Zebra Bike

Parked outside Palo Alto Bicycles, this Zebra Bike must have been painstakingly painted. The stripe pattern is authentic, and I love the way the painter didn't stop at the frame: the seat and handlebars have stripes too. Maybe the stripe-naked front fork is a replacement from the original work of art.

In case you weren't already upset about trash in the Ocean

Midway
CJ shot these beautiful and incredibly depressing photos.

Zachary Levi

Since I seem to like to keep the general public apprised of my latest celebrity obsession, I'm bringing up Zachary Levi. OMG, he's so handsome it makes me want to throw myself out the window. Those glam shots on IMDb do nothing for me, but as a computer nerd, he's my dream boat. Just saying.

Sadly, I can see from the trivia that we would not make a good couple (bc he isn't a real computer nerd. bummer).

Life's a beach!

I love riding my bike to Ocean Beach, and I do it as often as I can. When friends come from out of town, unless they live in a beach town, I take them to the beach. The part that's tricky is adjusting their expectations. I tell them to wear a sweater, hat and scarf. Ocean Beach is cold as well as dramatic and beautiful.

This elegant lady had just arrived when I asked to snap her photo. It was warm enough for a t-shirt, but we were all glad our legs were covered.

Curry Lady

I was waiting for a table at a local Indian restaurant when this lady arrived with the Magic Curry Kart guy ISO a table as well. We used the time wisely - I shot her photo, backdrop: Valencia Street.

Her color pallet reminded of curry as well...or Halloween (although I took this photo a while ago)... or fall colors: orange sweater, yellow top, brown mini, tights and suede boots. Great look, Curry Lady.

Afternoon with Mikael

Copenhagen is the bicycle capital of the world, and Mikael Coleville-Andersen it's spokesperson as well as the leader of the Cycle Chic movement. He came to San Francisco last week to give a talk at SPUR Bike like the Danes. BikePortland provides a detailed summary of his talk which is unsurprisingly littered with the whimsical: raging bulls, vacuum cleaners, multi-vitamin viagra pills.... The man is appropriately employed in marketing.

Some of my favorite points in the talk:
* 56% of Copenhageners cycle for transportation because it is fast and easy.
* None of these people are "cyclists", "environmentalists", or "atheletes". They are simply practical people who have identified the best way to travel.
* "A2Bism" -- make it practical and possible for people to travel, like a river, the most efficient path.
* Nearly everyone is a "subconscious environmentalist"; they just need role models.
* Bring back the bike girl posters.
* "Green wave" -- when stoplights are timed for bikes.
* "Soft traffic" -- bikes and peds
* Cars should be required to have health labels like cigarettes.
* In Scotland, a study found that if they shifted their bicycle mode share from 1 to 18%, the country would save $1.6 billion. $1.10 is saved per kilometer biked. $0.53 is saved in public health, and people live an extra 7 years (my notes are this point are sketchy, but you get the idea.) Another study found each km biked, the government saves $0.25 from the tax base. Each km driven in a car costs the tax base $0.16.
* Mikael doesn't fix his own flats, and there are 22 bike shops within a km of his house. Fixing a flat costs ~$8.
* Lots of bikes are stolen in CPH -- people just use wheel locks. Home insurance covers them, and you complete the form online.
* Most bike lanes in CPH are separated from traffic and parking by a curb.

After the talk, a few of us went for lunch with Mikael. Adrienne took this picture of me posing with her bike in the spirit of Cycle Chic.

Her u-lock wore a sweater that matched my ensemble.

Erik Zo met us with his Bullitt. Here Mikael and Eric smoke and chat.

Not thinking, I rode transit to the event. This made my travel with the others to the Ferry Building for lunch inconvenient. No problem! Erik could transport me in the Bullitt. Insanely fun! Thanks, Erik.

I shot the following two photos of Mikael from the Bullitt. Check out Mikael's comfortable, yet stylish, suede footwear.

Mikael borrowed a bike from his hotel. Along the way, he shot video footage.

Thanks for a wonderful afternoon, Adrienne, Mikael, Richard Masoner and others.

Marin Headlands Art Ride

Every year, Andy Thornley of the SFBC leads a group bike ride to the Marin Headlands Art Studios during their Open Studios (in October). (He calls it his "fetish.") I joined the group 2 years ago, and again this year (deeply flattered by Andy's personal request that I attend).

The ride was stunningly beautiful of course. Really took my breath away. The buildings too always leave me with a feeling of awe of their patina beauty. (Turns out I love patina beauty.) This year, the art didn't overwhelm me. But I have complete faith in the creative process and its ups and downs.

Copenhagen, 1937 -- The Original Cycle Chic

Porchlight: A Storytelling Series

"Porchlight brings together an eclectic mix of story tellers for an evening of entertainment and inspiration. Each storyteller tells a ten-minute tale about a specific theme without using notes or memorization."

Not long ago, Porchlight had an anniversary party on a non-Monday which was awesome, and everyone came. Here, one chic cyclist has arrived and is about to start looking for parking.

I post this today because it's not too late to hear tales tonight. The subject is "Creepy" and it's "Porchlight's Open Door" which is sort of like Open Mic. Get in to the Halloween Spirit!

Monday, October 26th, 6:30 - 9:30
Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk Street, San Francisco
$5 at the door
21 and Over

Medium, or Adrienne's Birthday

A few of us met at a local coffee shop to wish Adrienne a surprise happy birthday. But, since it was a surprise and she didn't know about it, she decided to sleep in instead.

The good news is this bike was parked in front of the coffee shop. Those little size thingies for hangers in shops are so cute, and someone had the creative idea to put them on their spokes.

Here's a detail shot of the decoration.

