Hmm, I should update this blog

which means I should ride my bike. BREAKTHROUGH: I should ride my bike ANYways!

But wait, now that I'm jogging, when do I have time for such a thing? Now that I'm in love with my morning coffee habit, how can I go back to the morning slog? Perhaps this blog has become a call to action for myself as well:

Please oh please oh please to BICYCLE!!!!

I have actually been a couple long rides, one of which I'm pretty sure I could map, the other of which I...do I have a copy of the map somewhere? Well I know we got a little lost along the way, but...

I mean, you probably should, for it to be a good ride, right? (I made that up.)

Anyways, if I get some time, I'll try to update at least with that info. And then maybe ponder a bit more why my bike is so lonely right now.

(I started jogging! Grah!)

Right now, though, I have sleeping time and that is really all. I don't even have enough of that!

Critical Mass: A first and second meeting

I forgot to mention this the other day (by which I mean, like, last week -- and actually, I don't mean forgot, but more like, didn't have time), BUT I had my first two run-ins with Critical Mass, both pretty...negative?

I never really had a lot of love for the concept. Sure, people will notice you if you block up the roads and ride around as a big pack, but they will also get pissed. Hell, I wasn't even in a car and I got pissed.

I was actually biking to the gym and ran into them, but even worse was biking home after my swim. They were coming down...Harrison? I think? Taking up the whole street, making it pretty hard to just commute home.

Really makes me wonder if the ride "promotes bicycle commuting?" I wonder if there has ever been a study about how many people in Critical Mass actually ride regularly around town and follow the rules most of the time. I mean, I'm sure for some people saxophones and nudity on your bike are a special occasion thing, but esp in San Francisco I'd be willing to believe that some people just want to get crazy when the crazy is police-escorted.

Obviously, you can tell I'm not on the inside here, and maybe I just sound like a stick in the mud, but it seems like the best way to promote bicycle commuting would just be doing it and showing people that we can play nice with the cars, even if we don't like them.

To the SF Bay Club

Feeling sporty.

Essentially, take Folsom past where you would turn to go to work, all the way to the Embarcadero. Make a hairpin left onto Battery and an immediate right onto Greenwich. 4.7 miles.

I'm going to be swimming at the club, mostly, although I have a couple complimentary personal training sessions, the ability to reserve simulated-clay courts, and plenty of interesting classes I could try out. I was going to go to beginner's yoga tomorrow, but I made other tennis plans.

Anyhow, yeah. I'll be out tomorrow. Gotta go buy some balls before meeting up with Rion for tennis. That'll be good, though :) and Sports Basement is close, by bike.

I have been biking, see?

This is what I did this morning when I couldn't sleep at 4 am:

Google says 10.2 miles.

The other day I biked to Alta Plaza to play tennis, so I started off doing that same route -- straight down Castro and Divis over the couple of hills. Then for a fleeting second I had the idea I might ride to the beach, but the hill up Geary to the Richmond made me think I should take advantage of the fact that it was 4 am and ride downtown while there are no cars, so I bombed down Post (as much as one can bomb while mostly obeying traffic signals) and meandered my way down Market to the Embarcadero. From there on the ride was very familiar, since I just took the Embarcadero to Townsend and did my homeward commute. Sun was just coming out when I got back and I breakfasted on leftover Vietnamese sandwich. Gonna grab a soy latte on the way to work, I think, leave a bit early.

It was pretty trippy riding around downtown -- I am not (yet?) brave enough to attempt Market during the day, even though it has bike lanes. Everything is really different from a bike, for whatever reason. I was going pretty fast past Union Square, since the lights were lining up for me at that second...

Anyways, hope I make it through the day without getting too sleepy. I'm really glad I went out. I spent about an hour on the bike, which is great, since I am going to a movie after work with a friend, so will probably take BART downtown instead of riding.

On days I have been commuting, it's been great. They installed a bike rack in our side of the office, too, now, so there is more parking. Riding both directions is second nature, so I hardly have to think about it anymore. There was one day I didn't get over soon enough for the turn onto Harrison from Division, which was frustrating, but it wasn't the end of the world.

Off to shower.

