Anchorage: Bike More / Drive Less

Today, I'm writing from the far north: Anchorage, Alaska, where I can tell you with absolute certainty that people are breathing and riding their bikes.

That said, I haven't seen a while lot of Chic on two wheels here. I've seen people on bikes, and I've seen well-dressed people, but the two have not definitively come together in front of me.

The style for biking ladies seems to be skinny jeans and a cute girl T, and I don't have a problem with that.

I went to the Ocean's festival on Saturday, and coincidentally it was also the first time they were providing valet bicycle parking at the event.

The festival has a few stalls, but the main attraction was the bands. I enjoyed watching Last Train.

Of course, Alaskan beer is delicious. Everyone at the event seemed to be healthy and youthful with kids and dogs crawling around the grass, more love than you could shack a stick at, my friends.

First night in Anchorage

Margot's friend Lila was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and put me up for my 2 nights alone in Anchorage. She found me immediately which was something that worried me a little. She had all kinds of plans to showing me the baby mooses as they were going to bed, but I voted instead to see some urban life since the rest of my Alaska vacation would probably provide plenty of opportunity for mooses while my days in Anchorage were limited.

It was the first Friday which, like most places in the world, means the art galleries are open late and serving drinks. I arrived at 8:30; so, even though it isn't getting dark here until 1a, most of the parties had already ended. She had found one that closed at 10p. So, that is where we went.

The party was different than most gallery parties since the artist were actually painting there rather than available to discuss their work. I didn't see any evidence that they intended to sell their work, and it didn't seem to be in sellable form. Lila said the organization was funded by grants to engage young people in the arts.

These young people appeared to all be in their 20s. One high school boy lurked around. The organizer told us that he was a hot shot graffiti artist at his school but had had no exposure to real art until now.

The event included break dancers too. I'm getting that break dancing is back in style because there were a couple break dancers on The Bachelorette this season too. I wonder if when things like that come back, they come back in greater force. When I was a teenager (and pre-teen) white people didn't break dance. The guys on The Bachelorette were white, and now I'm witnessing break dancing in an art gallery. Have the affluent decided this art is cool 20 years later?



I love printmaking. So, I was particularly excited to see this installation outside the gallery. It appears they carved on plywood and put them through a steam press (whatever that is). I have only carved on incredibly soft wood. So, I don't envy these artists' efforts. It looks like they may have only made one print too. It would require a huge piece of paper!

This was in the parking lot. I don't know what it is, but it looks cool, and I see them all over Anchorage.

After all this excitement, we went back to Lila's where I slept long and hard in the sun-lit night.

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

DFF: Celebrities, pt 2, Gary Fisher and Kash the Bike Parking God

One of our favorite celebrities present at the DFF was Gary Fisher. He was kind enough to pose for us in our "studio" as he arrived at the event.

His dapper polka-dotted pannier can't be over-emphasized.

Here, Kash, our San Francisco Bike-Parking God, admires Gary's pannier.

Kash and friend are delighted by the idea of selling fashionable panniers at Warm Planet Bicycles and Parking at the 4th and King Caltrain station (which I also frequent).

DFF: Celebrities, pt 1, Tweed!

We also met Colin, the Tweed Ride guy, at the DFF, just about as dapper as they come!

In addition to being kind enough to pose for us, he also shared some critical information: The next Tweed Ride is tomorrow, June 4th, in Oakland.

Here's the plan:
6:30 pm – Sally Forth from Mosswood Park in Oakland
7:00 pm – Meetup with SF Tweed at MacArthur BART
End Point – To be announced.

All buses all the time!

If you've spoken to me recently, you know that I am ALL BUSES ALL THE TIME. Yes, this is new for me. "What? You're not a bicycle planner?" people say. No, I am not a wus. I am a transit planner who cares about the people, yes I do. I want to feel the "pulse of the people every day" because I am an artist. You betcha. An ARTIST! An artist who plans bus transit system. That's who I am.

You only need to read the first 2 sentences in this article: "For example a Prius says you care about the Earth, a bicycle shows you REALLY care about the earth, and a bus shows that you are probably not white." Yeah, I didn't read the rest of the article either.

Now, I am going to watch some television and maybe clean my apartment. Life is goo.

