Morgan's Magical History Tour

Professor Morgan Fitzgibbons, founder of SF's Wigg Party, took a group of us on a magical history tour today from the Mission to the Haight, the neighborhoods adjoined by the bike route that San Franciscans adoringly call The Wiggle.



Morgan's community activism is centered around the idea that we all must be resilient in building more sustainable communities, much like his predecessors, the Diggers, about whose legacy we learned on his tour today.



Even those of us who ride The Wiggle every day learned a thing or two about the history of this famous zig-zag that makes mountains into molehills.



We also learned about some of the plans for improvement on The Wiggle, potentially including a roundabout at this very intersection at Scott & Page.



It's people like Morgan who preserve San Francisco's integrity, connecting the high-tech city of today to its roots in creative community activism of the 60s and 70s.



So thanks for getting us all together again for an enlightening and empowering day, Morgan! Ride on!

Fleuvog Away!

Ready...



Set...



Go!

stripes take a turn - 1,000th post on Vélo Vogue!

Stripes On Stripes shows us the way!

Onward and upward with fashion!

Allez les vogueuses!

This is the 1,000th post on Vélo Vogue! Merci beaucoup to all our dedicated readers and to all our models, contributors, collaborators, guest bloggers and friends for making this blog so fun to maintain and share with you. Vive le meilleur mode de transport!!!

Seni Felic: Suspenders, Socks & Sausages

Meet Seni.


Not only does he ride his bike around town with an incredibly creative sense of style...

he is also the owner of SF Grill - a mobile sausage and burger stand that boasts some of the best local, free-range turkey burgers and turkey sausages in SF. You can catch him at the Divisadero Market on Sundays or the Upper Haight Market on Wednesday evenings.

Popular.


Bike-friendly.


So if your ride is giving you those hints to refuel, don't deprive yourself of some good eats. Get yourself an SF Grill sausage on the double!


More background about Seni Felic and SF Grill here. Also on Yelp.

Liam Mayclem - Right at Home on a Bike

The crawl will go on!

Down Haight Street from Kezar to Mad Dog! Liam Mayclem meets pub owner Cyril and reminisces about cycling in the U.K. as a teenager.

meow

The owner of this beautiful animal leaned out of the window of Crepe Express and told me that her dad hand-painted it for her.

She wanted to know if I was envious.

Duh! What do you think?!? ;-)
What a beauty!

Bonne Route!

When we last crossed paths with la belle Caroline, she had a different bike! Unfortunately someone stole her "boyfriend" as she lovingly referred to it.

I think this sleek blue and yellow ride is a nice improvement!

Caroline is leaving San Francisco to live and work in France, but has promised to send us photo updates on the scene in Paris! Bonne chance et bonne continuation, Caroline!

[illustration by the lovely and talented Caroline Ogez, photo by KT]

you lookin' at ME?

When cyclists look at me like this when I'm taking a pic of them, it makes me want to cower behind my camera and apologize, but instead I usually smile and tell them how awesome they look! What a most excellent pannier she's got, and those clog-like shoes, if I'm not mistaken, could be Dansko, the pretty and practical footwear line from Denmark, no less.

i love haighters part deux

I live in NoPa (as some SFers call it), but hang out a lot in the Haight (Upper and Lower) on the other side of the Panhandle. This photo conveys that gritty, punk feeling of one of the great SF neighborhoods, with this girl in a striped pencil skirt casually riding by on her bike.

mysterious gentleman

KT and I were grabbing a drink with a few friends in the Upper Haight when this dapper gentleman rode up and locked his bike just outside the window.

"Quick," she said. "Where's your camera?"

Now, I have 2 cameras. A newish SLR and a point-and-shoot I bought 5 years ago. My point-and-shoot, which I keep in my purse for emergencies, has a few quirks including that sometimes the lens doesn't open all the way... like it did that night. The good news? I think the resulting look lends a sort of mysterious curtain to the shot that goes well with his black garb and hat.

Hi Mom!

