May 22, 2007
SFist Photo: Insane in the Membrane
Which is the worst place to be insane in.
The famed Hayes Street Hill [O.K. picky commenters, how about Alamo Heights instead? ] that's so tough to run up when jogging is a piece of cake to go down when cycling. Unless you have no brakes, as here.
Dude has a fixed gear bike, so it's only his leg muscles stopping the rear tire from spinning. This hill is pretty steep - that's why he'd swing out his rear tire alternatively to the left and right in an impressive display of control.
All drifting, no shifting.
Our trucker hats are off to you, fixie guy. We've seen a lot of cyclists in this city, but you, you're special.
Of course, this guy couldn't really commute in such a fashion because even a slight drizzle would render his bike well nigh unstoppable.
And the Wall Street Journal does NOT approve. Surprised?
However, for those about to die (or become seriously injured), we salute you.
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Was he lost?
The Hayes Street hill isn't on the way between Ritual Roasters and Zeitgeist...
I hope that strange tuft on his head is a helmet.
Slow news day?
fixie riders don't look so cool when they're in ICU hooked up to tubes, unconscious, because they couldn't control their bikes. why anyone would own a bike in sf with no gears and no brakes is completely lost on me, and not just because i'm in my 30s (i.e. "old"). it's not "cool," its idiotic and unsafe. ok, feel free to send me hatemail now.
Hayes isn't ONE WAY!!! This is bogus!
bikers who fishtail down a hill in the left traffic lane without a helmet are also those who tend to give bikers everywhere a bad image. i wouldn't be surprised if this guy regularly runs stop lights too. i am both a biker and a motorist, so seeing this kind of thing ticks me off. despite the recent critical mass incidents, i still believe that bikers and motorists can share the road peacefully. i'm not alone here either. the key is seeing and respecting one another, and obeying basic safety laws. i for one can't fathom how so many city bikers ride without a helmet -- IMHO, risking a bad hair day is worth avoiding a trip to the emergency room. thanks SFist for pointing out a great example of what not to do.
He's on Oak Street - look at the left turn lanes ahead. And yeah, riding in this city without a helmet is friggin' suicidal.
that's so last year...real hipsters don't have seats and handle bars now either
Yay! My new liver will be arriving any day soon (I hope he's a match).
Another "Cars Are Evil" martyr in the offing.
why all the harsh? It's a hell of alot more impressive than some jackass stomping on the gas pedal at every opportunity. I mean, if you don't want to ride a fixe and put yourself in harm's way, then don't. No one's gonna give you a hard time.
it's not fixe-related but i always see skater punks come whipping down haight as it approaches divisadero, taking over the entire lane. zigzagging. grabbing air. and blindly rocketing through that way busy intersection. i'm still in awe that i haven't witnessed one of them turned into immediate hamburger. place your bets now!
when was this taken? sunday?
also re: bikes being in the left lane... at this point of oak it's the only safe lane as all other lanes are consumed by drivers shifting lanes to turn right on Octavia
I thought San Francisco had more than its share of dumbasses, but this one takes the cake.
Thanks everyone for the comments- Friend of mine just pointed this shot out to me. I do appreciate the "dumbass" comment- that was thoughtful. And no, I'm not wearing a helmet, it would f-up my $200 hair cut, right?
have fun on bikes
GOOOOO ANDY!
Is hating track bikes as tiresome as having track bikes? Quite nearly.
Excellent work taking a photo while driving, by the way.
I have a couple of videos of fixies going down the haight Street Hill...no you can really see how they slow down
http://www.bluoz.com/blog/index.php?/categories/9-music
crap, sorry about this..wrong category. haight street hill on a fixie vids here
http://www.bluoz.com/blog/index.php?/categories/3-bike
make this picture into a shirt.
Maybe from the outside looking in this seems pretty crazy but it really isnt that bad. This is just what we do...I personally think it is crazy when someone lane splits on a motorcycle. But the people that do it sure dont. There will always be things that others think are crazy it is what makes the world so interesting to watch. There is no reason to call the person stupid or dumb because I am sure there are plenty of things you do that we would want to say the say about. But we dont because we understand that it is just a another way of life...relax. If we get hurt it is our responsibility and we understand that. Just dont go running your cars into us and we can co-exist in this world just fine.
EMT's look at these people as job security.