I caught a nasty cold

which explains the lack of bicycle updates. It was a pain to even ride the bus, much less pedal and deal with traffic. Anyways, I'm feeling a lot better, although there is still some residual nonsense going on in the back of my throat. Aiming to be back on the bike tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've been taking either the 27 bus or BART. Both are pretty crowded at rush hour; yet another plus of riding a bicycle is that you are out in the open air and not crammed in a train with a hundred other people. Like today, I think the lady I was forced to hover behind on tip toe, almost hanging precariously from the overhead bar in an effort to reduce my depth (a backpack full of two laptops and associated cords decreases my skinniness), had not washed her hair in a while...or had washed it in something that didn't smell very good. Sigh sigh. I hope my shampoo doesn't make my hair smell lame.

Anyways, Twitter does not have showers, so I'm thinking of biking in the shirt I wore the day previously with a new shirt along with laptop (just one from now on) in the backpack. And I can wear my new jacket if it gets cold.

Good news is that I was able to return that heavy duty pannier that I no longer need. Less good (or perhaps equivalent) is that I've gotten interested in Rickshaw bags and since they are coming to work next week to show off their wares, I have a feeling I will only become more interested.

Finally, I think the Twitter diet is really good for me. Well, I think it would be good for anyone -- they feed us quite well. Fresh fruit every morning, sometimes bagels with cream cheese and salmon, other bakery items. Lunch is could be any number of things (falafel, sushi, sandwiches), but most days also includes some salad. Feeling healthy before you even get on your bicycle is definitely something to be either cherished or aspired to :) -- and not taken for granted (Stupid cold!) ;p

A lot to report!

If you're wondered where I've been for the past week and a half, I have a simple answer for you: I've been off getting hired by Twitter! Yes, that Twitter. DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH THIS CUTS DOWN MY COMMUTE?

If you recall...

And now check this out:

If this looks a lot like the way to the Caltrain station, it's because it essentially is.

It's a little frustrating because it's JUST far enough that you can work up a sweat if you're riding fast. I suppose one could just...RIDE SLOWER, but then you might as well just BART and walk, which is definitely an option given my shiny new June MUNI pass. I'm almost tempted to get up early and ACTUALLY go riding, shower, and then head to work. We'll see. I do need to get miles somehow. I could prescribe a long route, but that equals more sweat. I'm guessing all of this will somehow end up depending on whether or not they have showers... They DO have a bike rack IN the office, though. So great XD

In other news, I locked myself out of the house last Monday. It was great! I had my bike, and my bike lock key (which I had forgotten the previous day, woefully mangling plans to go to MOMA), so I just tooled around, mostly. Ended up riding down Castro/Divis for the first time. Some hills! Climbing is good for you, though, if not for your knees, specifically. It was actually not so bad.

Latest lameness:

* Turning left onto Folsom from 16th some horrible fellow shouted at me to get out of the way. There was nowhere to go! There were two lanes and I was in the left to turn, waiting for the cars. If it had been a left turning car it would have been the same...see?

The repeated arrows show his apparent hastiness. RAWR V_V

I (the blue smiley face) am waiting patiently for random placeholder cards blue and green to go before I make my turn at the smiling green light. Creepy fangy death-face behind me who shouted, "Get out of the way!" was wishing he were in the lane with the placeholder orange, pink, and turquoise cars to the right, who were moving straight on without interruption since there were no other vehicles with the right-of-way. I think he just hadn't had his coffee yet or something. Then again, I hadn't either, but I didn't shout at him for being an asshole.

(I just blogged about it later. Does that make me passive aggressive? *sigh*)

*My least favorite incidents occur with other cyclists. Why are you getting frustrated with me? Seriously! The sign says loose gravel and I would not like to skid out on this slightly downhill turn where someone has 78% certainly PUT the gravel there on purpose to keep hardcore cyclists from barreling into innocent pedestrians. If you want to race, go race in the street. I'm gonna slow down and not spend the rest of the afternoon picking rocks out of my shins.

*On the same trail (the Los Gatos Creek Trail) there are sometimes areas with obtrusive posts to keep you from flying through high traffic trail intersection areas and killing stroller moms/dog walkers/old people. I was pedaling slowing up hill behind a pair of middle-aged women on a social walking exercise outing. I don't mind going slowly. I know it's their right-of-way. I have ULTIMATE TRAFFIC ZEN. Not so with the fellow coming down the other way, he was ready to STORM down that hill and mumbled some irate remark as I navigated between the posts around him. What's silly is that I went on my right, so why didn't he go on his? It's a two lane trail, guy!

