Mission Mission

Happy Bike to Work Day 2011 everyone!  Come and join the party at Valencia and 17th, where there’s free bags, bananas, music, and all sorts of festivities!  Not on your route?  Check out the handy map!

Keep up the great work SF Bike Coalition!

Previously:

Segway to Work Day

Apologies for the early morning bluster.  I must still be high off the dopamine rush from last week’s Bike to Work Day.  But it’s not all empty bravado!  Take a second to look around and you’ll surely notice!

For instance, this driver has apparently learned from her earlier bike-lane-obstructing transgressions and is now double-parking in the rightmost vehicle lane instead of the bike lane.  I gave her a thumbs up and some verbal affirmation, and she smiled back.  She really seems like a polite (although mildly oblivious) lady.  Glad to see she’s figured things out!

And what do we have here?  JUSTICE!!!

This is the first time I’ve seen private vehicles getting ticketed for failing to make a right turn onto 10th Street from Market.  Sorry to rub it in, drivers, but is it really so hard to read those signs? 

Before you know it, the jerk mentality behind Shut Your Fucking Mouth Bitch Or I’ll Knock You Off Your Bike will be a distant memory.  Or will it?  Will cyclists and cars always hate each other?

Previously:

Freshly Painted Green Bike Lanes on Market Apparently Not Quite Enough

Segway to Work Day

Shut Your Fucking Mouth Bitch Or I’ll Knock You Off Your Bike

Today is Bike to Work Day 2010, so naturally Segway Steve has to show up without a bicycle.  You’re going the wrong way, man!  I’m going to let the metaphor in this photo speak for itself:

Anyway, let’s see what kind of neat schwag came in the bag this year!  While I didn’t get a t-shirt this year (long story short:  riding my housemate’s ex-boyfriend’s fixie due to yesterday’s incident, and it was so hard to get my feet into the toe clips that once I finally did, no way was I taking them out again, forcing me to only grab a bag while rolling by the recharge station–BTW, nice pass volunteer!), this year’s bag seems jam packed with fun stuff.  So let’s see what we have here . . .

Nice bag logo!  The colors and cycle outlines are quite aesthetically pleasing.  Woah, and nice spot Meli!  Also, good choice with cool mint for the CLIF Bar flavor, guys.  Tube times, sticker–but wait!  What’s this?  A front bike light??!?!!??  AWESOME!!!  Thanks for making me legal, Bike to Work Day 2010!

Previously:

Segway Finally Joins the Market Street Bicycle Commute

Timbuk2 Bike To Work Day Event Tomorrow

Freshly Painted Green Bike Lanes on Market Apparently Not Quite Enough

Seriously, Shimano?

In honor of Bike To Work Day, Timbuk2 is hosting a party tomorrow at their new mission digs (583 Shotwell at 20th). There will be free food, music, and a brand of beer that may or may not have won a blue ribbon in 1893. And who knows, if you ask nice and sign a waiver, they might let you ride the Death Trap mutant bicycle. Staff will be on hand to repair bags if you got ‘em, too. The event goes from “5pm ’til you leave,” so be sure to bring a sleeping bag (don’t really do that).

For your commute home, they will also be hosting an Energizer Station at Mission playground on 19th and Valencia with drinks and snacks, from 5-7pm. More info here.

Allan and I got to tour the facilities last week and had a swell time. I was really impressed that Timbuk2 head honcho Mike bikes to work at least 3 times a week. “Big deal”, you say. Well, he does it from Novato which is 38 miles each way. This month, he’s doing it every day. I hope his office has in-house showers.

(Photo by Savage13)

Cycle-commuting reader Mickey B. (who also happens to have a great mob nickname) was unable to enjoy the exhilaration of riding down the freshly painted green bike lanes on Market Street this morning thanks to this color-blind driver.  He adds:

A friend of mine passed it after I did and said the car was unlocked and there was a purse on the seat…

I wanna know how this car even managed to get in there!  She obviously wasn’t able to fit through those narrowly spaced posts, so she must have entered the bike lane at the beginning of the block, proceeded about halfway, and then stopped her car and got out.  Do automobile drivers really feel so entitled that they think they can get away with this?

To be fair, on the commute this morning I noticed that even the majority of cyclists themselves prefer to avoid the bike lane when they can in favor of the street, green paint or not (although this stretch of Market is also off-limits to private vehicles so it’s inherently safer):

Anyway, in general the separated green bike lanes are a huge win for cyclists everywhere (not just in SF), and I’m all for them since they encourage cautious people who might be too frightened to bike amongst the cars and buses to try out cycle commuting in somewhat safer fashion.

Don’t forget that this Thursday, May 13, is the 16th annual BIKE TO WORK DAY, so remember to pedal out with your cyclist pride on full display.  As usual, the SFBC will be hosting recharging stations throughout the city with free schwag that’s actually useful and awesome (bags, patch kits, water), so volunteer if you have a chance!  See you out there!

Previously:

Posts Be Posting Up All Over Market Street

Wouldn’t It Be Nice If SF Had Bike Lanes Like Copenhagen’s?