DFF: Hot chicks

This post continues our description of the magnificent Disposable Film Festival's bike-in movie night with photos of the a few of the lovely ladies in attendance.

This girl's smile made me want to give her a big hug and then take her home to my momma. I also love the pea coat with skinny jeans.


You can go wrong with combining stripes with a floral print, but not this chick. Leggings and cleats are oh so chic.


After we set up, but before the guests began to arrive, we shot each other. Here, KT poses with one of the event's hosts, Emily of the Good Hotel.

Check out her awesome use of red in her flag, bike, boots and skirt....


...and I humbly present myself, shot by KT with my camera:

Bike: REI
Helmet: Nutcase (rocks!)
Sunglasses: Coach
Sweater: Costco
Blouse: Ann Taylor (yes, I came from work.)
Broach: DFF
Skirt: 440 Brannan (a local-designer boutique)
Tights: probably Ross
Body: 100% San Franciscan

DFF: Hot dudes

Last week, KT kicked off our photo summary of the Disposable Film Festival. Now that I've set the stage, I'm presenting a series of photos of the event this week starting with some of the hot guys who attended.

You probably already know Steve from the SFBGuardian and his bright red bike. (I have a vague recollection that it used to be pink and fuzzy.) With him is Carlton, one of the event organizers.

Here, KT is shooting a cutie on suped-up beach bike with monkey bars. The classic dress shirt and slacks suggest he just came from work.

I don't know about you, ladies, but when I look at this face, a little voice in my head calls out "will you be the father of my babies?"

OK, ditto for the next two. If they get cuter, I probably can't take it.

Also, love the sports coat, dress shirt, tie and jeans....
*
* Today, I am the most in love with this one.

Hello, James Dean (again -- KT found a different one in her photo stream)....

DFF: Setting the stage

A couple weeks ago, the Disposable Film Festival presented their Bike-in Movie Screening event. Velo Vogue was there to capture portraits of the many gorgeous attendees. This post, however, provides some background shots to set the stage.

As we set up, the light faded on the nearby buildings.



Deep can be counted on to provide his Trikeasaurus for party purposes. The event organizers used carshare cars to transport their equipment.


The movie screen and lawn chairs were ready for the sun to set and the screening to begin....

My favorite things to do in SF

My friend over the weekend asked me what are my favorite things to do in SF. I was surprised at how easy it was for me to answer:
* Bike to the beach
* The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
* Bike around and look at real estate open houses on Sundays
* Hiking and having a picnic at Mt. Tam

off the grid

Nasa had us over for a presentation (work). They said something interesting: a space station is potentially the most off-the-grid you can get. Since it costs $10,000 per pound to get anything up there, they have a huge incentive not to need to transport anything in or out. While space travel is enormously expensive, it also may provide lessons on how we can live on earth more lightly.

17th Street Plaza

Last Wednesday, the City unveiled 17th Street Plaza, a new public park made from an under-used street in the pedestrian-overwhelmed Castro District.
The instillation is simple: some old curb stones, paint and planters define the space.

Now, cars whiz by on Market Street while residents and visitors alike lounge on the movable chairs with coffee, books and good conversation. (The movable chairs concept is made famous in Paris' Luxembourg Garden.)

The new Plaza caters to pedestrians and transit riders (the classic F-Line trolley cars stop right here)...

...but I saw two chic cyclists:
This lady sporting turquoise jeans and flaunting her mobility in front of gas prices and carshare cars...

...and myself, in new Nutcase helmet with orange flames (Yes!), Coach sunglasses, little black dress and floral basket....

Stop by our City's youngest park next time you're in the neighborhood, bring a friend or a book and catch some rays. Enjoy!

ideas for Brunch

My bike pals and I talked at length about where to eat brunch and why. Here's what I learned:
Four Seasons (West Portal)
Jim's (Mission and 20th)
The Ramp

quote and thoughts

"Anything you want bad, you will probably lose. So, you may as well sit down to an ice cold beer." Random Garrison Keillor quote
Which is to say that everything in life is transient. I find wanting things not to be very effective.

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.

Bike to Work!

We continue to bike to work regularly.

Mostly, I do it for the pastries we stop to buy at the end.