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.

SF Cycle Moment: Stuck Behind Muni

Any SF cyclist who's ridden down Market Street has run into the back of a Muni bus just like in this pic before. I often commute up and down Market Street, and I'm always dodging potholes, taxis, pedestrians who don't look both ways, and of course, the infamous Muni. Often I run into cycle-friends sharing the sharrows, and though we attempt to be social and chit-chat, it's nearly impossible with all the obstacles and potential dangers that come into our bike path. I firmly subscribe to the vision that Market Street ought to be closed off to all automobile traffic, restricted to only public transportation, pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and designated bike lanes added as soon as municipally possible.

of moms and dads

An SF supermum in her classic tie-dye leggings shows her girls how it's done!


And I must admit that I had my eye on this hot daddi-o with that cute smile, cap and Chucks...


until I saw him consoling/encouraging/congratulating his daughter who was apparently learning to ride on two wheels in the Panhandle.

Way to go Moms and Dads!

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

I saw this flier on the wall next to the bike racks at Rainbow Grocery. Do you think it's an intentional pun that the man is inviting the woman to the Revolution? Is it that Revolution or this Revolution? If it's the former, is SF (and the world) ready for it? Check it out tonight at 6 pm at Justin Herman Plaza!

June 26 = Big Day @ City Hall

Decision Day is finally here, when the SFMTA Board will vote on the San Francisco Bike Plan and whether to give the green light to nearly 50 of the 'Big 56' projects on June 26th at 8:00am at City Hall.

We need you to attend the hearing and to speak up in support of why biking is good and how a proposed bike project will benefit you.

Please take a minute to review nearly 50 projects that will be considered on Friday and see which projects would be best for you to speak on. If you live or work along the project, we need you! If you bike along one of the proposed projects for commuting, shopping, or fun, please come on Friday to speak up.

Please take this Friday off and join us at this important City Hall hearing. If we get a YES vote, this will be a truly historic day for biking in San Francisco.

Please meet us at 8:00am outside City Hall on the Polk Street plaza (across from City Hall) and sign in at our orange tent, then head into City Hall to get a front row seat to speak up in support of specific projects. Valet Bike Parking will be provided.

[Treehugger] Be Green and Clean (i.e. Not Sweaty) When Biking to Work

Talk about your all-in-one solution to the problem of riding to work and then needing a shower and/or change of clothes, the folks at Penny Farthings Pushbikes in Brisbane (Australia) have come up with the Green Pod – a solar-powered bike storage unit that has change rooms, showers, a self-cleaning device and use of recycled water. What’s amazing is that the parking, lockers, 2 showers and 2 change rooms have the footprint of your regular (car) parking space! Check out the Treehugger article on the Green Pod.

It’ll likely take a while before we see anything like this in the US, but one can dream. However, Penny Farthings Pushbikes’ other bike-parking productsare the kinds of things that would be useful, practical and possible here right now.

Thanks to the hot dude, happy new Dad and my good friend, Doug Johnson, for the link.

BikeCity USA: (sigh) Portland

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Lilia The Lovely

I loved riding together at the Bicycle Music Festival! Neat lady.

San Francisco Bike People

Here we have Jill Bittner. Jill and her bubbles make everyone happy! My youngest wants a bubble machine on his bike now.


This happy man is Paul Freedman (aka the Fossil Fool) of Rock The Bike. We have not really met, but I love to watch him live what he sells- a way of life that is inclusive, creative and passionate. Gotta love it!




The handsome man in the red shirt is Andy Thornley of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. We met at a neighborhood bike plan meeting a bit ago. I like seeing him outside of City hearings : )




What can I say about Amandeep and his trikeasaurus? OK. I can say, FABULOUS! My daughter can not get enough of him and calls him the "Party Guy". What else would you call a guy who brings the party with him everywhere?

2009 Bicycle Music Festival

The Bicycle Music Festival starts at 9:30 am tomorrow (Saturday, June 20, 2009) in Golden Gate Park!

Here's the radical line-up!

