Mission Mission

Corntard knows:

MONSTER TRUCK BIKE EATS MUNI RAILS FOR BREAKFAST

Aha! [link]

When I first saw this commercial on TV a few weeks ago, my initial reaction was “OMG, those Verizon people stole this idea from that Valentine’s bike ride dude from last year!  It’s a travesty!”  Fortunately, rather than jump to conclusions with an incendiary blog post, I did a little research and learned from the Mission Bicycle guys that the ad agency hired by Verizon actually got in touch to find the lovestruck cyclist who originally embarked on the ride and then went and used him in the commercial!

Mission Bicycle has the whole story over on their blog, so go and check it out, and then try your best to think of something even better to do this year for that special someone in your life!

[Photo via Mission Bicycle]

Previously:

• Valentine’s bike ride

Mr. Eric Sir recommends against it.

Let’s go break it in!

[via Dear Mom]

A promising development seems to be afoot in some of the city’s newer taxi cabs, which I noticed for the first time the other day as I was stepping into the shiniest, cleanest cab I’ve ever seen around here.

Oblivious taxi passengers exiting the vehicle have long been a constant menace to cyclists on Valencia and other streets with bike lanes for some time, so let’s hope this addition becomes more widespread and actually encourages clueless folks to check before carelessly flinging open their door!

Reader Kevin spotted this scene on 17th between York and Hampshire:

Is this yours or someone you know’s bike? I find it hard to believe it really belongs to this guy.

As Allan puts it, “the guy has a beard and a hoodie, why wouldn’t he also have a flashy track bike?”

We’ve got more bummer news to report in 2013, although not quite on the same tragic level as the earlier fire and fatal car crash, but at least this one comes with a delicious reward:

I figure it’s a longshot, but someone stole my beloved bright-yellow green glow-in-the-dark bike while I was out at dinner tonight! The bike was kind of my baby/I had it locked to my older crappier one and a railing in my apartment building.

If you/your awesome readership and friends could keep on the look-out for it, I’m offering a cash reward/eternal gratitude/a lifetime supply of homemade ginger beer for it’s safe return!

That’s a lot of Moscow Mules!  Let’s hope it turns up!

Last minute gift idea! Our pal Cleveland Motley recently launched his very own bag business, Motley Goods, based right here in the Mission. Everything’s handmade by Cleveland, and the star of the show seems to be the “Weekender”:

Our medium roll-top backpack.

The Weekender, trimmed in leather is a great do-it-all bag.

Designed to be small and refined enough to take to work, yet large enough to be your ticket out of town.

Its heavy-duty waterproof Cordura nylon exterior and separate waterproof vinyl liner combine with leather trim to become a modern design and rugged utilitarian tool.

18″ x 12″ x 6.5″ give the Weekender 23L of internal capacity.

Three large external pockets

Optional 17″ padded laptop sleeve

One 6-inch velcro closed internal pocket

Thick foam back pad

Leather straps, choice of leather or nylon trim

Cordura exterior fabric – available in six colors

Heavy vinyl liner

Secondary Velcro roll top closure

Boom. Our other pal Nattles wore it around for just a couple of days and got hammered with compliments the whole time, presumably because it looks both gorgeous and like serious business. The rolltop on top and a healthy amount of velcro throughout ensure everything stays nice and dry, and the leather straps and trim ensure you look dope.

See the official Weekender page (with more pics of the bag in more colors) here. Or check out the rest of the Motley catalog (which includes a huge backpack, a basket bag, a pannier/backpack, and a satchel) here.

Here it is in action:

As someone who used to ride it daily, I can say that Market and Valencia is definitely one of the most stressful intersections for a cyclist. This major vein connects a lot of the city to the Mission, and the turn to Valencia involved a gulp-inducing left hand triple lane change within half a block. On one hand, it trained me to be a bit more assertive with my signaling and lane-changing, but sometimes trusting that cars aren’t gonna just mow you down anyway isn’t too much fun.

This has also lead to some nasty biking habits. Sometimes folks would give themselves a lead-in in the middle of the intersection. Others would run the red light when it was clear out of impatience. Hey, I’m no saint. I’ve done those things too. We can all be better.

The above pictured “turn pocket” was installed in the last year week as an alternative. It takes a chunk out of the curb to let forward-heading cyclists to proceed while left turners could chillax and wait for the signal.

The SF Bike Coalition is wondering what you think about it. Have you even used the thing? Is it counter-intuitive to head right to turn left? Is it slower than braving the turn lane? Go ahead and voice your concerns at their survey.

[via sfbike.org]

Is this bad for your bike?  Because I did something like this and now I’m worried about the whole thing crumbling from rust or some shit like that.

[Photo by Jeff Elder via SF Citizen]