Finally, here are the mums I got for Adrienne, a week later, having enjoyed their life in my kitchen instead.

unique use for the Muni Fast Pass

This bike was parked outside Rockridge BART. I love this use for expired FastPasses. They are beautiful! We should use them to decorate things we love like our bikes!

HSB

With the evening plans spoiled by:
1) traffic (I got home too late to go to yoga)
2) inertia (fuzzy slippers on)
3) hulu (I've already watched everything)
I find myself at a loss of what to do. Of course I should just go to bed, but I haven't had quite enough interaction for the day yet. So, I won't.

I have photos I should process and networking I should initiate, but not much interest in either. Instead, I'll try to catch you up on some of my latest adventures. I have been doing my very best to make the most of this one little life.

The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is still my favorite thing to happen in San Francisco all year, and I love a lot of things that happen here. Overall, it was way too crowded -- I want to tell them to charge a small fee or make the stages more spread out or something, but I doubt any of that is feasible.

I made it Friday night to see Lyle Lovett and his big band, most striking was the man with the unbelievable low voice. I said to Danielle: "If you were born with a voice like that, you'd be obligate to sing." I don't care for the cheeseburger song -- I think it makes light of lost love, which is sacred, but I enjoyed many songs they played that I hadn't heard before. We both loved Keep it in Your Pantry which makes light of lover's paranoia which is not sacred. I love cookies too. The moon rose over the trees and broke our hearts again.

Saturday, I arrived in time for Steve Martin who was funny every now and then and played some nice bluegrass. Then, I went to another stage for the Songwriter Circle, and Dar talked about urban chickens (one of my favorite people talking about one of my favorite things). Allison Moorer had an unbelievably beautiful voice, she kind of overshadowed everyone else. Next, another stage served Nick Lowe well -- I discovered him last year at this Festival. Then back to our little green blanket at the big stage for Gillian Welch, who is awesome, and had Emmylou Harris join her on the stage for a couple songs. I snuck away right after Steve Earle began to play as it was getting cold and I exhausted.

I had big plans for Sunday but again got trapped by my fuzzy slippers. It sure was a magnificent weekend.

Tonight at Zellerbach

Todd kindly got us guest tickets to Zellerbach tonight. I only discovered Ani in 2005. So, I hadn't seen her preform before, but, watching her, I felt afraid that she would burst into flames on stage she had so much energy. The muscles in her tiny arms rippled as she struck the guitar violently but with obvious purpose. Youtube doesn't offer much official to share; so, I'm posting a recent pirate video because, except for the sound quality, it was similar to what we experienced.

I know this is an old song. Tracey used to say it reminded her of someone she was in love with when living in SE Asia. I told that story to X last year, and he got defensive which is funny because now the song reminds me of him because of its content. He must have known it describes him.

My bitterness bores me when I feel it... which isn't that often. Chatting with a family member about the city vs. the country, I realized that I love the City because I love other people's feelings (ie, art). This family member loves the country, and I'm not sure finds empathy all that fascinating. So, while my own bitterness bores me, Ani's has retained all its strength ...even old bitterness she no longer feels. It doesn't matter that she is now happy and in love, this song about romantic disappointment brought tears to my eyes.

Ghost Bike

Beautiful, and incredibly sad, ghost bike photo by Michael Simonitsch

Dog-Lovers Bike Parade in NYC

...and another one... how did I miss this?

The First-Annual Doggie Pedal Parade: Dog lovers and bike lovers combined at the First Annual Doggie Pedal Parade in lower Manhattan. Sponsored by the environmental organization Time's Up!, the parade celebrated the city’s animal rescue groups and highlighted green means of transportation. Organizers also held a "Pup Your Ride" event, but even pedalers without pooches were encouraged to participate – by dressing up as their favorite animal.

Women bike for peace in the Middle East

Muhammad Hamed / Reuters
Pedaling for Peace & Empowerment: "Follow the Women," a group of 250 cyclists from 26 countries, ride through the streets of Amman, Jordan during an international — and mobile — peace protest. The group kicked off its tour in the mountains of Beirut and traveled through Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank. "We're hoping to dispel the myth that this region is only full of conflicts," the tour's founder, Detta Regan of Berkshire, England, told The Christian Science Monitor. "We want to tell stories of the hospitality and the love of people."

I stumbled on this photo randomly but delightedly.

El Camino BRT Cycle Chic

VTA is planning to install full-scale Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a rail-like bus system, along three corridors in the County. BRT on El Camino and The Alameda is scheduled for 2014. As part of that planning, we have been scoping out current and potential bus stops.

People bike in Santa Clara County but usually either in spandex or ...very baggy pants. I was delighted to see cyclists at our first BRT bus stop on The Alameda; the first one in a lovely white sweater, boots with heels and riding a mixtie.


A moment later, another cyclist passed by porting much more your typical San Jose look and also typically riding on the sidewalk. The South Bay has pretty good bicycle roadway facilities, and the pavement is good, but without a culture of cycling both the cyclists and the automobile drivers don't know how to share the road.

Pigeon Point Bike Ride photos

Pigeon Point 2009

Chris, Daniel, Danielle, Kathy, Lindsey and I rode our bikes from our respective homes to Pigeon Point Lighthouse and back again. These photos show views of the ocean and the ridge, of breakfast, second breakfast and lunch, and of all of us having a whale of the time. Let's do it again soon, guys!

Poster party!

I'm participating in this event.
It's 7:00 - 11:00p. See you there.

Vélib' = bike freedom/free bikes

Tomorrow, I'm giving a talk on the Paris bike sharing program Vélib' at San Jose State University. In honor of this event, I'll post some of my remaining photos from this summer's Paris visit of people riding the bikeshare bikes.