Event on Velodromedary

Fun 30-mile ride during Beer Week along many off-road paths and canals, MLK Jr Shoreline Park, the mosaic murals of Jingletown,...

Sun, 11 Feb 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Fun 30-mile ride during Beer Week along many off-road paths and canals, MLK Jr Shoreline Park, the mosaic murals of Jingletown, and along the shoreline in Alameda… with a stop at Cleophus Quealy for tacos and good beer.

Cool Grey City ride

Thu, 19 Nov 2015 01:55:00 +0000

I’ve been enjoying Cool Gray City of Love and taking notes every time he mentions an interesting vista, path, or historical intersection in SF I haven’t been to.

So… it seems worth a periodic ride around the city to check out some of them.

This Saturday, a Mission / Glen Park / Sunset route, including:

Several notable staircases (we’ll lock bikes at the bottom and hike up for views), two of the very few remaining old unpaved road segments in SF, Billy Goat Hill, and some of the last remaining evidence of the great sand dunes that once blanketed the Sunset.

Bicycle Dumpling Tour (4th Annual)

Sat, 14 Nov 2015 06:31:58 +0000

Three times makes a tradition– after last year, I had to do it again– organize a bicycle tour of my favorite dumpling shops for friends and strangers through the SF Bike Coalition (picking up hundreds of dumplings as takeout to eat in a nearby park).

I spent the previous weekend scouting, test-riding, and test-eating, and put together a route combining low-key roads, paved off-road paths through Golden Gate Park, and riding along the ocean… with stops for last year’s group favorite (pan fried pork buns and ‘soup dumplings’ from Dumpling Kitchen, eaten in a small park nestled above Stern Grove), the chicken and Chinese spinach dumplings from Kingdom of Dumpling (most notable for the intensely pleasurable fiery orange chili sauce) ferried all the way to a strip of trees and benches at Judah and Great Highway, and new-to-the-ride Shanghai Dumpling King for the eponymous dumplings and ‘dessert’ in the form of sweet BBQ pork buns plus a few other sweet dumplings from across the street, eaten in a nearby playground.

Dumpling Scouting Ride...

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 19:50:00 +0000

Scouting potential locations and routes for the Third Annual Dumpling Bike Tour on May 10th (see last year)… and it was a beautiful, sunny, relaxing day with a few friends.

1st Annual San Diego Bike & Beer: recap

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 06:37:00 +0000

A while back I heard about the 1st Annual San Diego Bike & Beer (I think via the citymaus tumblr), and just had to plan a trip down from SF for the weekend. And by lucky chance, two friends were already going to be in Southern California that weekend and drove down to join. In pictures:

The 29-mile route visited four breweries (Hess, Modern Times, Stone, and Mission), taking a roundabout path to circle the city and include scenic ocean-side riding:

Tour de Biere 2014 photos

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 00:31:10 +0000

This photo sums up the day:

Sunday was the 4th annual Grand-Cru-organized Tour de Biere, visiting four East Bay breweries over the course of an all-day 29-mile scenic bike ride. Great weather (sunny but not too warm, an epic red-and-pink sunset that photos can’t convey), a friendly group of about 40, four friends along for the ride, and a lot of good beer.

A collection of photos, in no particular order:

Supermarket Street Sweep (groceries by bike)

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 06:08:12 +0000

After skipping last year, I rode the Supermarket Street Sweep again, with two friends. This is a fundraiser / food drive for the SF Food Bank, combined with a little light competition to collect the most food or collect it the fastest.

It was an amazingly successful year for the food drive– 149 cyclists brought in 10,615 pounds of food, about 2,500 pounds more than the previous record.

A few photos snapped along the way…

Friday - bikeit holiday drinks - postcar travel - artcrank

Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:45:47 +0000

riders, friends.

bikeit’s having a holiday party tomorrow (Friday), without bikes. In which we drop by the Post-Car Travel Agency party at Huckleberry Bikes around 7, then walk down to the ArtCrank bicycle-themed poster show with $5 beer, then wander to a nearby bar for a festive drink.

If you came on a ride this year, the first drink’s on me.

Dogpatch / Bayview Tour Recap

Thu, 09 May 2013 02:02:00 +0000

I always want to share the nooks and crannies of Southeast SF with people– and Sunday, 11 friends and strangers (nice to meet you!) converged on my neighborhood for a tour of Dogpatch and Bayview.

