on Sunday in Golden Gate Park, like this whole family on a pedi-wagon that is available to rent at Stow Lake (the remind me of the Beverly Hillbillies, in a good way)...

and this gorgeous couple.

So when I finally stopped, I realized they were checking out Captain America here doing pirhouettes on roller skates.

4.27.2009

park your bike

The Park Chalet, located on the west end of Golden Gate Park between the two windmills, is a great place to ride up, park your bike and have a beer in the sunshine, like these two ladies are doing.

It's a great place to meet single people, and a great place to bring your kids, too.

And if you've got a basket, or other attachment for transporting your pet, don't forget to bring your four-legged friend along!

4.25.2009

up, up and away!

Eventually you get used to riding up and down hills in SF. When you get to the top of one, it's nice to look down and see how high you've climbed.

And once you've caught your breath, you keep on climbing!

They say the higher the climb, the better the view!

4.24.2009

[busbozo] My Other Cycling Shoes


They may not have a little bow on them, but man, they have attitude! Next time someone tells you it is better to cycle in lycra, remember this picture. I rode 19 miles today, in San Francisco traffic, I rode from City College to the Mission, back to CCSF and out to the beach. From there I picked up my 40lb son, 5 lbs of potting soil and a tomato plant and rode the 8 miles home, up hill the whole way. In these jeans, these high heeled boots on my drop tube 30 lb bike. I have had 4 knee surgeries (right knee) and am considered partially paralyzed in both arms. I had surgery on my right wrist in October of last year. So there!

Change your life, ride a bike!

4.23.2009

vamos a la playa!

Last Sunday I followed this half naked man all the way through the Park to the Beach.

Who could blame me? What a beautiful sight!

I love it when beautiful weather makes beautiful people take their clothes off.

The closer I got to him, the more I noticed all the little details: the Air Jordan motif on his boxers, and the message of Unity on his backpack.

4.22.2009

[Daniel Furon] Guest Photos

As you know, we come across a lot of vélos in the City. They are all beautiful. I found these in front of Rainbow Grocery.

Here is a cyclist on Market Street.

4.21.2009

best bike bourg?


The recent issue of Good Magazine featured an article about the best bike cities in North America. To avoid stating the obvious (that Portland and SF top the list), the writer focused more on the lesser known bike bourgs like Austin and Montreal. Since they rated the cities on certain criteria, I thought I would dig up the stats on SF to see how we actually rated according to Good's standards. So here ya go (stats provided by the SFBC and the SFBMA):

SF CYCLE STATS:

6% of all trips in San Francisco are completed via bicycle (From the SFMTA: SF State of Cycling 2008)

128,000 bike trips are made each day in San Francisco (From the SFMTA: SF State of Cycling 2008)

126 miles of bike lanes (each direction counts) and greenways in San Francisco

Bicycle Friendly Community
rating: Gold

The SFBMA and friends of generally throw 3-4 Alley cats a month.

I couldn't find stats on how many cyclists attend Critical Mass each month, so we'd be mighty pleased if any of our readers care to shed light on this matter.

4.20.2009

love at land's end


Unbelievably hot springtime weather brought hordes of San Franciscans out to the westernmost part of the City this weekend. I spent the majority of the day at Lands End with some friends visiting the labyrinth, where we crossed this couple on their bicycles.

4.19.2009

unique bikes

Two radically different flavas!

Here's a gorgeous black and white fixie with an SF localism on the wheel.


And here's a rickshaw that seems to be permanently chained to a parking meter on 24th Street.


I actually would LOVE to see rickshaws in use as part of SF's public transportation system. Can you imagine bicitaxis going up and down Valencia on a Friday night instead of cars parked illegally in the median?

4.18.2009

ghost of SF past?

Say hi to Edward.

I was sitting on the sidewalk in Noe Valley, guarding my friend Erin's furniture as she moved from one flat to another, when Edward rode up on his gorgeous old Raleigh. He grew up in the Upper Haight, and lived there during the neighborhood's hey-day of the 60's and 70's, when people left their doors open, and bikes unlocked on the front porch.

Ah, the good ol' days! Where have they gone?

4.16.2009

breezy|sexy|cool


This beautiful blonde with her flowy, breezy off-white poncho looks like she could be right off the streets of Copenhagen. We alternated places on the bike lane until Duboce Park, and all the while I was quite mesmerized by the way her poncho floated gracefully in the tailwind.

4.14.2009

siesta con bici


There's something very endearing about how a cyclist feels about her bike. A girl takes a nap in the Panhandle sunshine, one hand lovingly caressing her saddle as she might her beloved pet, messenger bag serving as an impromptu pillow, iPod streaming the soundtrack for this kind of precious springtime moment.

4.13.2009

nopalita

I had just left the Rupa and the April Fishes' April Fool's Day concert at The Independent when I ran into this pretty girl returning home.

Even my measly phone decently captured her pretty smile and classic style. I told her how great she looked and she commented on my fishnets, probably feeling like she had to return the compliment.

On stage with Rupa and the fishes, to my surprise, was Mona Caron, the gifted muralist who has transformed so many of San Francisco's public spaces, including the wall behind the Safeway on Market into the iconic Duboce Bikeway Mural.

Thanks to Mona, Rupa (and the Fishes too) and this pretty girl on her bike for continuing to pump SF with their fabulously creative energies!

4.12.2009

c'est l'amour fou


Another night out on the town. Another night returning home drunk with my dysfunctional boyfriend, le motobécane. I even put on my fishnets for him when we go out.

4.05.2009

labels


Some people wear YSL, some wear RL, some wear DKNY, some wear CK, and the list goes on. This cyclist, par contre, has her own signature style with a monogrammed purple messenger bag, initials AW. Anyone know her? Super cute look with the black mini, black leggings, black Chucks and white crash helmet.

4.03.2009

nobody bikes in LA (NOT!)

The night I arrived in LA for my annual visit, my pals and I went to a party in Silver Lake, my old stomping ground. We ran into this big group of night riders by the reservoir, all illuminated and cycling en masse.

It was a night ride organized by the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition.

I used to bike a lot in Silver Lake and Los Feliz when I lived there. I didn't know about the bicycle coalition at the time, but I wish I had.

It seemed like this group had excellent solidarity in a city not known for being particularly cycle friendly. Ride on, angelenos!

4.02.2009

Vélo Vogue or Bust


"The warm weather is a’ comin’– time for me to bust out my rad bicycle!..."

We were delighted by Bust Magazine's write up on bicycling, the cycle chic movement and mention of Vélo Vogue.

Parisiennes biking in pumps

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4.01.2009

on taxi rides and snogging

Friday nights in the Mission: a great time and place to have a few drinks, feel good and hook up (if you're lucky), which is exactly what I think I observed happening in this situation. This woman was with a guy who didn't have his bike (shame on him!) and they were trying to go home together so they quickly hailed a cab and she proceeded to fold her bike into a little compartment to stick in the trunk.

I hope they had some good snogging in the back of the cab, although catching a kiss at every stop sign on the way home, in my humble opinion, is far more romantic.

So is riding double (though I might not attempt that on a folding bike). ;-)