I was just talking about Bike Polo to a f riend. I am a pro.
Sikeeeeee.
Ade took this about a year ago in Golden Gate Park when we ran into some super nice group of people playing polo in the park on some random Sunday, we had a blast not hitting the ball.
What the heck, this is hard.
Happy Friday!!!
Butterlap tonite. Weather should be nice, mid-week detox, pre-taxes workout, seeing the butter peeps. Volker **look away!! is out working on his shoulder 2.0, and the April’s showers seem to be more off than on. A couple of weeks ago the drizzle was heavy, like the rhymes from the LBC.
Meet Peter. It was his first butterlap! swooon š
And there was red everywhere! the red duo and the mc red miyata:
Over the last few years the number of women that I have seen on the bike lane, met, and befriended continues to increase. Earlier this week, I took along with a few of my friends, a survey by The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (www.apbp.org).
Find it hereĀ»
One of my favorite questions, there were several answers, was:
Why do you use a bicycle?
āIt’s the best part of my day
Back in Spring 2009, I submitted a short questionnaire that eventually got printed in the Summer 09 issue of Momentum, I think I forgot to post it here, but you can find it below, in which I thought about their last question and said:
[From: Real Life on a Bike -Meli
Anything else youād like to add?
My bike is my shrink, best friend,
conversation starter, mood enhancer, and gym.
All in one, every day.
Which I think, links directly to many of the questions in the survey. I really get in a foul mood if I don’t ride my bicycle for over a day. And I’m serious. Sure there are obstacles and excuses if you must. Hills and traffic are a sometimes a bitch to get over somedays, but well. You just get over them.
Here in San Francisco we got tremendous hills, and tremendous bike theft. Those two alone hold back many of my girlfriends (non-bikers) from biking and using their bikes for commuting.
Also, they are lazy. It is true. And fact is, takes quite the energy to put up with the rhythm this fine city has to offer. I have done the route that takes one of them to get to work. She says it takes 55 minutes, because, you know, the bus might running late. DONE-Lady, I have done that route from your house to your work, at my slow speed. You WILL be there in 25 minutes. But I suppose she likes being inside the bus for 2 hours twice a day. Oh well.
My thoughts about women and cycling, here in San Francisco have always been optimistic. When I really wanted to meet a ton of people on bikes when i was in school, I met some women, but mostly guys. The fixie craze was going strong and it was just too much for me to handle. I always thought the bicycle community was quite intimidating and it wasn’t until I finished school that I really had the time to mingle and roam around even further. Riding to work everyday, volunteering often with the SFBC, joining rides Etc. became the real exposure to the bicycle community, and along were women. Then came the blogesphere, and I met even more. *Ade recently wrote a post along with a charming photo, meet some of us hereĀ»
So my women, get more of your girlfriends to ride. I have even given a free bicycle to one of them, and don’t think she has used it yet. The intent is there. Yet I meet more and more everyday from the bikelane that find the will, the curiosity and the inspiration they need from all over the place. It is really great.
With that, I link this article one of my fave women on wheels in Seattle, RJ, let me know about:
Women find liberation on two wheels by Laura McCamy
And also, two shots of parents that are doing their part to build a bright future, with their daughters on bicycles. I am lucky to know them because they inspire me, and it really is a happy feeling when you encounter them around in San Francisco:
Our small early AM SF crew roamed over the eastbay lands to ride bikes and eat tacos. It was a very nice event organized by the East Bay Bike Coalition, Oaklandish and the California Taco Truck Blog [link here]. It was a very nice event and although the weather wasn’t super cold, it was damp enough to make your fingers annoyed. That’s when the champurrado kicked in. Ade and I hadn’t hung out pretty much since the holidays, and it was nice to get back in the grove. The beggining of the year is always a strange set of weeks that just seem to fly past you. oyyy.
Anyways, to the best of my space cadet mentality, my camera’s battery was not to its fullest. BUT first and foremost, I’d like to thank my peeps for waiting for me in the AM, I was running quite late. Pre-taco stop: coffee ā du’h.
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Here Ade snapped a picture of what our crew does best. Ride to chillax. We chat, we eat, we talk bikes and food. Good stuff. Eric and I here, debating which tacos we’re gonna check out next.
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more awesome yummy pics
Check out Ade’s set hereĀ»
Check out Eric’s set hereĀ»
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Good times Oakland, thanks to all the organizing peeps, the attendees and everybody that made their tummys happy.
———–xoā„meli
Las usual suspects. We are in a loop, no matter what our priorities are, we eventually meet upafter a fe mis-fired texts or pure badass telepathy, with our bicycles and a ready for the good times. Add coffee or a drink and we’re there, u-lock and all.
I received this pretty little kintted xmas present from Adrienne. She is a crafty knitter and this bike cozy will keep my paint from chipping even further (which I had no idea until I took these pics and compared them with thsoe from 1+year ago) as well as some girls going crazy over the pattern or whatever that is called. I don’t knit but I can certainly appreciate the craftiness and Im glad a few of my friends like to knit.
Red goes well with the Frenchie. Goes well with me. Matches my rings. ā„Muchas gracias Ade!!
On November 21st, we met for coffee in the AM, and rode to the Bike expo. and back. It was chill. In the noon-ish times we had the usual suspects.
We parked the bikes at the bike valet provided by the SFBC. Here is mr. valet extraordinaire – Marty!
At night we had a larger group. As we made our way from the Cow Palace, we all venture into our own routes. It was the best late November weather, clear skies and great riding with you all š
