Results tagged “cycling”

Scott James of NYT Bay Area did something a bit crafty. He perched a camera at Duboce and Steiner, capturing cars and cyclists during their morning commutes. While not the busiest or most dangerous intersection in San Francisco, it is, as James points out, a complex one where "cars, pedestrians, cyclists and the MUNI N-Line all converge."

DNA Lounge owner and LiveJournaler jwz went riding the other day with his pal netik on Harrison Street. Things did not go well.

           

This dastardly tree, at Haight and Broderick, came tumbling down, nearly crushing this cute cyclist.

What with last week's cyclist-meets-Muni crash still fresh in our mind, today's Chronicle Watch hit us like a blast of B.O. from a 4-o'clock-hour bike messenger. It seems that San Francisco cyclists, the single most oppressed minority group in these our modern times, fail to pay attention to get-off-the-sidewalk signs. Although cyclists should be allowed on city sidewalks -- because they're doing God's work; really, they should be allowed to ride wherever they damn well want -- they are not. Ultra-cranky Chronicle Watch reader Bill Carroll shakes his fist, saying, "Every day I walk to Aquatic Park (and) every day I and all the other pedestrians are nearly run over by all the bicyclists on the sidewalk...The 'NO BICYCLES' sign is so small and so high that no one seems to notice. The sign should be larger, lower, and state 'NO BICYCLES ON SIDEWALK.' The bicycles are supposed to be on the street." CW forwarded old man Carroll's battle cry to the proper authorities. No word on what, exactly, will be done. Why signs are needed at all boggles the mind. But feel free to implode about it in the comments.

             

Sunday Streets met with a Rock the Bike event at Ocean Beach on Sunday. Some sort of amplifier was attached to bikes, then said listening device was powered by the magic of pedal power. Many revelers from Sunday Streets (an event that's quickly turning into more of a cycling event, rather than a pedestrian-friendly one) stopped by to enjoy the music and dancing

by Chris Jones

We came across this harrowing bit of footage over at Mission Mission. This SF cyclist is, for lack of a better word, insane. And a bit sexy too, in the way that men who risk their lives at very high speeds tend to be.

by Chris Jones

       

Nudity and cycling clashed at yesterday's monthly Critical Mass. Plug1 of What I'm Seeing snapped these choice images, some of them drastically NSFW. (Warning: nudity)

SFist reader and commenter uggie sent us the above image. It's a newly installed "walk your bike or scooter to the parking area" sign on a city government building parking lot, which is about 8 feet from the ground in English and in Braille.

The plan will go ahead, folks. It seems that 15 or so minutes ago, according to a source, the SFMTA Board of Directors "unanimously voted to adopt The SF Bike Plan." And while not every one of the 60 or so projects will get done -- there are at least 15 still "on the back burner/needing further study and community input," yada, yada, uada -- all systems are a go. However, they removed the 2nd Street idea because "it would remove left turn lanes and received huge neighborhood and resident opposition.

Another weekend full of fun events is soon upon us. FuncheapSF and The Squid List have exhaustive lists, and here are a few highlights.

This just in from the SFBike mailing list. "Does anyone know if this guy is OK? No Darwin jokes please. 'Park Station Officers responded to Divisadero and Golden Gate Ave with regard to a injury accident bicycle versus vehicle. The officers contacted the bicycle rider who stated he was riding his friend's "track bike" that does not have brakes down Golden Gate Ave. The bike is stopped by skidding...'"

                    

Today was a great day for biking. Did you participate? How was it?

Tomorrow's the 15th Annual Bike to Work Day! Cycling activists anticipate 150,000 participants tomorrow. If we had a bike and worked at an office, we would most certainly be participating. Also, if we lived west of Divisadero, we'd take that awesome Wiggle route. We hear it's the place to be.

Happy Critical Mass Friday, y'all. Here's some happy bike-related news for you: The San Francisco Unified School District is encouraging students to cycle to school. SFUSD and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition have recently installed new bike racks at Francisco Middle School and teamed up to teach students basic street safety, bike courtesy, and how to blow the perfect snot rocket. According to Leah Shahum of the Bicycle Coalition, "This is really about working regular exercise into your everyday lifestyle so [that] when kids grow up they are living healthy active lives." And while the paranoid, hysterical mother in us wants to take little Cody to school in a monstrous but protective Hummer, the rational cool older brother in us thinks this is a great idea. Kudos, SF Bike Coalition and SFUSD.

The controversial plan to remove the bike lane at Market & Octavia was denied by Judge Peter Busch. At least for now.

When we see five police cars, half a block cordoned off by crime scene tape, and a bicycle laying in the street, we think, "this can't be good."

Here's why.

Unnoticed by the American press, Bay Area cyclist Levi Leipheimer pulled on his first Grand Tour leader's jersey yesterday after winning a time trial stage in the Tour of Spain, a.k.a. La Vuelta a España.

While it might be infinitely more reasonable to sleep for as long as possible on Labor Day, we plan instead to be standing at the corner of Union and Battery at 8:00 a.m. for the start of the Metromint Giro di San Francisco.

Tom Vanderbilt, why have you forsaken us?

Tire pressure has become a big deal in the presidential race, but since we commute by bicycle these days, we don't listen to NPR anymore and so we hadn't really heard about that.

Recently spotted on BART was this track bike with an ersatz disc rear wheel. Mismatched wheels have long been a staple of fixie style, particularly when one of the wheels is an expensive piece of racing hardware (extra points for juxtaposing the expensive and the cheap).

Starting tonight, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will host a series of public meetings, where your can voice your input on the proposed improvements to bicycle routes in San Francisco. (Map of said routes after the jump.) The SFMTA's Bicycle Program, you see, plans around "60 proposed bicycle improvement projects that would add approximately 34 miles of bike lanes to the bike route network," which would about double San Francisco's bicycle lane mileage. Nice.

Show me the Legalese: Rob Anderson's latest project?

We were there through the bitter season--the mud, the rain, the cold, the mid-afternoon sunsets. With dripping, grime-streaked rain gear covering our heels and neckties, we rode our rusting, filthy commuter bikes to the Caltrain station all through the winter, a sweaty, soggy bunch, smelling of mildew and Tri-Flow.

A young girl riding her tricycle in her Pittsburg neighborhood on the 1000 block of Muir Creek Drive was inadvertently run over by her own mother yesterday afternoon. According to the Gate, Rachel Lopez was struck by her mom's car at 4:30 p.m.. It seems her mother "realized she had run over something, got out and saw her daughter pinned under the right front tire."

Pedaling to the train station this morning, we noticed a few fluorescent additions to the asphalt: bright stencils of monstrous creatures calling attention to the various pits and potholes of Townsend Street. We would have snapped our own picture of the menacing neon jaws and claws, but because we were booted from the 8:44 bike car twice last week, we preferred not to dawdle. There are more pictures on Flickr and video on NBC11's website (warning: mandatory Al Pacino preview may be off-putting).

This monster pothole lurked on Townsend Street in the shade of the ramp connecting 6th Street to I-280. Under normal circumstances, we find the shrill complaints of motorists about pavement quality to be rather tedious. To motorists, we self-righteously sneer, "Why did you buy that SUV, anyway? If you want smooth roads, move to the country. Or Texas."