Mission Mission

We’ve got more bummer news to report in 2013, although not quite on the same tragic level as the earlier fire and fatal car crash, but at least this one comes with a delicious reward:

I figure it’s a longshot, but someone stole my beloved bright-yellow green glow-in-the-dark bike while I was out at dinner tonight! The bike was kind of my baby/I had it locked to my older crappier one and a railing in my apartment building.

If you/your awesome readership and friends could keep on the look-out for it, I’m offering a cash reward/eternal gratitude/a lifetime supply of homemade ginger beer for it’s safe return!

That’s a lot of Moscow Mules!  Let’s hope it turns up!

Last minute gift idea! Our pal Cleveland Motley recently launched his very own bag business, Motley Goods, based right here in the Mission. Everything’s handmade by Cleveland, and the star of the show seems to be the “Weekender”:

Our medium roll-top backpack.

The Weekender, trimmed in leather is a great do-it-all bag.

Designed to be small and refined enough to take to work, yet large enough to be your ticket out of town.

Its heavy-duty waterproof Cordura nylon exterior and separate waterproof vinyl liner combine with leather trim to become a modern design and rugged utilitarian tool.

18″ x 12″ x 6.5″ give the Weekender 23L of internal capacity.

Three large external pockets

Optional 17″ padded laptop sleeve

One 6-inch velcro closed internal pocket

Thick foam back pad

Leather straps, choice of leather or nylon trim

Cordura exterior fabric – available in six colors

Heavy vinyl liner

Secondary Velcro roll top closure

Boom. Our other pal Nattles wore it around for just a couple of days and got hammered with compliments the whole time, presumably because it looks both gorgeous and like serious business. The rolltop on top and a healthy amount of velcro throughout ensure everything stays nice and dry, and the leather straps and trim ensure you look dope.

See the official Weekender page (with more pics of the bag in more colors) here. Or check out the rest of the Motley catalog (which includes a huge backpack, a basket bag, a pannier/backpack, and a satchel) here.

Here it is in action:

As someone who used to ride it daily, I can say that Market and Valencia is definitely one of the most stressful intersections for a cyclist. This major vein connects a lot of the city to the Mission, and the turn to Valencia involved a gulp-inducing left hand triple lane change within half a block. On one hand, it trained me to be a bit more assertive with my signaling and lane-changing, but sometimes trusting that cars aren’t gonna just mow you down anyway isn’t too much fun.

This has also lead to some nasty biking habits. Sometimes folks would give themselves a lead-in in the middle of the intersection. Others would run the red light when it was clear out of impatience. Hey, I’m no saint. I’ve done those things too. We can all be better.

The above pictured “turn pocket” was installed in the last year week as an alternative. It takes a chunk out of the curb to let forward-heading cyclists to proceed while left turners could chillax and wait for the signal.

The SF Bike Coalition is wondering what you think about it. Have you even used the thing? Is it counter-intuitive to head right to turn left? Is it slower than braving the turn lane? Go ahead and voice your concerns at their survey.

[via sfbike.org]

Is this bad for your bike?  Because I did something like this and now I’m worried about the whole thing crumbling from rust or some shit like that.

[Photo by Jeff Elder via SF Citizen]

What kind of bike it was???

[via Vulcan Titties]

You know, for all those insane stunt bonus jumps you come across as you ride through the city.

Like this one.

Perhaps this bike ride, completed on Sunday by one Chris Phipps, is the reason the Giants were able to turn their luck around and take the NLCS.  Whatever voodoo may have occurred, the Giants now find themselves in the World Series again for the 2nd time in three years, even if last night’s rain prematurely put out all the mattress fires.  Oh, and if you’re wondering how he did the diagonal parts:

To get the diagonals, I stop the GPS at point A, then restart it at point B and it draws a straight line between the points.

Genius!  And that intense elevation is a great way to burn calories too!

[Photo by Chris Phipps via Zach M.]

In case you haven’t heard, Critical Mass is celebrating its 20th anniversary tonight at 6pm in what is sure to be an epic ride featuring cyclists from all over the place coming to the city to participate.  Regardless of how you feel about the movement, you really have to appreciate the fact that it galvanizes so many people.  Allan seems to love the good-natured fun of the whole spectacle, while I on the other hand (as someone who commutes 20 miles on my bicycle each day) usually already have to deal on a daily basis with tons of shitty, angry motorists who I would prefer to not further piss off lest they proceed to hate me so much that they try to hurt me while I’m riding.  Especially with that riding circles in busy intersections nonsense.

In any case, what allegedly all began as “a bunch of drunk bike messengers who got tired of SF police handing out $20 tickets to cyclists all the time for bullshit minor offenses, like not putting your foot down at a stop sign, so they decided to shut down some key intersections around the city and show the cops they couldn’t just fuck with them” has now become quite the thing, and it’s not going away anytime soon, so you might as well just forget about what you were planning on getting done today and check it out yourself!

Also, non-cyclists?  Perhaps this might be a good day to avoid Market St and take BART instead, alright?

Previously:

• Black Friday Critical Mass Meets Baton-Wielding Riot Police in Union Square
• When Critical Mass rides circles in busy intersections
• Critical Mass Debate: Opposing Viewpoints
• Critical Mass Sacramento
• Critical Mass Seattle
• Critical Mass Salt Lake City
• Critical Mass with Instruments
• Meet Junior: Bicycle Messenger Warrior of the Mission

Chris Six seriously wants to know.

[Photo by Carina]