/end vent

And now, to end on an up note, I'm going to say W00t, Sunday Streets in the Mission was awesome! I volunteered from something like 9 to 2:30 and then had free lunch in the park. Met up with some cats for Humphrey Slocombe (Peanut butter curry ice cream zomg -- does it get any better?) afterwards. My first post was at 25th and Osage from 9:30 to 12:15, but they needed someone to relieve a couple of girls on 20th and Valencia, so I did that afterwards.

Part two was wayyyyyy more fun and lively, since I was in the middle of a closed street with tons of people milling around, some actual responsibility (allowing cars to cross, usually with the lights, but always with the police prompts), and a really chatty policeman. A couple people took my picture while I held up the STOP sign. That was a little awkward. One of them even took my name, so I've been googling to see if I can find it...should've probably asked where he was going to stick it @_@

Incidentally, I tweeted up a storm, mostly while I was doing rather a bit of nothing during part one, but I got in a couple at the second post, too. Highlights include:

"Because 24th street is closed I am allowed to make Osage a two-way alley. My true power is unleashed! #sundaystreets"

"Hint: when attending #sundaystreets, do not bring a car."

"To the dude biking on the sidewalk: UR DOIN IT WRONG. #sundaystreets"

See more @emawii, or by searching for the "sundaystreets" hashtag. I retweeted a couple of other cool posts, too. There were at least a couple people besides me tweeting pix. Looking forward to doing it again next month :)

Oh, before I finish this MASSIVE RUN-ON BLOG ATTACK, I should note that I re-bought my front headlight, finally. Thanks to Noel for allowing me the use of his in the meantime. Got another Flea. I also finally ordered that jacket I had been oogling. I may actually see if it's not too late to return the awesome commuter bag I bought, since I will not really be traveling far enough to require it, even if I do want to bring my laptop somewhere. I may have run out of time. We'll see what the Arkel folks have to say. If not, maybe CL will be kind. SPEAKING OF WHICH...

I'm selling a June Caltrain pass if anyone is interested. Zones 1-4, also good on SamTrans and VTA! Rar gorg! Please, I could really use the cash ;p

/end commercial

That is all! Hopefully I can remember to update more frequently instead of unloading all at once like this, haha.

Recent near-accidents, etc.

Seriously, if I hadn't been watching that guy, he would have plowed right into me. Perhaps I should've been in the actual lane, but the fact remains that I made my intentions pretty damned clear (up out of the saddle for extra pedaling power to get out of his way so he could veer, following as closely as possible a car that went straight ahead). I'm not sure I can help it when the road (Townsend Harrison and something 16th) looks like this:



See, I don't think people feel the need to signal to take that "turn" since it is not the actual turn. This means that if I look at their blinkers (which I always do if I am not in the actual lane with the cars) I don't see that they are going to turn. What pissed me off the most that I was actually IN FRONT of this guy. He should be looking forward. And then after he saw me he didn't stop or apologize, he just drove me out of the way (good thing I can steer).

/end vent

But yes, I have been learning Danish recently and have not updated as I should. Instead of eating curry and making FB graffiti detailing recent biking escapades, I have been eating curry and trying to pronounce "sygeplejerske." (Note: that is very hard, even when your mouth ISN'T full. This is where some smartass reader says, "That LOOKS like a mouth full." And I reply, "Yes, it is, but it's DELICIOUS.")

In other news I got some new bruises today because the VTA light rail people have keep (Twice in two days!!) shutting the doors on me. Bicycles should yield for pedestrians, right? So I am the last one on the train and that conductor is just RARING to go (and also apparently not peeking out the window to actually NOTICE that someone is still getting on). It's not like I'm dragging my feet...just my bike...BUT IT HAS WHEELS, so it's not slow or anything...

*mumble grumble*

WOWZ, I gots some vitriol today!



But yes, the bruises are expanding their palette, as we have some majestic purples as well as sickly yellow/greens, plus a more typical blue.

On a CHEERFUL, I am over half-way through a 40 mile (minimum) week. That makes me happy. So does birdsong in the early morning (I'm 8-5ing again, temporarily), but not itchy allergy eyes (Thanks, Creek Trail).