VV Profile: Taco Bike Timmy

Name: Timothy Holt aka shaggy manatee

Occupation: restauranteur, farmer

Hometown: SF 18 years


Current city/Neighborhood: 1/2 time in the mission 1/2 time in Healdsburg ca

Favorite city to ride a bike in in the world: amsterdam.

Headgear of choice? On the taco bike, headband, on a fast bike I like a Bell


Tell me about the history and transformation of the Taco Bike: bought the orange Mexican cargo bike in 08' wanted to prepare and sell tacos from the bike. Figured out I couldn't do it on my own, so I asked my friend Todd Barricklow a Santa Rosa artist(killing time studios) and he accepted the challenge.


It is a one of a kind, art piece. Outfitted for any event from Dolores park to burning man. He put in a lot of time and when you see the bike, it shows. From the hot water hand sink, to the back eating area behind the seat. Truly a genius.


Describe what you like best about the Taco Bike: The connection to the outdoors and the unsuspecting people who just walk by, stop, and either smile and say "that's the Weird Fish taco bike" or don't say anything and walk off and continue to find something to put down or hate-on. It is so informal and unlike the restaurant setting, I get a chance to ask people questions and get some one-on-one time. I like to talk politics, weather, and I love to describe what I am doing with our Farm and the restaurant.


Any funny stories from Dolores Park to tell? Wow, many, but my favorite was the 20 year old guy who walked up, ordered two tacos and then proceeded to take out a whip-it cartridge and cracker. He cracked and huffed right in front of me. When I asked if he wanted sour cream he responded with that very deep, sluggish voice "hell yeah man"! Almost pissed myself.


Tell me about the jumpsuit: I wore a jumpsuit when I was prolific in recording music in my home basement studio. It became my Mr. Rogers transformation as you will. Work all day at Boogaloos, then ride my bike home, switch into my short sleeve, blue-grey onesie and make some crazy electro-bay-freak-hop or have some gangsta's over for a "quiet" session of murder, chrome mustard and mayonnaise rims, selling drugs and life in the ghetto. Fun.


What's the story behind the tattoo? The mermaid is my homage to the ocean. It is my version of Yemaya, Brazilian goddess of the ocean. Since my restaurant Weird Fish sells A LOT of fish, I feel purchasing sustainable fish isn't enough. One of the rituals I learned was to dress all in white on New Years eve, head to any ocean and dip white roses in molasses for her offering. Works every time. It is just cold as hell.


What's the pirate thing about? I am a pirate of life, I like to take what is free, and make something out of it. I am not the old school pirate who pillage, rape and murder, I am an urban pirate, hustling, trying to make a living. Thinking outside the box with what we serve, to what I wear.


Why blue? It is my favorite color, ocean blue. The Caribbean is my favorite place to stare at blue.


Favorite time and/or place to ride: late afternoon, this time of year around 4-6pm. My manatee fins are all warmed up and I am ready for action.

Vélo Vogue tip of the day: Be different, at the same time, be yourself. Everyone knows when it is not really you.

Taco Bike Tim will be feeding the masses at my film's benefit event on Thursday Oct 14 from 6-10 pm at Mission Workshop, 40 Rondel Place! Come and behold the taco bike for yourself!

Sunday Best for Sunday Streets

The ladies were lookin' good at the most recent Sunday Streets in Bayview.

It's blue on blue for Caz of London Cycle Chic and Shelly of Riding Pretty.


Pushing the chic envelope forward while pushing her son's bike. And blonde is always chic.


Spring has brought skirts and dresses and bare legs, as well the new line of PUBLIC Bikes, the Orange Mixte seen here.


No need for helmets or hats when you're leisurely cruising in the sunshine. Just let your hair go free and ride on!

go public!

Dan invited me to come take a spin on one of the new Public bikes. I likey!


Their office is South Park. I always feel like I'm in France when I visit this part of SoMa.


Call me a poser, but I think I look kinda badass on this powder blue Mixte. It is a smooth ride and very comfy. I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to jump on quick and go Public!

Oh - and here's another one of Dan the Man in a sweater.

free to be you and me

Urban cycling is about transportation, or as Mikael puts it, A to B -ism, but it's also about having fun.


As this blog has pointed out many a time, you can wear anything on your bicycle. (We merely prefer when you look this colorful, striking and vibrant.)


In a recent post on his blog, Dave from Portland pointed out that a bicycle represents freedom.


And Adrienne commented that maybe instead of a Slow Bike movement, what we really need is a Freedom movement.

Bicycle Rights are Human Rights.

view from above

view from above, originally uploaded by ktieche.

Hat: Virgin Mary's Vancouver
Sweater: Mac & Jac
DKNY Soho Jeans
Chucks

panhandle panache

Sleeping beauty.