Here’s the route we took (click through for an interactive map with Point Of Interest descriptions):

Starting off in Dogpatch, some friends & neighbors set up a surprise table of muffins, fruit, and mimosas (thanks!)

Bike Tour of Dogpatch, Bayview, Parks, Graffiti, Open Studios:

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:03:49 +0000

I’m organizing this casual public ride on May 5th.

Tour de Biere

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 20:44:00 +0000

Tour de Biere

A few of us joined an East Bay beer/brewery tour during SF Beer Week…

Update: A writeup and photos on KQED: http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2013/02/17/the-3rd-annual-tour-de-biere-an-east-bay-bicycle-brewery-tour/

Drake’s and Linden St were especially good brewery visits, and the San Leandro -> West Oakland ride via off-road paved paths, bridges, and Alameda was a lot of fun.

Black Diamond Mines ride & tour recap

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 03:58:00 +0000

Four of us took BART out to the end of the line and then biked to Black Diamond Mines Regional Park in Antioch for a tour of the Hazel-Atlas sand mines (and some history on coal mining in the region).

It was a casual 20 mile round trip, mostly on the Delta De Anza paved off-road bike path, though with a bit of busy road riding and then a mile of uphill to get into the park.

Dumpling Ride Recap

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 22:14:00 +0000

This weekend a group of adventurous dumpling-lovers went on a casual 14-mile bike ride around the city (the Richmond, Sunset, West Portal), trying seven kinds of dumplings from three restaurants, on a foggy but surprisingly warm day.

For variety from the usual coffeehouse start, we met up at SoW, a pop-up fresh juice bar in the Pause Wine Bar space. The “stonefruit flight” of yellow peach, saturn peach, and santa rosa (tart) plum juices was excellent:

Upcoming: Dumpling Tour

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Inspired by the “fiets & frites” ride last summer, I’m thinking of an “SF dumpling tour by bike” (I need a catchy name) on June 9 [edit: Saturday June 30th].

Tentatively: an 11am -> mid-afternoon tour, with perhaps 10 miles of biking at a casual pace and a hill or two– nothing too serious. And 4+ stops at dumpling shops to get takeout and eat by the side of the road or in a nearby park. It will probably focus on the Western neighborhoods (Richmond, Sunset, West Portal, maybe Balboa Park).

Bike Music / Food / Event, Sunday-->

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:22:44 +0000

Bike Music / Food / Event, Sunday–>

Supermarket Street Sweep 2011

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:02:00 +0000

I rode the Supermarket Street Sweep (again) – a fundraiser / race to supermarkets around the city, with about 200 riders who collected a total of 8000 lbs of food for the SF Food Bank. I brought in 108 lbs in my recently-reinforced panniers, which held up well, though the bike was a bit unstable with that much weight. A few photos:

Three bike events this weekend (food bank, winterfest, bike party)

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:01:00 +0000

**Saturday:**You should come to the Supermarket Street Sweep, a ride around the city to collect groceries for the SF food bank. It’s nominally an alleycat-style race (a few hundred people show up, they give you a list of grocery stores to visit and things to buy, and you have to figure out a route), but I’m not going to try to “compete” this time– I just want to get some friends together to do it at whatever pace is comfortable.

Supermarket Street Sweep poster... who wants to join me this year?

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:01:00 +0000

Supermarket Street Sweep poster… who wants to join me this year?

Fiets & Frites 2011

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 02:51:00 +0000

The (first annual?) Fiets & Frites, a casual bike ride and tour of french fries around San Francisco:

Starting out at Frjtz:

Three orders of fries (too many!), curry ketchup, wasabi mayo:

Bike rack as condiment tray…

Ride maps:

The first annual Fiets & Frites (tour of SF french fries by bicycle) is planned for Sunday, October 23rd....

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 22:30:00 +0000

The first annual Fiets & Frites (tour of SF french fries by bicycle) is planned for Sunday, October 23rd. http://fietsandfrites.wordpress.com/

Save the date: Supermarket Street Sweep Dec 3rd (recap from last year when I did it by myself, but it would be fun to do with...

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Save the date: Supermarket Street Sweep Dec 3rd (recap from last year when I did it by myself, but it would be fun to do with friends).

Tour De Cupcake. Biking, cupcake checkpoints, plus extra points for (1) riding down and up the steepest part of 17th St carrying...