SCHEDULE & BANDS
9:30 am Marx Meadow, Golden Gate Park
9:30 - 10:00 am: TBA marching band
10:00 – 10:40 am: Tin Cup Serenade
10:50 - 11:10 am: MaMuse
11:20 - 11:45 pm: StitchCraft
12:00 – 12:45 pm: Spaceheater
1:00 – 1:30 pm: Antioquia
1:30 - 2:00 pm: TBA marching band

2 pm Cruiser Ride with Live-On-Bike performance
2:00 - 2:45 pm: SHAKE YOUR PEACE!
and Cello Joe

2:45 pm Dolores Park
2:45 - 3:15 pm: TBA marching band
3:25 – 4:10 pm: Manicato
4:25 – 5:10 pm: Sean Hayes
5:25 – 6:10 pm: La Colectiva
6:25 – 7:10 pm: Oona Garthwaite
7:10 - 7:40 pm: TBA marching band

7:40 pm Cruiser Ride with Live-On-Bike performance (sunset at 8:35pm)
7:40 - 8:30 pm: Sunset cruise hosted by Fossil Fool the Bike Rapper
and an MC freestyle cypher featuring the Bay Areas top MC’s

8:45 pm Pier 7
8:45 pm – 9:15 pm: TBA Marching band
9:25 – 10:05 pm: Tornado Rider
10:15 - 11:00 pm: (superstar surprise band)

BMF Afterparty Time & Location TBA

VV Profile: Carlton Evans (or - "Who can resist a boy on a bike?")

Occupation: Director of the Disposable Film Festival

Hometown: Montreal

SF neighborhood: Mission-ish

Helmet or no helmet: I always wear protection

Type of bike: I have three right now: a chrome Bianchi Pista, a 12-speed Bianchi Limited, and this one, which is a 60s Dutch Frame that I've outfitted with cruiser bars and a basket.

Describe what you like best about your bike: Bikes are awesome: they provide efficient, emissions-free transportation, good health, and of course, style. Who can resist a boy or girl on a bike? I like riding my Pista best, but I've become very attached to this big white bike in the picture. I use it to run errands, etc. The basket is really useful. When I have dreams about biking, I'm usually on this one.

Describe your cycling experience in SF: There's such a great bike culture here, and always more people riding. But it can be pretty scary riding at times. The city really needs to get behind biking in the way that other cities have, with more and safer bike lanes, and more areas closed off more often to motor traffic.

Favorite time or place to ride: I love riding to the beach on sunny Sunday afternoons. The ride through Golden Gate park is glorious. I usually stop in at Trouble Coffee for a little energizer when I'm out there.

Favorite color: Red

Artist most frequently played on iPod at the moment: My First Earthquake. Their new record is really fun.

Describe your personal style: I've always admired the mod look from the 60s. I try to base my style on that and kind of build out from there. But stylistically I've always been promiscuous. I've never been able to completely embrace one look.


And seriously, who could resist a smile like that? My camera certainly couldn't. ;-)

[Treehugger] 6 Reasons The World Needs More Girls on Bikes

Photo thedigitel via flickr.

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden in Treehugger

Most bike commuters find that the negative assumptions they had about bike commuting are mostly false. This goes double for women, who might find that riding in high heels is easier than walking in them; a special wardrobe is not necessarily required (though fun); and that biking boosts a sense of freedom in ways a car no longer can. Benefits to women are multiple, and the benefits to society are just as big. Read on for how we all get dividends when women take to their bikes.

au naturel

Sometimes a small gift from nature is all the panache your bike needs. Here, pinecones most probably found in nearby Golden Gate Park.

sometimes I can be such a cliché

OK... so... every once in a while, I can be seen on my vintage 10-speed wearing a hoodie, sneakers and one pant leg rolled up.

This doesn't happen very often, so my pal Marisol snapped this pic as evidence.

Don't hate because I'm typical. ;-)

lindy hop

Sunday in the Park - what a cliché, but what a treat.

On Sundays the Park is closed to automobile traffic, and so cyclists and pedestrians get a chance to stop and check out some of the cool goings-on that one might not catch if whizzing by in a car. Like the free Lindy Hop dance party that happens at noon every Sunday near the DeYoung.


My pal Marisol was getting a kick out of all the kicks on the dancefloor.

And so was this tweed-coated woman snapping pics!

I think this little pink bike is a little too little for this lady in the background. What do you think?! ;-)

Flip It , Sister!

Book Review from David Byrne

From the May 29, 2009 issue of the NYT:
Full disclosure: I’ve ridden a bike around New York as my principal means of transport for 30 years, so I’m inclined to sympathize with the idea that a cycling revolution is upon us, and that it’s a good thing. Like Jeff Mapes, the author of “Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities,” I’ve watched the streets fill over the years with more and varied bike riders. It’s no longer just me, some food delivery guys and a posse of reckless messengers. Far from it...


Read the rest of the review here.

PEDALING REVOLUTION
How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities
By Jeff Mapes
228 pp. Oregon State University Press. Paper, $19.95

Guest Photo: Bigfish in MONACO

Bigfish in MONACO, originally uploaded by Bigfish Folding Bike.

