The San Francisco Citizen

Lane splitting - everybody’s doing it, even SuzukiGirl. But what does John Law think about that?

Q. Can motorcycle riders “split” lanes and ride between other vehicles? A. Lane splitting by motorcycles is permissible but must be done in a safe and prudent manner.

Does lane splitting irritate drivers? Perhaps, but who cares?

Go for it, dOoD. The University of California says lane splitting is good for you. Plus, these days you’ve got the Vatican-certified patron saint of motocycle riders, Columbanus of Bobbio, on your side.

Bonus.

“Filtering forward” through the long line of stalled cagers in front of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge toll booths. Click to expand:

Sort of. Maybe people got their Bastille on over the weekend, instead of last night.

Down on Claude Lane in Union Square, instead of le jazz hot revelers got AC/DC’s Back in Black for at least part of the time anyway.

Clique to enlarge: 

This what Belden Lane, home of Plouf, Cafe Bastille, B-44, and le Best-O-Burger, looked like later in the evening. Most people were just sitting around noshing.

See you next year?

Here’s the situation. This recent photo shows an interstate bus parked in the westbound bike lane of John F. Kennedy Drive in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Of course the curb is painted red so people shouldn’t park there, but they do. 

So where should a bike rider go? Well, around the bus of course, but that seems a tad on the dangerous side. For some odd reason, somebody decided that JFK should have the widest bike lanes in all of Christendom. And there’s an old tunnel under the road so it has a little kink, as seen here, right in front of the Conservatory of Flowers.

When you’re mapping things out in an ivory tower (ala the abysmal Octavia Boulevard) it’s a little tough to see how things will work out in real life.  

In real life, pugnacious-looking, Norman Maileresque bus drivers will park their 8.5 foot wide rigs wherever the Hell they want.

So, is there another way to handle the striping on this piece of road? Maybe compromise on bike lane width? Maybe take out parking on the eastbound side of the street? Anything?  

San Francisco’s latest lunchtime hotspot in the Financh is doing land-office business so far, but the reviews are sort of meh.

Per Sue L.:

Burgers - reminiscent of White Castle
Fries - reminiscent of Burger King
Onion Strings - reminiscent of Asqew Grill
Hype - reminiscent of In & Out

It looks like a chain, but it’s not. People line up out the door during lunchtime, but it’s not that long a wait. The burgers, fries and onion ring string things taste good. A little pricey for what you get.

Maybe it’s for you, maybe it’s not.

493 Pine at Belden Lane near Kearny