Meanwhile in Europe, mi amigo in Amsterdam Álvaro took this photo in Eindhoven, Netherlands while visiting his friends.
He makes fun of our sunny 38°F/3°C winter here in Northern California, but I still interwebs-love him =)

He tells me this shot, is an underground-style bike parking structure. Someone get me to Europe soon, I need to party with some cute boys and roam around on bikes all day on that side of the globe. kthx.

Are you wearing pink today? Found out via the interwebs that Tuesday Dec. 14th is pinko day:

Found via momentum.com [link]
Now you too can be like Don Cherry and wear “pinko for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything.”
A day to stand up and say ” What ? Did I actually hear that right?” A day to say it should be okay to ride a bicycle in the city of Toronto without being inarticulately refered to by some outdated insult. A day to celebrate the seperation of politics and cheap showmanship.
Everyone wear pink on Tuesday December 14, a day picked at random for no particular reason, to say Hey,” Left wing pinko kooks who ride bicycles and everything” doesn’t even make sense and isn’t even ” a thing.”
You don’t have to actually attend this event or even be in Toronto, just wear something pink on the day.

I could wear some pick socks. Or my fuschia pink curdoroy jacket, pictured here by j-walking with Duby on Haight street. We’ll see.

My partner in artsy-things-and-silent-film crimes, sent me this link the other day which he so nicely included the lyrics +translations. So cute, now I need a little Campari mid-day cocktail and close my eyes imagining I’m at his concert.
Yves Montand, Olympia 1981

« À Bicyclette » “By Bicycle”
Quand on partait de bon matin When we left early in the morning
Quand on partait sur les chemins When we left on the roads
À bicyclette By bicycle
Nous étions quelques bons copains We were a few good friends
Y avait Fernand y avait Firmin There was Fernand and Firmin
Y avait Francis et Sébastien There was Francis and Sébastien
Et puis Paulette And then Paulette.

On était tous amoureux d’elle We were all in love with her
On se sentait pousser des ailes We felt like we were growing wings
À bicyclette On our bicycles.
Sur les petits chemins de terre On these little dirt roads
On a souvent vécu l’enfer We often went through hell
Pour ne pas mettre pied à terre To not dismount
Devant Paulette In front of Paulette.

Faut dire qu’elle y mettait du cœur I must say that she really put her heart into it
C’était la fille du facteur She was the daughter of the postman
À bicyclette On a bicycle.
Et depuis qu’elle avait huit ans And ever since she was eight
Elle avait fait en le suivant She followed him around
Tous les chemins environnants All the neighborhood roads
À bicyclette By bicycle.

Quand on approchait la rivière When we approached the river
On déposait dans les fougères We left in the ferns
Nos bicyclettes Our bicycles.
Puis on se roulait dans les champs Then we rolled in the fields
Faisant naître un bouquet changeant   Giving life to a changing bouquet
De sauterelles, de papillons Of grasshoppers, butterflies,
Et de rainettes and tree frogs.

Quand le soleil à l’horizon When the sun on the horizon
Profilait sur tous les buissons Cast over the bushes
Nos silhouettes Our silhouettes
On revenait fourbus contents We returned exhausted and content
Le cœur un peu vague pourtant Yet the heart a bit vague
De n’être pas seul un instant Because we never had a moment alone
Avec Paulette With Paulette.

Prendre furtivement sa main To furtively take her hand
Oublier un peu les copains To forget the others a little
La bicyclette The bicycle.
On se disait c’est pour demain We tell ourselves that’s for tomorrow
J’oserai, j’oserai demain I will dare to, I will dare to tomorrow
Quand on ira sur les chemins When we go on the roads
À bicyclette By bicycle.

I had not heard of Wheels4Life before. I enjoyed reading about the goals this group has formed to contribute and fundraise for a great cause, providing an efficient and access to school and multiple othe locations for everyday use indeveloping countries. I thought it was a nice cause for change and benefit of this planet and us as citizens of this world, so thought I’d share it with you all

(From Josh’s email) Founded by mountain bike legend Hans Rey, W4L is hosting an auction selling off 10 dream mountain bikes to raise money, which in turn will go toward buying bikes for developing nations. Wheels4Life is a great charity that provides much needed transportation to closed off pockets of the world, but for more information check out their website at www.wheels4life.org 

A link to this video was also included in his note:

From their page: About Wheels4Life

Wheels4Life is a non-profit organization that provides bikes for people in developing countries who really need them. Often these people live in very primitive and remote areas with no access to public transportation. The closest school, doctor or work-place might be 10 or 20 miles away. In developing countries, children use bicycles to get to school, adults use them to get to work, and health care workers use them to access their patients. Without a bicycle, children can end up uneducated, families can be without enough income to survive, and illnesses are left untreated. Wheels4Life provides the life-altering mobility of a bicycle to make the daily necessities accessible. The gift of a bicycle can work miracles.

So, there are a few auctions left this month that you can participate in, if you are interseted. Not sure how many of you are into Mt. bikes, but these look pretty sweet.

Auction 4: 12/6 – 12/12: Focus First XC and Titus El Guapo 
Auction 5: 12/13 – 12/19: Focus Raven and Titus Rockstar 29
Check out more info on the auctions and bicycles here: Bid on a bike. Change a Life»

*Cross posted with collab-blog Change your life. Ride a bike!
OK, that is all for now. Now off to riding a bike =)

I ran into these two handsome young men, visiting from Copenhagen.
The one on the right told me he really like the Frenchie, he said to not look at his bike because he was only borrowing it and then he started cracking up because it was way too small for him and who cares, it will take him there and back!!
The other guy said they were headed to a party. We kept riding and chatted for a bit, then we split way to each of our party destinations.
They were so sweet — Nice meeting you both!

San Franciscan and Copenhagenittes seem to like to know how to party, we had an awesome time when Michael, our favorite señor from the Europeandlands visited a bit over a year ago (see his post here) we had a blast with Halloween critical mass, tequila, mariachis and late night city riding. That was super fun! =)

Mi friend muffin came back from vacation in Istanbul and was SOOO nice of her to bring me coffee (my bag smelled divine) and this little stove-top pot with such beautiful patterns, to make the coffee. See, In her book, I’m easy to shop for – colorful wacky tights, or coffee!
We met before much activity was going on around the city to sip some coffee and catch on some chisme (*must know word: gossip).

The picture I had posted earlier this week was also taken here, on Linden street.
Linden underwent a little street-face lift, there are now these large rocks to sit on, the nicely patterned rusty pieces, some new plants and more tree-like nature. I’m a fan!

So here is some documentation of the caffeinated alleyways. Blue bottle never sees a slow morning!

 

Catching up with a good friend in the early caffeinated mornings pre-work, is the perfect medicine for a good day – and this time it came with a lovely little gift to make the black liquid of my favorite gods. Yum!!