[Globe] In Massachusetts, Cyclists now have rights.

New rules for cyclists, motorists, By Peter DeMarco
July 26, 2009

"Passed a couple of bicyclists the other day who were pedaling side-by-side on the street - a no-no according to my last article on biking laws. 'They should be riding single file,’ I preached to my passenger.

"Well, even driving columnists sometimes have to eat their words. With the passage of the state’s new bicycle safety bill, riders can indeed travel two abreast down the street. And drivers can get a $100 ticket for failing to move over for them."
...

Critical Mass

Critical Mass is this Friday, the 31st, and is always on the last Friday of the month. Meet at Justin Herman Plaza on the San Francisco Embarcadero at 6p.

Is Critical Mass a protest or a celebration? I've never know. What do you think?

CM has its own special vogue. Sometimes people wear funny outfits. Sometimes people come right from work.

Sometimes people are just plain gorgeous.

Everyone is always expressing their own unique style.

And everyone comes to have fun!

Thanks, Michele

"at the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you." (goethe)

[Gordon Price] Vancouver's Insane Experiment

Last weekend, after years of debate, the City of Vancouver experimentally converted one of the outbound lanes of the Burrard Bridge to a bike lane, leaving two outbound traffic lanes where there had been three. This should have been a problem on the afternoon peak. The media were out in force, ready to interview angry motorists and stream live video of gridlock. And as Gordon [Price] documents on his blog, nothing much happened.

Info thanks to Tom Radulovich and my old boss Jarrett Walker

VTA Vogue

I commute for about a million years every day. So, it means a lot to me when the cyclists on the trains I ride make a little extra effort to look nice. I noticed this woman immediately in her blouse, slacks and strappy sandals waiting on the platform.

She looked absolutely nothing like the computer/bike nerds I usually ride with, who are very sweet and will look things up in their mobile wi-fi access laptops if you ask nicely. But they are usually just wearing t-shirts and jeans.

BART Vogue

Bike vogue on transit is definitely its own category. Statistically, this is probably the 24th Street Station, but it looks just like 16th Street.

This chyck caught my eye biking in leggings and short jean skirt which is really a perfect outfit to bike in if you think about it. Her elegant black fixie and ergonomic seat tell their own story.

I love the way this photo came out with the flash keeping some things still with others blurry from the long shutter speed to make up for low light.

Nerd Fetish

I have a nerd fetish for which I am widely teased. A cute guy who can fix my computer has an infinitely better chance of getting into my pants than one who can't. So, you can imagine that the Mountain View Caltrain station provides nearly enough fodder to give me a seizure. Computer guys... who ride the train with their bikes... Wow!

The problem, from a Velo Vogue standpoint, is that they usually wear jeans and a t-shirt to work. That doesn't give me much of an excuse to take their photos. I was impressed with this guy's office casual garb.

Lest you think the Caltrain isn't completely packed with bikers, and we don't really appreciate the increased bike capacity on the trains, below is a more typical view of the station shortly before a bullet train arrives. That girl's pretty cute too.

"Excuse me, can I take your picture?" or Fully Suitted

Here's another one I chased and hollered down the block for a photo opportunity. Once I got his attention, he was absolutely accommodating. I asked him where he was going on his bike dressed this way: "to work" he answered.

"Where do you work?" I asked.
"The DA's office," he answered, and I looked at him with puzzlement. It wasn't the answer I expected. "District Attorney," he clarified.

Valencia Street keeps surprising me....

Valencia and Duboce

It's a strange location for a biker bar (Zeitgeist). But when I think of this intersection, I think of the bar. From the outside, it's an auto-dominate edge to our little almost-bike-heaven of Valencia Street, the mucky patch that you must cross before getting to main street, I mean, Market Street.

My photos came out a little blurry, but this lovely lady was well-coordinated. Her shirt matched her bike. Her jacket matched her shoes. And throw in a splash of fun with the floral "skirt" over her pants. The floral print is what first caught my eye.

Bike Share in Newport Beach!

‘European style’ bike-sharing to begin in Newport
July 8th, 2009 · posted by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor
A Newport Beach foundation will become the first to offer “European style” bike-sharing in Orange County, allowing users to grab a bike at one bike station and leave it at another.

Click to continue reading

This porridge is too hot....

