Posts Tagged ‘critical mass’
Friday, February 26th, 2010
What makes San Francisco’s monthly Critical Mass an illegal bicycle parade is the fact that nobody gets permits. ‘Cause getting a permit is hard - it would entail doing stuff that costs a lot of money and it would make you a magnet for lawsuits, so who needs that, right?
The thing is that corking intersections and running red lights as a group (hallmarks of Critical Mass going back to the mid-1990’s), those things are obviously illegal, so the SFPD could start issuing citations whenever it wants, of course. And that’s true no matter how they roll in the Empire State. (Actually, I question how the New York decision affects us here in San Francisco at all, but oh well.)
I’ll tell you, the biggest shock that drivers have when they get stuck at an intersection is that they get no sympathy from the cops. Drivers without criminal records tend to stay by their cars and watch the parade of bikes.
OTOH, drivers with criminal records, well, Critical Mass is a test of their ability to maintain. Some fail.
Do I think San Francisco has the will to kill Critical Mass? No. But do I think Police Chief George Gascon is planning on shaking things up, in the coming months, you know, when rain no longer threatens* and the number of cyclists is bigger? Yes.
“Hey, man, we don’t have any “leaders,” man. The City can’t do nothing to us, nobody’s in charge of CM, man.” Yes, roger that. I don’t think anybody’s going to stick you with a bill for $35,000 or anything, but changes are a coming…
Collateral damage from Critical Mass - MUNI vehicles stretching to the horizon in both directions. (Is that on the DO list or the DON’T list?) This kind of thing is one of the reasons you don’t see CM listed at the SFBC website calendar anymore.
Where’s Waldo, Cagney and Lacey on a recent Critical Mass ride:
The wonder of encountering an unexpected Critical Mass for the first time. Out-of-towners Rachel and Monica were delighted:
To Be Continued…
*Actually, tonight looks to be clear as a bell, Mel. But the forecast was for rain so tonight’s should be a smaller ride.
Tags: 2009, 2010, biclcye, bike, bus, chief, commute clot, confrontation, cops, cork, corked, critical, critical mass, cyclists, delay, department, dept., friday, fridays, George Gascón, intersection, Judge, last, market, mass, month, monthly, Muni, new york, parade, police, Police Chief, rain, San Francisco, sexy, SFPD, stalled, tacoed, transit, trolley, Wheel
Posted in bikes, crime | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Well here’s something new under the sun. It’s the Vandal cargo pack for cyclists from the Mission Workshop.
See? It expands, thusly:
So you can carry a pony keg of delicious, if warm, Sierra Nevada on your back, or, indeed, an entire bike:
Their video shows you how it works. (Try not to yell out “co-option, co-option” as you see two tandem riders participating in Halloween Critical Mass 2009.)
Mission Workshop is just getting started, so they don’t yet have a retail store. But they do have a full-on corporate-style media campaign. Here it is, enjoy:
“Introducing Mission Workshop and Their First Expandable Cargo Backpack ‘The Vandal’
Mission Workshop is a San Francisco based company located in the heart of the Mission District. The company was born from over 15 years experience designing and manufacturing messenger bags and clothing. The founders of the bag company Chrome opened Mission Workshop in October of 2009 and just released their first backpack called “the Vandal.”
The Vandal is a weatherproof backpack designed for cyclists and anyone else that relies on their bag to get them through the day. It’s big enough to handle your daily gear and expands for additional cargo when needed. The Vandal’s expansion system gets bigger without using extra fabric and seals flat to disappear when not needed.
According to co-founder Bart Kyzar, “Most people prefer as small of a pack as possible but regularly need extra carrying capacity. Even with a full load, the Vandal can expand to accommodate an additional bag of groceries or a case of your favorite brew. It easily turns from 1200 cubic inches into 2200 cubic inches on the fly.”
The pack incorporates three built in compartments. The main roll top compartment is large and has RF welded seams making it completely waterproof. The middle compartment is perfect for a laptop and the smaller compartment is designed for personal organization. In addition to these, the expandable area is always ready for use when needed.
The Vandal has also stepped up the design on the backpack harness by integrating a frame sheet and fiberglass rods for support and comfort. This makes the Vandal much more comfortable than other cycling packs and has given it enhanced stability under heavy loads. The Vandal is PVC free and only uses fabrics coated with urethane. In addition to the environmental benefits, urethane coatings are much tougher than PVC and better retain their waterproof capabilities.
Specs:
– Weatherproof Capacity: 1200 cubic inches
– External Cargo Expander 1000 cubic inches
– Materials: Urethane Coated Nylon (PVC free)
– Load Suspension: LDPE Frame Sheet with Fiberglass Stays
– Removable waist strap with optional load bearing waist belt
Retail Price: $225 Made in the USA with a Life Time Warranty
Mission Workshop Products are sold online at http://www.missionworkshop.com/ and through select retailers nationwide.