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:02:00 +0000

Fiets and Frites?

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:50:00 +0000

Any interest in a bike tour of a wide variety of french fry styles in San Francisco?

We can’t hit everywhere, but here’s a tentative route, with 13 miles of biking and 9 kinds of fried potato.

Probably starting at 11am or noon some weekend in late October, either Saturday the 22nd or Sunday the 23rd (which would transition nicely into Sunday Streets in the Mission).

Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll have a motivation to make it happen. To whet your appetite, the moment in Holland that inspired this:

Wastewater Whirl: A San Francisco Sewer Cycle Tour

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:29:00 +0000

Another SF bike-related event this weekend, which a friend and regular bikeit rider is helping organize:

http://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=20&recordid=152

“Join us for a spin through the City’s streets exploring the wonderful world of wastewater. We’ll visit San Francisco’s award-winning treatment plant, pump stations, and storm drains, learning from the experts about the fascinating infrastructure beneath the city’s streets. Fun for the sewer, cycling and city enthusiast! Pick one segment or join us for all three. No rider left behind.”

Bike & beer festivals this weekend

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:32:00 +0000

I can’t make it to either of these, but in case you’re interested:

Saturday: Tour De Fat
Sunday: Biketoberfest Marin

Tour de Cupcake in October (I plan to be there)

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:02:00 +0000

Tour de Cupcake in October (I plan to be there)

7 Hells of SF recap

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:32:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I rode the “Seven Hells [Hills] of San Francisco” (typically 25-30% grade, some steep enough to have steps cut into the sidewalks).

It was harder than I expected, and I almost gave up at Russian Hill, on Jones between Filbert and Green – I was in my lowest gear, could barely turn the pedals, had to lean forward to keep my bike from tipping backwards (the front wheel came off the ground at one point), and my heart was pounding against my ribcage. But in the end I managed to make it up every hill without walking, standing up, or needing to ride a gradual side-to-side “switchback” pattern. Whew!

100 miles to nowhere: recap

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:38:00 +0000

It started over a drink with JF, who mentioned The Fat Cyclist’s “100 Miles to Nowhere” (which in 2008 was a crazy decision to ride 100 miles on rollers indoors with snacks and TV, and is now a distributed challenge/excuse to ride 100 miles on a short loop course near your house and also raise some money for Livestrong). We decided to do it.

Why?

Well, why not?

This is exactly the kind of arbitrary structure and Just-Because event I like, and I’m less interested in heavily-organized bike events or races (RAGBRAI excepted). And since I’d be out of town on the official date, we did it last Saturday, joined by KE.

"100 Miles To Nowhere": 14-lap photo collage

Mon, 30 May 2011 20:46:00 +0000

“100 Miles To Nowhere”: 14-lap photo collage

bike many loops around the park 5/28?

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:17:00 +0000

Call me crazy– want to ride 8, 16, 24, 32, … or 100 miles on Saturday May 28th, in 6-8 mile loops?

I had The Fat Cyclist’s “100 Miles To Nowhere” mentioned to me recently. His idea is: chip in $80 towards Livestrong, and ride your own century indoors, or on some short course. Just because.

That lines up with my interest in riding a century at some point but my general ambivalence towards Organized Rides or anything that smacks of racing. For a while, I’ve thought it would be interesting to ride loop after loop around Golden Gate Park, with friends and strangers joining for as many loops as they want.

Doing recon for a bike scavenger hunt & picnic some coming weekend. Details TBA...

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 18:35:00 +0000

Doing recon for a bike scavenger hunt & picnic some coming weekend. Details TBA…

SF Bike Party: 1st ride is tonight, 7:30pm

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:03:59 +0000

SF Bike Party: 1st ride is tonight, 7:30pm

“We start at Giants Stadium, ride 12 miles visiting beautiful sites throughout the city. It is a leisurely pace and we’ll stop 3 times to socialize and party. We end at at the Civic Center Bart so people can easily get home.”

Also: http://www.flickr.com/groups/sfbikeparty/

SFBC Holiday Lights Ride

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:16:31 +0000

On Sunday I went on the Holiday Lights Ride. A quick map (which, as usual, clicks through to a detailed route), followed by some blurry night cell phone photos…

About 40 people gathered on the panhandle. I’d somehow missed the note about festooning my bike with Christmas or other LED lights.

Our first few stops, after some hill climbing: