Dear Senator, I'm Pro-Choice and I Vote!

Let's talk about safety. I ride a bike everyday in San Francisco. Mostly I ride without a helmet.



When I go on a long bike ride, or bust out my road bike with skinny wheels and clipless pedals, I'll often don a helmet because I might be riding at faster speeds, or in windy conditions where the bike might fall over with me on it, without enough time for me to put my foot down and get my balance.



But when I ride my everyday-bike to get from point A to point B, like commuting or running errands or meeting friends, the only headgear I'll wear is a warm hat, or my Giants cap if I'm going to a game.



I do this for three reasons. First of all, I ride really slowly, in control of myself and my surroundings at all time. I ride slowly enough to avoid potholes. I'm a defensive rider so I anticipate the behavior of drivers and avoid them. Secondly, I am making a social statement. I'm telling the world out there that riding a bike is not dangerous. It's safe, especially when there are more people on bikes on the road. So when a driver yells at me from the car window that I need a helmet, I usually tell them that they actually need one because you're far more likely to get injured or die in a car than on a bike. This leads me to my third point: I'm making a political statement. Our lawmakers must realize that it's not bike helmet laws that we need, but bike infrastructure, and lots of it. In our cities, in our suburbs, across the whole state of California, across the entire nation, continent, hemisphere, world.

Cities like Copenhagen understand this. When I was visiting in November, what was in abundance was a connected network of separated bike lanes that were used rain or shine by all types of riders of all ages, genders and classes. It felt as safe as safe can be, whatever hour of the day, even during commute hour. Street traffic flowed seamlessly, and not once did I encounter an altercation between a cyclist, a pedestrian and a motorized vehicle. Everyone had a place on the road. We coexisted in an urban harmony.

And just when it seemed that the conditions for cyclists in California were beginning to improve, when more people are choosing a bike as their primary means of transportation in urban environments, Senator Carol Liu throws a wrench in our spokes: SB 192 would make it mandatory for all Californians of all ages to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle.

And The Great Helmet Debate begins once again. Pro-Helmet people will tell you that helmets save lives and protect your brain from injury. Pro-Choice people will tell you that wearing a helmet does little to nothing to make cycling safer on our streets.

Lawmakers are not scrutinizing the real issue - WE NEED SAFER STREETS. And by safer streets, I mean we need BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE on our streets, including protected bike lanes, bicycle traffic lights, bike boxes, and more. Cars have infrastructure. Pedestrians have infrastructure. Bicyclists need infrastructure too. And bicycle infrastructure, just like the helmetless riders in Copenhagen will tell you, will protect you much more than a piece of plastic on your head.

The true problem is that California is a car-centric culture. The entire state was built in a way that favors car transportation. Even in places like Davis, Berkeley, Palo Alto and Long Beach, where bike infrastructure is pretty good, we still have a long way to go to make all types of cyclists feel safe enough to use bikes as an everyday transportation choice.

Being Pro-Choice is not being Anti-Helmet. I'm not saying you shouldn't wear a helmet. Do it if you feel safer wearing one on your bicycle, but don't make me or other Californians who don't want to wear a helmet wear one. A Pro-Choice California would turn the discussion back to the root of the issue - real bicycle safety through real bicycle infrastructure.

Please read this fantastic list of facts about SB 192 presented by the California Bicycle Coalition. And when you're done reading the facts, please sign their petition to stop SB 192.

Tomorrow I will post an article from Chris Bruntlett, bike-advocate and one of the masterminds behind Modacity. Here's a pic I took of Chris and his daughter Coralie.



Chris lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, a city with a mandatory helmet law. Chris will tell you why the helmet law isn't working in Vancouver and why California shouldn't adopt it. STAY TUNED!

No work needed

You're perfect!

Jenise from SF Cycle Style

I ran into Jenise of the new SF bike blog, SF Cycle Style, in the Panhandle on my commute home from work last week. I took her picture...



And she took mine!


Photo by Jenise Breaker

She also wrote this very nice post about Vélo Vogue.

Welcome to the bike blogosphere, Jenise, and I'll see ya in the bike lane!

;-)

hi ho hi ho and bike to work i go!

I've been working exclusively from home since last August, when suddenly last week I was called to edit on site during regular business hours!

So what did I do? I bike commuted! HOORAY!



I was excited to join the ranks once again! [Note to self: Need new leggings.]



And witness the all the gorgeous SF landmarks on my way to work...



while checking out the San Francisco style.



It's been a while since I've weathered the shit storm of the morning commute, so it took a little getting used to again.



Even with all the positive changes to our bike infrastructure in the last few years -



I'll admit it: I found the experience to be nervewracking and potentially dangerous.



You still have to have thick skin to be confident enough to bike to work in San Francisco in 2014.



Still, I made it to my place of work, practicing safety in the form of Style Over Speed.

Clarion Alley Hip

Any given sunny afternoon in The Mission.

woman | biking | photo

It's a great day to be a woman on a bike taking photos.