Tags: 2009, backpack, bag, Bart Kyzar, beer, Cargo, chrome, company, critical mass, district, Expandable, founders, halloween, keg, mission, Mission Workshop, pony, Sierra Nevada, the Vandal, Vandal, workshop
Posted in bikes | Comments Off
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Who knows how many fatwas were issued last week against New York Times reporter Scott James - no matter. But now it seems that the cops of the SFPD are getting picky about how cars handle the now-famous intersection of Steiner and Duboce, start of The Wiggle bike route.
This aging Land Cruiser (with tiny 15-inch wheels – a 1993 model?) will never die, but it will get its fair share of tickets on the Streets of San Francisco, for both parking and, as here, yesterday night, moving violations. Oh well.
Click to expand
Will this controversy result in a safer Wiggle?
Only Time Will Tell.
Tags: 2009, backlash, bay area, blog, critical mass, department, dept., duboce, halloween, intersection, land cruiser, new york times, November, nyt, police, route 30, San Francisco, san francisco bicycle coalition, scott james, SF, sfbc, SFPD, steiner, street, toyota, webster, wiggle, Writer
Posted in cars | Comments Off
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Scott James has a tiger by the tail with “San Francisco’s Cyclists Facing Backlash for Flouting Rules of the Road.” You see, he doesn’t just talk about cyclists blowing stop signs at speed, he goes and documents it, all judgmental like. Then he posts it on the YouTube for tout le monde to see. That’s going to rub some peoples’ fur the wrong way.
Not sure if anything has changed in San Francisco lately as far as a “backlash” is concerned. If there were some big new enforcement action these days, we would have heard of it by now. Oh well. One new thing Scott mentions is a Critical Mass website that recently popped up, but those kinds of things have popped up before only to earn derision from the “leaderless” corkers on the street. Oh well.
The SFPD will tolerate “California stops” from car drivers if they’re done “correctly” (you know, slowly enough under the circumstances) and they don’t seem to mind cyclists doing the equivalent, which in this town means blowing through a red light or a stop without losing any speed at all. All bets are off if there’s an enforcement action going on. In that case, the cops will want you to stop and put a foot down before proceeding.
The Scott Street part of San Francisco’s Route 30 Wiggle – the route so nice they paved it twice.
Anyway, writer Scotty has people looking out for him:
“Just try to talk about obeying traffic laws, and suddenly the loveliest ecofriendly riders are instantly transformed into venom-spewing bike bullies. I was warned several times not to write about this or risk being publicly vilified as an enemy of the bike world.”
I’d say yes, let’s count down how long it takes for the writer to be “publicly vilified as an enemy of the bike world” due to today’s article. It’s probably happening already.
Oh well.
Tags: 2009, backlash, bay area, blog, critical mass, department, dept., duboce, halloween, new york times, nyt, police, route 30, San Francisco, san francisco bicycle coalition, scott james, SF, sfbc, SFPD, steiner, street, wiggle, Writer
Posted in bikes | 3 Comments »
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
San Francisco’s monthly semi-unauthorized bicycle parade was well-attended and exceptionally ugly last night. Did your bike suffer any property damage (“let’s fucking beat up his car!”)? For whatever reason, Halloween Critical Mass 2009 had lots of gaps so that led to confrontations at every intersection – confused car drivers were tempted to just push through to end their lengthy waits. And the SFPD seemed less pro-bike than I’m used to seeing. Oh well.
Now, grab your parasol, pack your marshmallows, count the choppers, put on your PJs, and raise your fixie. Let’s take a gander.
Just look at the stalled MUNI buses and trolleys (trollies?) stretching from Mid-Market all the way back to the Ferry Building last night:
Click to expand
The riders could only just sit and stare:
Stare at this, a car-free Market Street:
via geekstinkbreath
Now let’s take it to the streets. Ichiro was there. He started going on about how there’s “sexiness in the infield.” OK fine:
About an hour or so after the six-ish P.M. starting time, the stalled buses started to pile up:
A happy corker vs. an unhappy corkee at the intersection of 8th and Market Streets.
After a while, car drivers start getting into this rolling Rorschach test. Some sit on their cars…
…while others, like this SUV driver, get out to fruitlessly confront the madding crowd:
IMO, parolees display the least tolerance for CM. Oh well. They just can’t handle it.
A stalled driver gets freaked out by Pumpkinhead:
Thank Gaia the cops were there:
Oops, here there are, pushing along the stragglers on Market:
And then an error – the main body of riders hung a right and headed up Van Ness. That’s not the way to cork MUNI, which got back to normal on Market Street round about 7:30 PM. Oh well. Van Ness from Hayes looking north up to California – the whole thing was entirely filled with bikes:
So there’s your Halloween Critical Mass 2009. See you next year.
Tags: 2009, 30, 30th, biclcye, bike, bus, confrontation, cops, cork, corked, costumed, costumes, critical, critical mass, cyclists, delay, department, dept., friday, fridays, halloween, intersection, last, market, mass, month, monthly, parade, police, San Francisco, sexy, SFPD, stalled, tacoed, transit, trolley, Wheel
Posted in bikes | 4 Comments »