Punk parenthood.


Classy cruising.

meli's style

I got it! The perfect coffee table book: A photographic essay on Meli's tights!





All photos are self-portraits by Meli from the Flickr photo pool.

VV Profile: Laura Husdpeth of Portland!

Occupation: Design and sales for the online sock company, Sock Dreams
Hometown: Portland
Portland neighborhood: Inner Southeast
Helmet or no helmet: Helmet, though I slack a lot in the summer…
Type of bike: It's an SE frame, fixed gear.
Describe what you like best about your bike: I love how quick and light my bike is, and also that I bought her as my college graduation present to myself.
Describe your cycling experience in Portland: Really great overall, minus a few nicks and bruises here and there:). I feel lucky to live in a place where I can quickly and safely get anywhere I need to go by bike.
Favorite time or place to ride: There’s nothing quite like riding in the middle of the night over the bridges here in Portland, when no one’s on the road and everything is so still and peaceful.
Favorite color: Is it weird to say brown? I love love love brown with light blue.
Artist most commonly played on iPod at the moment: There's been a lot of Wire, Gun Club, and Charles Mingus in the last few days.
Describe your personal style: I pretty much wear shorts and ballet flats every day, and a vest or cardigan. Pretty basic, always black, brown, or gray. I wear newsboy caps a lot, too--actually, one of my coworkers says I dress like a newsboy.
Vélo Vogue tip of the day: When it comes to riding, I've noticed that I'm happiest with less accessories, less gears, less mapped-out directions if I'm just joy riding, and so on. Simplify.

middle of market

Two girlfriends make evening plans in the middle of Market Street. One waits for Muni. The other swiftly hops on her blue vintage bike. Who do you think arrives first?

Bicycle Music Festival Part 4: Show Me Some Skin!

There were girls in bikinis.

There were girls in togas.

And then they shared notes on sexy cycling!

Bicycle Music Festival Part 2: All That Glitters Isn't Only Gold

There were also green socks.

Men in red.

Women in sky blue.

And more men in red (and green, with big wheels).

panhandle shadows

Long days of summer create long shadows.
Another pair of man flats. Or are they espadrilles?

Shadows crisscross the crosswalk as these cyclists take off!

20th and Capp

Years ago, this little intersection was a hub for a rather unsightly form of entertainment. The city renovated the adjacent park and put a community garden there to increase the community's feeling of connection to public space. However, gentrification is probably more the reason for the spot's shift.

Capp is a great little street to ride your bike down. It isn't an official bike route, but it's very close to Mission, quiet, straight, flat and the pavement is pretty good. Perfect San Francisco Victorians line a good bit of it. I saw a couple Voguers here recently, but what I like most about those photos is how much they look like San Francisco as opposed to any other city.

Here, she rides with green skirt flowing in the wind, boots and shoulder bag below a row of Victorians at various levels of "improved."

This guy rode in a blue dress shirt and slacks, baseball cap and backpack.

Of course, I wish he wouldn't ride on the sidewalk.

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]

Happy Bike-to-Work Day!

I asked a random guy to shoot this photo of me at the Caltrain station on my way home from work last year. I'm sporting a blue blouse and brown suit pants (the matching jacket is in my pannier). I've changed my shoes to cleats, and my trouser socks work perfectly to keep my pant legs out of my chain and wheels. The fact that my helmet matches my blouse is a luck accident.

My commute is quite long. When I ride less than 10 miles, I'm perfectly comfortable wearing near-regular clothes. When I ride 30+ miles to work, I admit to wearing spandex.

I've been hearing a lot of new plays on "Bike-to-Work Day" this year. I've heard "Work to Bike" and "Bike instead of Work", and I can relate to that. Since I've never heard the event so paired with an anti-work message, I'm wondering how much the sad state of the economy increases interest in biking both because biking is a more efficient way of travel than just about anything else (thus saving people money they don't have) and because it brings joy to our lives when we might have trouble remembering other reasons to feel happy.

Whether you bike to work, work to bike, or bike instead of work, I wish you a beautiful day on your bike.

all that glitters in Golden Gate Park

I can't think of a more appropriate outfit for cycling than a sparkly blue and black lamé sundress!

She's even got some sexy black stockings on!

Maybe dressed to impress the cute boy she's with.

Visiting NYC this summer?

Have we got an idea for you!

Governors Island is a carfree Oasis.

Free bikes on Fridays

[Brian] Christine @ SXSW in Austin

We met Christine taking a coffee break between day concerts happening all over Austin. The smart folks were all on bikes to catch as many shows as possible. We biked at least 50 miles around town and saw 17 bands in 48 hours. Christine is an Austin local and was not as frantic as we were. But she was enjoying the South by, as the locals call it.