East Bay Bike Party: 5/21/10

new scraper bikes vid

Scrapertown from California is a place. on Vimeo.

BYOBW 2010

Sarah's bruise

it's officially spring. time for bikes. (which means time for bruises, lol)

mai bike today: 3.26.10

mai bike today: 2.06.10

Bicycle by Steve Blanco

Bicycle from Steve Blanco on Vimeo.

ahhhhh... day dreams of sweet bike romance.

Love Wheels Nagoya

Grizzly Peak in Berkeley CA

I've been riding my bike more lately, which of course means... more bruises.



I don't know where the bruises come from. I don't know if they are from the actual bike riding, or my new theory.. is that I'm just more tired when I come home after riding and so I bump into more shit in my tiny apartment. (one of those bruises is def. right at coffee table level). But whatever. I guess it just means I'll never be a... leg model.

That's what my mom used to tell me when I was a kid and I'd get all scraped and scared up. It was always her opinion that if you weren't going to make your living off your looks (and obviously, none of us ever were), then there's really no point in worrying about looks/scars/bruises/ect.
And I guess she's right. per usual.

Yesterday my brother and I rode up to Grizzly Peak in Berkeley. I'm so happy I get to ride with my brother, cause he is funny and fun and polite. (He doesn't race off and leave you in the dust like so many of the other boys I used to ride bikes with).



The ride was one of those, 1.5 hours up and 5 min. down, type of rides and it started out warm and sunny and ended a little cold and grey. But all in all it was a super fun ride that I hope to repeat!



I was on my road bike, with my new shoes and clips and I'm still getting used to that set up, so at the first stop sign I totally couldn't get my foot out the clips and fell over. It was awesome/hilarious/embarrassing.



You may remember a while back, how I posted about my brother getting doored by a car, and how that fucked up his bike. Well he built a new one, using most of the old components and a new steel frame. It's a pretty sweet ride. Perfect for everyday riding and locking up on/around the UCB campus. (can't have anything that looks to fancy or your shit will get jacked). And the best part is he pretty much built this new whip all by himself.



ahhhhh... sense of accomplishment. it's what riding bikes is all about.
<3!

bike friends

Candy Cranks Blog

Holy crap, I just got invited to write for the Candy Cranks Blog reppin' San Francisco, and I couldn't be more excited!

Their tag line is *CHICKS THAT SPIN AROUND THE GLOBE* and the blog is basically a collaboration of female riders from around the world giving insight to bike culture in their home cities.
When I came across their blog my soul had this moment, like, *oh there you are... I've totally been looking for you* type of thing. I feel like this is something I was meant to do. The tiny blog wheels in my head are already turning :)
So yeah, super stoked.
I'm going to go ahead and add *writing for an international girlie bike blog* on my list of dreams that I MADE come true in 2009.
(It will go right there under being in DC to watch Barack Obama be sworn in as the President of the United States, moving into my own sweet little apartment in SF, one of the greatest cities in the world, imo. And meeting Shawn White and then watching him win the half pipe contest at the Burton New Zealand open.)
Sigh... life is grand.

<3!

put the fun between your legs

"Everything we take for granted: the weekend, gay rights, contraception, women wearing trousers, the right to strike, to form a union, the abolition of slavery. Everything was won by disobedience, fought for by people who refused and resisted, claimed back from those in power. Their disobedience was a gift to our future."

I like the idea of this!
read more about this bike bloc project HERE

so many bikes...

that we hang em from de trees!

SF... I <3 this citay!

pssst...

my bike is still hot.

we are going to be in a photo shoot on Sunday. hopefully. if it all works out.
yeee!

July 2009

I haven't been riding my bike as much as I should. I've been hella busy OK. But I did ride a bit last week, which inevitably means bruises, lol.


my bike is still as hot as ever:

and check out this other cool bike I spotted in front of Burma Superstar, one of my all time favorite restaurants:

sick.

I'm off to New Zealand this Saturday to visit some friends and do some snowboarding.
I'm so excited!! I wonder if they have cool bikes there..??
Dun worry, I'll post pics of what I do see.

Doored!

Can't believe I forgot to post this until now.
My poor brother got doored by a dumb ass in Berkeley.
He was riding in the bike lane and some fool opened a car door right into him.
His bike is fucked. Bent frame.
He ran into the door with his arm, I guess and then fell down and hit his head hard on the pavement, but was wearing a helmet.
YAY..... for helmets!
Everyone should wear a helmet all the time!
Myself included, damn it.
(p.s. if you ever see me riding without my helmet you have my permission to talk hella shit to me about how stupid I am. It doesn't happen much anymore, but I've been known to *forget* my helmet, despite the fact that my mom and now my brother have both been saved big time by helmets.)
When my brother sort of sat up he looked at his arm and noticed that his whole shirt was covered in blood. All the blood made him feel a little whoosie, so he had to lay back down. A nurse showed up and helped him out. The driver drove away so someone called 911 and reported it to the police. All the emergency people showed up and he had to go to the hospital and get some stitches.

I really hope he gets a new bike out of the deal.
He got a police report and is in the processes of trying to get the other person's insurance to pay up.
Totally sucks!
But as usual, it could have been a lot worse, so you gotta be thankful.
Be careful out there kids.
It's a mad mad world.

YAY.. Wed. Night Bike Rides!

