26 Valencia Dead

If you didn’t already know, the kind of useless Muni line is shutting down tonight.  Personally, I’ve never ridden the Muni so I don’t give a shit, but presumably some of you do.  Honestly, I like biking and I don’t like buses.  Getting stabbed does sound like fun though.  Once I was taking the MBTA-70 into Boston and  watched what I assumed to be a homeless man stand up  and piss right there on the bus.  From that day on I swore to never ride the bus again and live on Capp St so I could watch people piss right in front of my house on an hourly basis instead.

But seriously, you can get anywhere in the city faster on a bicycle.  I don’t really see the point of taking it unless you are physically unable to get around without a motor (you could probably get around faster on a rascal scooter though).

Anyways, I felt it would be inappropriate to not honor the line in some way, so I asked a bunch of people who ride the line to write up obituaries for it.  Most people were like “who gives a shit?”  Figures.

From the smart and stylish Laura Beck:

I used to take the 26 from glen park to the mission on the regular(ish). what to say?

cons: this bus NEVER, and I mean NEVER, came.
pros: more time to play flight control on my phone and avoid Real Work.

cons: one of the regular drivers told me some awkward sexual jokes…is he hitting on me??
pros: i feel pretty!

pros: cleaner than your average city bus.
cons: no stabbings! BO-RING! perhaps this is why they are canceling service?

pros: drops you off in front of zeitgeist. entire days spent in lovely backyard garden, surrounded by awesome folks!
cons: drops you off in front of zeitgeist. entire days wasted in shitbox backyard garden, surrounded by assholes!

21 Responses to “26 Valencia Dead”

  1. busRider says:

    You ride a bike so you are awesome! Fantastic.

    Not everyone has a bike.

    Now go have a drink at Benders you tool.

  2. sharrocker says:

    Since the 26 would come so infrequently, I often thought of it as the Ghost bus, like in Ghostworld. Anytime I saw it, I almost felt a strange kind of pressure to not miss out on the opportunity to ride it. Like if you lucked out by seeing it, you should take advantage of it. That said, I only rode it once. But it was with a bunch of giddy drunk friends, so it almost felt like our own personal party trolley

  3. Dave says:

    You don’t have a dog, either, or if you do it fits in your bike basket. Travel with your dog = Muni.

    Here’s why I’ll miss the 26: if you were headed home from somewhere up Van Ness, you could take the 49 and get off on Mission, OR, if there weren’t any 49′s coming, you could take the 47, transfer to the 26 at 11th & Mission, and get off on Valencia.

  4. Glenparker says:

    Back in the early 70′s the 26 Valencha ran like clockwork (well in the morning anyway). And the green and cream paint scheme looked so much better than the boring silver and red. RIP 26.

  5. pixeltan says:

    The 26 line was like my Sunday ride—if I wanted to get all gussied up and not deal with the 14.

    Oh, and a big f-you to those people thinking that everyone has the ability to ride bikes, you ever see the elderly trying to deal with the 14?

    • Did you even read the post?

      “unless you are physically unable to get around without a motor”

      • pixeltan says:

        Yes I did K. I was talking about the elderly who take the bus and have to deal with people who don’t give up seats to them. Since you don’t take the bus I guess you’ve never seen this.

  6. johnny0 says:

    I can also buy dinner in the Mission for the price of a bus pass but that’s not the point.

    While inconsistent, the 26 didn’t suck and was a nice ride. But this decision means I will ride Muni less often, if at all.

    I predict the 14 Mission and 49 Van Ness will become even bigger clusterfucks than they already are and we’ll see the 26 back sooner rather than later, in one way or another.

    Remember the 26 was once a streetcar and ran down Mission/Guerrero/Chenery/Diamond/San Jose.

  7. AttF says:

    so what do you do during the 5-6 months it takes to save transit fare for a bike? A lot of folks, especially those with family, have higher priorities and may not have the extra income to throw around.

    After several bike accidents on my daily commute, I realized that cars hurt and facial scars are not worth it.

  8. felixincognito says:

    i agree with kevin. bikes are way more convenient, but i don’t think bikes are for everyone, including those physically able to ride. citing what attf had to say, the fear of cars is a very rational reason to not ride. i’ve never been hit, but have had too many close calls. i imagine it’d take me a really long time to get back on the bike after being tagged by a car.

    it’s not fair to suggest that everyone who can should ride, just like it’s not fair for vegans to assert that everyone should be vegan. to me, those two arguments use the same logic.

    also, the 26 will be missed, but who gives a shit?

    • I was taken out by a BMW may 2008 going ~35 mph down a hill. Just came up from behind and tried to pass me down a tight turn and forced me to either bury my bike in the asphalt or go under his car. I opted for the pavement. Worst of all he didn’t stop. He was never caught.

      It sucked but I moved on and was back on the bike in 2 weeks. We live in a non-ideal world and we’re never safe. You cannot, and should not, run from life.

      • felixincognito says:

        brutal. i’ve luckily only wiped out once in two years of riding. no cars were involved—it was an f’n skater and some muni tracks. i’ve learned a lot since those days.

  9. katherine says:

    i bike with my dog.

  10. [...] The Mish says goodbye to 26 Valencia [Mission Mission] · High speed rail authority rescinds EIR for thinkage [SF Appeal] · [...]

  11. anonymous says:

    yeah dude, i’d say your comments are pretty douchey, and seem to point out that you don’t really leave the mission/castro/downtown/lower haight area. If you have to get to the sunset/richmond or any other outlying area, a bike doesn’t really make sense.

  12. PhilD says:

    One time I had a bad experience while doing something. That day I swore never to do that thing again, since one bad experience is enough to make me swear off something for the rest of my life.