This is in Monaco and i'm in the process of being faster than a bmw gas-guzzler. Through the busy streets, Bigfish has also been proven to be faster than 3 ferraris, 2 porsches and a lambourghini.

VV Profile: Emily Oestreicher

Occupation: Sales Manager for Joie de Vivre's Carriage Inn, Americania Hotel, and Good Hotel

Hometown: Merced, CA

SF neighborhood: Lower Haight

Helmet or no helmet: Helmet

Describe what you like best about your bike: I like that my bicycle is a blue Peugeot from the late seventies. It used to be my Mom's bike and she used to have a seat on the back where I would ride. So, I guess it was my first ever bike and that is why I like it so much.

Describe your cycling experience in SF: I love, love, love not riding my bike on hills. Because of this I thoroughly enjoy studying my bike map always trying to find different, out of the way routes to my destinations. I also like riding down alleys in my neighborhood where there are lots of trees overhead and that makes shadows on the cement. I like that a lot.

Favorite color: I would say grey and bright yellow at the moment

Artist most frequently played on iPod at the moment: Blind Pilot and Antonio Carlos Jobim

Describe your personal style: My personal style must be a mix of pretty girly with a little messy aspect or pretty messy with a girly aspect.

Vélo Vogue tip of the day: I like to twist my hair up in a bunch of pins and then put on my helmet. That way when I arrive to work there has been no hair-wind damage and it's even a little curly. Also, try to have cooler bicycle outfits than your boss (if they also ride their bike to work).

And a special note from Emily about her bike-friendly hotel:

At the Good Hotel we have started our bicycle borrowing program. We purchased two bicycles (to start with) from the non-profit Pedal Revolution. We just have guests sign a waiver, supply them with all the locks, lights, and maps to get around and they are able to use the bicycles free of charge as long as they are available. The bikes are very popular and I hope to see this type of program take off in all 16 of our properties in San Francisco.

We also have a bike rack for guests as well as the bicycle map framed on the wall.

Thanks for your hand in promoting bike-friendly tourism in SF, Emily! Here's a pic of my pal Marisol recently riding one of the Good Hotel's gorgeous black rent-a-bikes.

admiring adrienne

Our very own Adrienne Johnson is a woman I admire.


Cyclist extraordinaire, chronicler of SF bike scene, multiple-bike owner, uber-fashionable mamma of three -- she defies definition.



Check out her other blog here! Change your life! Ride a bike!

It's Sunday Streets! Mission Style!

Sunday Streets came back around! You missed it? What are you, nuts? Oh well, here is a bit of the street love you missed!



This is what Valencia street was made for!



It isn't just about bikes. It is about having room to live without fear, without pollution, without being shoved off our own streets.




Sunday Streets is about taking back our City so this little girl can grow.




Of course, it is also so I can take pictures of fabulous women on bikes! : )

Anchorage: Bike More / Drive Less

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SF-ness

The day was Bay to Breakers day, and SF happened to experience some of the most beautiful summer weather in the history of the event. SFers applauded this.

Beautiful weather brings out beautiful people. And if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to put flowers on your bike.

And tattoo your calf muscle with a symbol of peace and love.

DFF: Sizzling pals

These gorgeous women posed for us together. One wore a cute black mini. The other had coordinated her top and scarf with her socks. One of the bazillion exciting things about cycling is that when you role up your pant leg, you can showcase cute socks as part of your ensemble.


Members of these adorable couples have also shown up in earlier posts on the DFF, but I liked the way they were together too.

DFF: Food (off topic, but critical)

Warning: this post does not contain any bicycles.

In my on-going effort this week to paint a complete picture for you of the magnificence that was the DFF Bike-in Movie screening, I'm now going to tell you about the food.

Food carts in San Francisco have begun to tweet so that their fans know where to find them. Early in the night, several people told us they learned about the event by following the creme brulee guy on twitter.

Here, creme brulee and magic veggie curry set up:

The popcorn princess awaits your order:

People line up for their creme brulee including Colin the tweed ride guy:

He uses the torch to crisp the top after you order your flavor, right in front of you. This is great to watch for children ages 1 to 101.

I didn't try the magic veggie curry, but I heard it was excellent.



Here's how to follow them -
Magic Curry: http://twitter.com/magiccurrykart
Amuse Bouche: http://twitter.com/AmuseBoucheSF
Creme Brulee: http://twitter.com/cremebruleecart