Mission Mission

A community candlelight vigil and walk is going down tonight at 8pm for Yannick Linke, the cyclist who was killed in a collision at Turk and Masonic by an allegedly drunk driver who then tried to flee the scene.

Bike NOPA has all the details, and adds that the family suggests donations should be sent to Doctors Without Borders.

Keep it real everyone, and hopefully they’ll get that deathtrap of a street figured out soon.

Well, this is a real downer.  Last night a cyclist was struck by a Mercedes at Turk and Masonic and died from injuries at the scene.  The driver fled but was later caught and arrested.

BIKE NOPA has all the details.

Please be careful out there, folks.

[Photo by darren_mirfield]

MIT’s Copenhagen Wheel just took the 2010 James Dyson Award for the US.

Here’s what it is:

• A self-charging motorized rear wheel that fits on existing bicycles
• A trip/traffic planner that syncs with your docked smart phone
• A social networking tool (throwing social networking into everything is the new putting a clock into everything)

See the demo video for more information:

At a projected cost of $600 per wheel, not to mention a big red “steal me” target of a design, I think you’d better get a good cable lock for this sucker if it ever becomes a reality. But from the sound of things, it may be GPS equipped meaning you might be able to track it down if it gets lost.

Go ahead, purists, tell us all about how this is the worst thing to happen to cycling.

[via core77]

Meli at Bikes and the City met this MacGuyver of bike rear view mirrors. I love the idea, but I wonder how he cut the mirror or if he just found one that fits.

Quick, without peeking, what kind of beer is that cap from? Head over to Bikes and the City for the answer.

Hey, remember the 90′s? Remember Puck from the The Real World SF ’94? Well times are hard, even for homophobic bike messengers named after hockey equipment.

Puck’s own ZO messenger bag is for sale on Ebay, along with a bunch of his other junk collectively called “Puck’s Treasures“. They don’t come with certificates of authenticity, so who knows if they are legit. I guess that sorta fat guy posing with the gear could be him; I don’t really remember what he looks like. But then again, if you’re actually interested in buying this crap, maybe I don’t care if you get ripped off or not.

Suddenly, I feel the urge to have a Real World ’94 marathon at Bender’s. Does anyone have these on tape?

[Thanks to Millie Castro for the tip]

Great news for cyclists:  the Bike Plan Injunction that has prevented new bike lanes from being painted in the City for the past 4 years has finally been overturned.  Naturally, this means more cyclist lanes and safer riding for everyone (vehicles and pedestrians included). 

Renée Rivera of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, for one, was happy to hear the news:

San Francisco is seeing firsthand how improvements like the green, fully separated bike lanes on Market Street are increasing everyone’s safety and comfort and attracting more people biking.

While there are a number of projects already lined-up for striping (pun intended), I’m sure they could always use a few more suggestions.  So, what streets in the Mission (or elsewhere) do you think would be best served by the addition of a new bicycle lane (and don’t say Guerrero or South Van Ness–let’s at least let the cars keep those or they’ll get all fussy)?

Papergirl SF is teaming up with Mission Bicycle Company for a cool art show of work that can be rolled up and delivered from bikes.

From Papergirl SF:

In the style of American paperboys, rolled art pieces are distributed in the streets to random passers-by for FREE!

Mission Bicycle Co. has offered to be a drop off site for submission (deadline is September 18th) and they are going to host an exhibition of all the work in the Women’s Building on September 26th. So if you don’t mind having your awesome art thrown at strangers on the street, get to work.

Remember, the medium must be deliverable via bike. Don’t just submit flyers for your band’s next show. That would be sort of lame.

Reader Eric N. hips us to this fresh new item in abamber’s etsy store. Thanks, Eric!

Nobody has lawns in the Mission, so if you’re cranky and old, you’ll have to settle for defending your sidewalks. As Cranky Old Mission Guy reminds us:

People think I’m lying when I tell them that all this stuff is illegal. I guess I can’t blame them, because the police mostly ignore these infractions. The biggest reaction I’ve ever seen was a cop turning his head, briefly, to tell one #####, ####-###### ####### to get off the sidewalk. Then they both pretended it never happened and went on their ways undisturbed.

What do you think is behind the ### marks? My guess is “goddamned, mother-fucking asshole”

Seriously, though. Don’t ride on sidewalks. (Okay, okay… maybe if you accidentally turn down a one-way street and gotta ride it out until the next block. But even then, wear a defeated “I just fucked up” look and apologize profusely to every pedestrian you pass.)

[via C.O.M.G.'s Flickr]

Dude, someone with a set of wrenches could take off those wheels in 45 seconds flat. I would have run that cable lock through the casters at the very least.

[via reader Clem]

This guy has the right idea, though.

[via Ohio to SF]

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