I had to drop some equipment off at Rayko and inside the ladies' room, I was treated to a surprise photo on the wall.



When I got outside, someone else had treated me to a surprise.



Ride on.

real women drink beer

I had the pleasure to meet with Mia and Molly of Momentum Mag on a gorgeous spring afternoon in San Francisco.



Instead of a power-lunch, we had power-beers at my favorite neighborhood haunt, Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery. [Update: Mia had the Gruit, Molly had the IPA and I had the Ruby Mild.]



Conversation meandered through pressing topics of our time, such as women in leadership roles, unifying bike sub-cultures, post-capitalist society and cute boys with beards from Portland.



Twas a meeting of great bikey minds over some yummy locally-produced bevvies in the heart of one of San Francisco's great, historic neighborhoods. Onward and upward with smart women on bikes!

first shoot for new project Vélo Visionaries with Chris Carlsson

On Friday, I had the honor of interviewing and filming with Chris Carlsson for a new web series I'm producing called Vélo Visionaries.



Many of you know that Chris has always been at the forefront of the urban bicycle movement. Some of you might have read one of his books.



Or maybe you've listened to his Ted Talk. Or attended one of his historical bike tours around San Francisco.



In a month or so, when I've edited the footage, my hope is that you'll be able to see the world through the eyes of one of the great visionaries of our time.

All photos by judy b.

the long shadows of daylight savings

this means I can go out for a bike ride at 7 pm and still catch the sunset.



so I did.

SF from the ground up

If you live your life on top of the world,



you might overlook the grassroots.



Get to know your surroundings and have a fantastic weekend.

SF Bike Style

SF is nothing if not for its wonderfully diverse community, and this feature entitled My Bike, My Style on SFGate is a true representation of this diversity.


Photo by Russell Yip

Have a look for some familiar faces (yours truly, BikePretty and LadyFleur included, but please excuse their typos - not mine!) You'll also see a close up of Meli Burgueño's Spinster spoke card!

If you're in the Bay Area, make sure to pick up the Sunday Chron and see an edited version of this same spread.

Cycle Chic Films at Huckleberry Bicycles on December 21st

Earlier this year, Vancouver Cycle Chic produced a series of short films to highlight the diversity, creativity, and humanity of two-wheeled transportation, and inspire others to consider giving it a try. Producer Chris Bruntlett is in town for an exclusive screening and party at Huckleberry Bicycles, and to talk briefly about how and why they were made. Please join us for a drink, a bite, and a chat.

Saturday, December 21st. Doors are at 5pm. Films start at 6pm.

Huckleberry Bicycles is located at 1073 Market Street, San Francisco

RSVP on Facebook!

See you there!

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!

Bay Area Bike Share is HERE!

Check out these cool events and celebrate bike share finally coming to the Bay!

• San Francisco launch event takes place 10:30 AM at the 4th & King Caltrain bike share station.

• San Jose launch event takes place at 10 AM at San Jose City Hall near the bike kiosks on 4th Street.

• Mountain View launch event is in front of City Hall at 10 AM.

• Palo Alto event launch event is at the bike share station at University/Emerson at 10 AM.

San Jose peeps can reserve one of 50 bikes to test ride. Follow @sj_bikeshare and start sharing!

absolut makeover

Well, there goes the neighborhood.



If you weren't en route to the playa, and were still slummin' in SF this weekend, you may have wondered what the heck was going down on Divisadero.



Haighteration gave this write-up about the Absolut Vodka commissioned street art project.



So is Western Addition the next Williamsburg?



What do you think?



Does it qualify as neighborhood beautification? Or yet another sign of gentrification? What about the art itself? Does it inspire or repulse you?



Another example of how corporations have "bought" San Francisco? I have mixed feelings. And apparently, just like Black Rock City, it's temporary. Store owners and residents will be able to decide if the art/eyesore is here to stay.

a leisurely literary bike tour with judy b.!

judy b. - a true renaissance woman - writer, actor, singer, cyclist, baker, producer and TOUR GUIDE.



Her literary bike tour of San Francisco criss-crosses the city to some of the places where her short stories in her book, Stories For Airports, happen.



Now is your chance to join her tour THIS SUNDAY. The tour starts at Huckleberry Bicycles on Market Street.



Let me tell you, as someone who rides bikes with judy b. and has read her book, the two together all at once, it's like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.





She'll take you to places where you can see your future...



Reminisce about family vacations...



And see the world, or at least San Francisco, in ways you never imagined.



Get Lit! This Sunday from 1 - 4 pm.

butter magic

I don't ride Butterlap very often...



but when I do...



magical things happen.

From San Francisco Bike Party With Love

SF Bike Party July 2013 from Kristin Tieche on Vimeo.

Here's a mini-film composed of a few shots I took at the last SF Bike Party.

Music: Nelly - Ride With Me

More good times comin' your way this Friday, August 2nd.

get your robot on

Some more pics from the SF Bike Party! Theme = Robot Revolution.

Revolution is here

Ride it.

Ride on.