I commute on bike every day, and the guy in the picture (and people like him) who can handle their fixies with some proficiency don't bother me as much as the inexperienced fools who slowly wobble down Valencia on their fixies. You have to have strong legs to ride a fixie safely, and riders who aren't strong enough to respond to opening doors and cars drifting through stop signs put themselves and every bike rider around them at risk. Period. But the guy in the picture I have no problem with, really.
waaaah! I hate hipsters! there's one or two places in this expensive, yuppie, conformist city where I don't feel as comfortable as I did in the suburb where I grew up.
Its so interesting to watch people attempt to criticize something which they clearly know nothing about.
People, it's just natural selection in progress.The less viable members of the herd get culled out.I'm a walking mass of scars,limb replants and cadaver bone grafts-I know where I'm coming from. Shame of it is that no doubt he's loved and will be terribly missed.
You guys are morons. There are literally tens of thousands of fixed gear bikes sold every year, yet we haven't seen a widespread epidemic of fixed gear-related deaths, have we? In fact, I haven't heard of one single fatality where riding a brake-less fixed gear bike was a factor. You yuppies should step outside your Jetta and take a fucking risk for once in your life.
Save all this "natural selection" and "job security for EMTs" bullshit for Fark or some other place where people still think these jokes are even remotely original or funny.
wah wah wah. What an idiot-- someone using a mode of transportation they can physically control all aspects of that isn't a motorized fucking bomb. What's more of a goddamn threat- an extremely talented and able fixed rider (though of course, none of you would know that, as it's easier to just assume he's a "dumbass" hipster who doesn't know what he's doing) without a helmet on Oak, or every other motorist in their two ton car, on their cell phone reaching for that diet coke/coffee in the cup holder?
A lot of you need to refuckingevaluate.
Maybe you haven't heard of many bike accidents, but the CHP has. Eleven thousand in the past five years.
Call me crazy, but I bet that riding down a hill with no brakes might be the kind of behavior that leads to accidents.
Andy is the shit! It's getting really annoying having the safety patrol constantly busting people like us for trying to have fun and ride our bikes. There should be no reason for such hatred of track bikes and especially people who know how to ride them. It takes finesse and focus to ride a track bike smooth, which a lot of people don't understand and can never attain.
Who took the picture? The angle is slightly off center of the lane - perhaps from the drivers side point of view in a car? Good thing that fumbling with a camera while driving in fairly heavy traffic didn't result in running the guy down.
i ride this hill everyday to work on a fixed. its a ton of fun and takes alot of FOCUS avoiding all the folks in their cars talking on their phones, drinking their coffee, honking for no reason other then they are pissed they are stuck in traffic and paying no real attention to the road.
but yeah all those 11 thousand accidents are because people didnt have breaks on their bikes.
think about who is hitting who in this kind of situation.
And the Wall Street Journal does NOT approve. Surprised?
The Wall Street Journal doesn't approve of poor people or Democrats, either. Try again.
This post is right up there with Emily's idiotic post about David Cross. Seriously, SFist, your staff does a good job of representing the uptight, high school mentality so pervasive in San Francisco. Congrats!
Oh wait, this explains everything:
A SoCal transplant, Jeremy did a long stint in D.C. before moving to San Fran in 1998. He and his wife currently reside in a dungeon in Noe Valley. He spends his days editing finance-related research, drinking way too much coffee, and brainstorming ideas for stories that he rarely gets around to actually writing, as he's too busy obsessing over online Scrabble. Jeremy covers many topics, seemingly at random.
Thank you Jess. Someone who makes sense! Quit labeling every person a hipster. It is so ridiculous. Many people in SF basically are insecure. Go spend your excess wealth elsewhere. The most dangerous mode of transportation is a car. That is a fact.
Boy, as much as I wish I could take credit for this, the author and photog was the amazing Jim Herd. I had no input (and I wouldn't change a thing).
Furthermore, "Jess," as much as I wish my background/bio "explained everything," the success of SFist is by and large due to the consistent contributions of some talented writers and picture takers, and has very little, if anything, to do with my one whole month as an interim co-editor.
But, in the case that you're correct, and I've managed even a little influence on Jim and our other contributors, I'll thank you for the compliment.
Andy has to be one of the illest riders in the city. Fuck what you heard. Keep doin what you do Andy! Clean as fuck!