First thing Saturday morning, I decided to reinstall my operating system. My computer was constantly full and took about 15 minutes to boot up. I recently purchased an external harddrive which made it possible to back everything up. The first shock was that nothing looked right. That I should have expected. I mean, I did expect. Consciously.

The second shock was that I couldn't connect to the internet. Dell wouldn't talk to me bc my warranty is expired. AT&T told me they could only help with the network. It turned out I needed to download some drivers that Dell had apparently forgotten to send me CDs for when I bought the computer. I downloaded some drivers at a friend's house, but they were only some of the right ones.

At this point, I had had it. The same friends had worked with a guy in Noe Valley to fix her computer, and it was a good experience. I called him. I also stopped by a place near my house where the guy was vague and looked bored when I spoke. The Noe Valley guy called me back and told me was on vacation, but it sounded like I could fix it myself. I just needed those drivers.

I went back to the place near my house. I told them I could do it myself, but this is a "boy's job." The guy said "apparently not." Finally, he told me I should drop it off, but they couldn't work on it until Sunday (this was Tuesday). I wonder why I would do that.

At this point, I could connect to wi-fi and had adjusted the interface to my preferences. But my computer and wi-fi at home have never worked for me (the wi-fi works for others, and I can connect to wi-fi other places.). I went to a cafe and started downloading and installing all the drivers (having no idea which one was what I needed -- most were not). The cafe power went out. I went to another cafe and downloaded and installed more drivers. They closed. The computer still wouldn't connect to the dsl at home.

Yesterday, I brought the computer to work to download and install more drivers. After 5 pm, under the direction of our brilliant Planner I, I, apparently, installed the right driver finally. Last night, after dinner with friends, I was able to watch the most recent episode of The Bachelorette on the internet. I was horrified by her choice.

Happy Birthday, Vélib’!

Vélib’, Paris' famous bikeshare program, is two years old today. Here is a movie from Streetfilms on the system made in honor of its first birthday.


Since 15 July 2007 here are some of the main use trends and developments for Vélib in Paris (courtesy of Eric Britton):
- 53 million rides
- 36.5 million with long term (annual) passes
- 16.5 million daily or weekly tickets
- The Vélib street terminals have issued close to 7 million tickets
- Increased use in conjunction with rail/transit stations
- Stations are being extended at key use points
- Continuous monitoring and technical upgrading at level of bikes, stations, distribution, and software
- Increased night maintenance and redistribution
- The following credit cars are now accepted: Visa, MasterCard, Europay, American Express and JCB (with computer chip only, American-style cards do not work)
- Stations now offer full text instructions in English, Spanish, German and Italian, as well as French (which Pariens still occasionally use)
- No bikes or parking slots at your station? Try clicking 4, then 5 on the terminal. It will show you the status of nearby stations for both bikes and parking slots. It also scrolls if you are really desperate.
- iPhone on Vélib

New communes in surrounding area
- 17 already have stations opened between April and June
- 136,556 trips in the new areas
- Program has Vélib extensions to 30 communes in the surrounding area (many of them small cities in their own right)

For more, in French

All my exes live in Texas; that's why I live in Tenesse.

Charlotte from Sex in the City once said "I've been dating for 20 years. I'm exhausted." That pretty much summarizes my feelings on the subject recently... or should I say usually.

My love life can be broke down into 5-year increments:
Age 16-22: serial monogamy
22-27: serious LTR
27-32: single
32-38: serial monogamy
...And here I am, tired of all the options.

For a long time, I noticed that all my exes remained single. I wondered if I permanently damage them. My sister said I pick commitment-phobic men.

My highschool sweetheart got married a few years back. (I am still close with his parents.) (I guess he had enough time to recover from whatever damage I did to him.) Then, my college boyfriend friended me on Facebook, and I learned that he is married too. Today, I got an email that another former boyfriend from that cohort who I have been good friends with for years since is planning to get hitched. I wonder if I wait long enough, if the wave of my boyfriends getting married will reach the guy I am currently dating, and he'll marry me.

What is the appropriate reaction to this information? Can you guess?

You guessed it! I cyber-stalked the boyfriend after him to see if he's married yet.

I didn't find out if he's married, but I did find out that he's placing in full marathons and winning regional awards for his cooking (he's a chef at an upscale Italian restaurant). If he isn't married, he's certainly using his time well anyway. He also strangely resembles a more recent boyfriend, and I hadn't noticed that resemblance before.

The one after that is definitely single. We talk all the time.