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.

Velib mechanics by boat

When bikes break, they get collected and stored by the side of the Seine. The river is punctuated with these cages of bikes waiting to take a little boat ride to be cared for by cute bike mechanics (all bike mechanics are cute!) in maroon and black uniforms.


Meet the Barge Manager. He lives on the boat 24/7 with his wife. (I heard their quarters are quite large and nice, but I didn't get to see them.) They alternate with another couple every 2 weeks, and keep another house in the suburbs as their primary residence. His only job is to drive and supervise the mechanics.

The barge drives to various spots along the Seine to collect the bikes, avoiding the congested streets, and the mechanics fix the bikes all the while. How perfectly Velo Vogue that they all wear black shirts and maroon pants at work.

The barge's pretty noticeable. Here, Thomas is explaining to some Italian tourists how to use Velib' after they approached the barge with questions.

Profile: Thomas Valeau

When I visited Paris last summer, I was lucky enough to get an inside tour of the program. The charming Thomas Valeau was my guide, and this is his profile.

Here, he is checking out his Velib bicycle.

If a station is full or empty, you can check the computer terminal for where there is an empty station to return your Velib or a free Velib to check out. The kiosks have a map for your convenience.

As a busy professional in Paris, he can check his blackberry while riding.

Occupation: Director of public bicycles customers management
Hometown: Paris
Neighborhood: I can see the Eiffel Tower from my window. Just its top in fact, and its powerful spotlight on nights, but most of time, I only see the ring road :-(
Favorite bike: Velib, what else ?
Helmet or no helmet: Bah Never!
Describe your bike: A beautiful bicycle, gray mouse, a little bit heavy, but so chic, designed by Patrick Jouin himself, 3 gears, Shimano roller breaks, hub... A technology and design combination!
Favorite color: Blue
Describe your personal style: Depends on the situation. I am capable dressing really differently from street wears as an old teenager to top class style. Usually, my preferences are for Armani, Hugo Boss or Cardin as I'm in business suit. Good point for Cardin and it's easy to iron the shirts...!
Describe your cycling experience: I like to leave my company car at home as I need to travel throughout my city. I definitely prefer to ride because it's much faster and more relaxed than driving. Moreover I never wonder how to park my car when I travel on Velib. I discover my city differently, chatting with nice girls at traffic lights!
Favorite artist: When I run in Montsouris park, close to my home, I love listening Ashton or electrik music to stimulate myself.

Suits on Bikes... oh yeah, in Paris

In Paris, cycling is so mainstream that everyone does it. I only occasionally see San Francisco business men riding in their work clothes, and usually they're advocates who I know through their work. Here, I've documented a few.

Stops 2 and 3 (tdc part 4)

I have a couple more cupcake posts in me; so, brace yourself!

When we last saw our heroes, they had decided to head up the hill in hopes of finding a station with MORE cupcakes since the last cupcake station had run out. We got a little lost, but after carrying our bikes up a flight of stairs, we found the cupcake station with the highest altitude. While this photo contains many from our team, I was also taken with the orange skirt on your left sported by a lady I do not know.


Here's KT looking oh-so-fashionable with Becca who is just simply adorable even without full vogue. We decided to go OVER the hill instead of around it like we would normally do.


Danielle crests the hill en vogue with Becca just behind....


Our next stop was on the Panhandle where we had some of the best event-sponsored cupcakes of the day. I think KT already posted photos of these two, but here's my record.

Suited man navigates


Girl in black wearing shoes that match her Bianchi


At the stations, they required proof of the number of cupcakes you had eaten either in the form of the wrapper or your solemn oath (when there was no wrapper).