This pretty blonde lady actually said, "Hi Mom!" to me while I took her photo as she cruised along the Page Street bike lane on her cute hot pink folding bicycle. She's got a classic look with her Audrey Hepburn style sunglasses, knee-length skirt and cardigan sweater, long hair flowing freely in the breeze. Ah! To ride sans stockings, scarf and puffy coat again!

bicycle ballet

This is Allison. I ran into her about a week ago in the Upper Haight. She and her friend were riding off, presumably, to ballet class, in their leotards, tights and legwarmers. Allison threw a chic red knit cover-up over her dance attire. The ride to the dance studio also provides a pre-workout warmup!

mapping SF

I love seeing tourists braving the hills of SF on bicycle, especially during our "summer" months. Just goes to shozw that if they can do it, so can you. Simply don a warm jacket, scarf, socks, and off you go! It's that easy! Unless you need to consult your bicycle map.

gang of wheels

OK, so it's not fashion on two-wheels, but the phrase the more the merrier applies here. I was having lunch with a couple pals, when one by one, this group of young skaters rolled in for a pow-wow in the middle of Haight Street. I know they're not cyclists, but they seem to love SF as much as I do. The sight of this group of young friends out enjoying the sights and sounds of The City made me incredibly happy to be a part of the energy that makes it so awesome to live here. And that they were gallivanting around in I [heart] SF t-shirts on one of the most touristed streets seemed like a fantastic public relations campaign for more car-free zones in our city.

The message? Let's take back our streets.

it's only rock and roll...

but I like it!

The Stones fan that I am, of course my head turns every time I see a Rolling Stones tongue. And apparently mine wasn't the only head turning! I could be wrong, but I believe this is a design that I've seen at Upper Playground in the Lower Haight. Take a moment to take in this cute young hipster lounging on his fixie, killing time, probably just waitin' on a friend.

eco-fashion in rouge et noir

Some people think that eco-fashion is all about making clothing from sustainable or organic fabrics. That's only part of it. The other part is about repurposing old clothes, shopping in second-hand stores and hand-me-downs. If you look closely at this cyclist's skirt, you'll see that the red layer is made from an old t-shirt. Her long skirt is paired with black below-the-knee combat style boots, her hair tucked underneath a red bandana. Uniquely San Francisco!

Here's a great fashion event this weekend that shows the limitless potential of hand-me-downs.

couples cycle in style!

Pretty in pink in the Panhandle.

Punk and camo in the Lower Haight. Great hair.

Urban hipsters head to the park!

hybrid style

This woman seemingly enjoys combining colors and styles, but hey, fashion is all about expressing your individuality, and if you can do it on two wheels, all the better. She was a like a wave of color on the Page Street bike lane.

VV Profile: Lydia White

Name: Lydia White
Occupation: Web Designer/Photographer/Record Label Owner
SF Neighborhood: Lower Haight
Where else would you live besides SF: Berlin
Favorite place to shop: Wasteland
Favorite color: Red
Type of bike: Holdsworth steel frame road bike
Likes most about her bike: Pearl and red coloring. Thicker tires for going over potholes.
Describe your style: A little bit hippie, a little bit rock and roll.
Describe the SF cycle-style: Skinny jeans and hoodies.
Wear helmet: Yes.
Fashion tip for other cyclists: Heels and inappropriate footwear are fun for special occasions and short trips, but stick to boots and sneakers.

dress over pants look

I had pulled to the curb to answer a phone call from Lilia, my VV partner in crime, when I spotted this woman at the corner of Broderick and Oak. Lilia understood and quickly let me go chase this fashionable cyclist through what we SFers fondly call The Wiggle. I finally caught up with her in front of Duboce Park. Her choice of a red Vietnamese silk mini-dress over black velvet pants is a good one for San Francisco, because no matter what the season, the evenings get chilly as soon as the sun goes down. So I applaud her choice for keeping her legs cozy and warm for the imminent nightfall, while flaunting her personal style by day.