So they cut my hours by 4-5 hours (10-15%) at work, and it sucks in a lot of ways, but the one super awesome way that it doesn't suck... is that it means I get to ride bikes on Wed.'s again with the Fix without Dix crew. This makes me happy! I love riding with girls! It is really so much more fun. Nobody gets left behind. But we ride hard and we have fun. I would love to get some more of my girl friends to come out and ride bikes!

SO IF ANYONE EVER WANTS TO RIDE WITH US... IT'S WED. NIGHTS @ 630PM AT LAKE MERRITT BART!

fucking ouch!

mai bike today

I was outside a bar on 6th street last weekend, getting ready to ride home and I heard this guy say *I've seen that bike before... on the internet*

Fix Without Dix Write up on Oaklandnorth.net

Check out this awesome lil write up, and video about the Fix Without Dix crew: http://oaklandnorth.net/2009/04/24/oakland%e2%80%99s-premier-lady-bike-crew%e2%80%94fix-without-dix/
They are all so cool and riding with them is so much fun!

I used to ride with these lovely ladies all the time (back when I was living and working in the East Bay) but when I started working in Palo Alto I could never make it over there in time.
Then I just found out that my job is cutting my hours by 10% and at first I was freaking out, but then I realized that I can just ask for Wed. afternoon's off and ride with the girls again and that makes me super happy. That is worth way more than the money, believe me!

yay.. bikes!

random

Soooo.. I've been really busy lately.
I MOVED TO SF!
Which I'm super stoked about.
But it's been crazy.
Work is crazy.
Life is crazy.
Didn't have internets for a while.
But things are finally starting to come together.
And I can't wait to start riding my bike every day again!

So yeah, as of late, it's been mostly moving, not much biking.
But there are plenty bruises none the less:


And check out this sweet Bike Vid that my friend Max turned me on to:


Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather!
<3

help out a fellow cyclist, please read!

So a friend of the SF bike community has had a motorcycle crash in India it's bad bad news for her.
Her friends and family are trying to raise money to bring her home for better medical care.
Check out this link and then do what you can.
http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/

(and it is my professional opinion that nobody should travel without travel insurance cause you just never know and shit happens. we can learn from this.)

myyy bike in a magazine

check it:

so sweeet!

ouch!

So there's no *bike* in this post.
But my friend Beth has some knarly bruises from a recent car accident so I thought I'd share, cause I've never seen bruises like these!
(BTW.. when you are at a red light in Oakland and the light turns green, B4 you go, you should count to 3 and look both ways, cause mutha fuckers be runnin' lights like it ain't nothing. 2 of my friends have been hit down town on a Sat. night, one in a car, one on a bike. No good!)



Beth is OK, thank goodness! But her car is not.
And she does have a fractured wrist and all these beautiful bruises.
:(
OK, I can't have a post with no bikes, so here is my bike on the last FWD ride I was able to go on:

and here is a kitchen full of bikes from the mustache ride a few weeks back:

<3!

This post has nothing to do with bikes.. But it's important stuff so PLEASE READ

If you are outraged like me.. please take a minute to send a letter to Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Senator Leland Yee encouraging the introduction of a bill to create a long-overdue civilian oversight board for the BART police dept.
Just click on the link below.
Thanks! - marin

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/NeverAgain

On January 1, Oscar Grant -- already subdued by police and lying face down -- was shot in the back and killed by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale station.

Unfortunately, this tragedy is not a first for the BART police force, which has been accused in the past of using excessive and unnecessary force in two other shooting deaths.

Unlike most police departments around the country, BART police are not subject to a civilian oversight board, despite numerous calls for one by community leaders over the years. But BART has refused.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Senator Leland Yee promised to introduce legislation requiring BART to create a civilian oversight board -- like the boards that have improved accountability and police conduct in other communities. While this is a significant step in the right direction, we must ensure that the legislature passes a strong bill.

The only way BART police will get the oversight and accountability they need is if the public demands it. The more people who sign this letter, the more likely it is that Assemblymember Ammiano and Senator Yee will be successful in getting the state legislature to create a strong civilian oversight board, and provide the kind of lasting change that the community demands.

hmmm..

it's been pretty cold out lately and I haven't been riding my bike as much.
maybe that's also why I feel like a total spaz lately.
(I just now made that connection)

my last real ride was with my dad at xmas time.
we rode from grover beach to san luis and back.
it was about 30 miles.
it was fun.
my dad is cool.
we stopped for bagels and I took this pic.
(it's my otttther bike, lol)

don't be stupid

So I know this girl..
well, I don't really know her irl, I only know her on the internet through her super awesome blog http://wahappenings.blogspot.com/

and she recently had a post about going to the Fixed Magazine Launch Party in London.

She says, "After a banging evening of games, free drink, impromteau DJing and a dance off with local b-boys, we all set off to go to Katie Skills party at Dragon Bar like a pack of feral wolves and I fell off my bike spectacularly while showing off...."
Here's the damage:

a busted eye AND

2 chipped bones in her wrist.

BUT like a good girl, she doesn't blame her bike :)

here's what she says,
"I can't believe I acted so stupid! Never show off, while drunk!

But I still don't blame you my love..."

knucks and bikes at BART

my knuckles are scraped and bleeding
annoying pain
but
just cause I'm clumsy
not psycho
NOT psycho

do you think that bicycles have souls?
when I go to work and have to leave my bike at BART,
it feels like daycare, sort of, not really, but let's just say..
aaaand soooo I always try to lock up next to the hottest bike there
or at least one with some style and originality
so they can
have fun and laugh
and flirt and be
bike friends!
I think other people do that too
maybe
I don't know
but seems like, maybe